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WiFi constantly dropping out

wakefield25
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎03-12-2018

WiFi constantly dropping out

Hi, 

Can anyone help? We have had Plusnet Fibre for ages (3 years maybe?), mostly running very smoothly with a fast connection speed. Router's plugged into the only phone socket. House is mostly on one floor.

Last 2 months the wifi has kept dropping out. Spoken to customer support twice, they ran tests, and all they could recommend is changing the WiFi channel. 

We were told to try wifi channels in following order: 13, 6, 11, 14 and 3. Have tried all of these to no avail. 

We were also told to contact Plusnet in future via web chat but it's never available (button greyed out).

It was suggested that the interference is caused by neighbours' wifi but we are in a detached house with a decent gap on each side. In any event most people have neighbours!

Would a new, more modern router solve this problem? Would Plusnet provide this for free? If they are going to charge then I'm inclined to switch provider, even though that is a huge pain.

Any help gratefully received!

Thanks!

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Post released from Spam Filter.

 

 

 

 

25 REPLIES 25
Baldrick1
Moderator
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Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Two things to try:

1. Separate the 2.4 and 5GHz bands by following this: https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/2-4ghz-and-or-5ghz-best-practice/m-p/1351966#M840 Once you have done this you will default to the 2.4GHz band (providing you have only renamed the 5GHz one). If that does not perform very well then on your device do a search for a new connection and select the 5GHz SSID and try that. Use whichever is best.

2. Download a wifi sniffer app. I use WiFi Analyser on an Android phone. This will enable you to see the strength of your transmissions plus that of your neighbours. Look both at your router location and where you use your devices. If necessary manually select a lesser used band.

 Plusnet will not give you an alternative make of router except if you have an old set up with both a separate modem and router. In this case they will give you a Hub One if you take out a new contract. Many of us have given up on Plusnet devices and buy a BT Smarthub 6 off an auction site such as Ebay.

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wakefield25
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎03-12-2018

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Thanks @Baldrick1 !

Are all PlusNet routers dual band? I'm not home at the moment so I can't check model number.

Are WiFi sniffer apps easy to use? I'm not very technical to be honest.

Baldrick1
Moderator
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Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

No, They're not all dual band. Yes, the sniffer is very simple to use.

I've just edited my post which might help. If you have a Hub Zero they are definitely single band with poor Wifi performance. If you have one of these or an earlier Technicolor router then it's worth either getting a Hub One, or the better performing Smarthub 6, which has very good wifi performance. I paid less then £20 including postage for the last one I bought a month or so ago.

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wakefield25
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎03-12-2018

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Thanks @Baldrick1, much appreciated! I have the Hub One, I'll try splitting out the bands as you recommend and also have a look on eBay for a secondhand HH6. Looks like a pretty good piece of kit for £20! Great tip.

 

I assume that as Plusnet did a line test there isn't much else it can do? 

 

 

Baldrick1
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Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

If you connect via an Ethernet cable and the performance is OK then it's got to be either a router or wireless problem.

If this is the case then the only other thing you can try is moving the router.

If you have problems using an Ethernet cable then that is a totally different situation.

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RandallFlagg
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Posts: 1,915
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Registered: ‎11-01-2018

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

 

Hi @wakefield25

 

Thanks for getting in touch.

 

@Baldrick1 has covered most of the bases here. If you do find that the drops occur via an ethernet connection, please drop me a PM with your username and we'll take a look.

 

If the drops are purely wifi related, the advice you've been given so far is 100% accurate.

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

Kevinbell
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎09-02-2019

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Hi, I to have also been having the same issues for a few months now WiFi keeps disappearing and had to restart router several times. I did manage to convince Plusnet to send a new router which didn't resolve issues. I did notice this issues started to occur after connecting more devices. Spoke to support several times did many things to resolve nothing worked. Only conclusion is the router is terrible as I bought a second hand BT hub 6 which solved all issues and has been working fine now for we'll over a month. I believe the the router is not up to scratch with us connecting more and more devices via Wi-Fi like phones tablets smart speaker et. The short version is to buy BT hub 6 on eBay for around £25 well worth money spent in the end. I was a little apprehensive to buy in case this didn't resolve issues but worked .

wakefield25
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎03-12-2018

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Plusnet support updated the firmware on my router and that completely fixed the problem. I wish that had been tried earlier as it would have saved us a lot of messing around trying different WiFi channels! They have to do this for you, AFAIK you can't do it yourself.

Jones032
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎02-04-2019

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

What did you say to make them fix this?

Also, is the HH6 just a plug and play job?

Only been with plusnet a few weeks and it’s already gonna get thrown in the bin
Thanks
wakefield25
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎03-12-2018

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

They updated the firmware and that fixed my problem! But they have to do it, you can't do it yourself. Phone support just kept saying to try different channels but one of the Plusnet guys on there spotted this was the fix needed. So maybe track one of them down?

I don't know about HH6, if there are settings required, I'm sure someone here can help.

Best of luck!

TheMightyAJ
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 2,511
Fixes: 126
Registered: ‎26-03-2018

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Hi @Jones032,

I'm really sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with our services. I've tested your line today and everything appears to be running fine going into the property - please could you confirm what specific issues you're experiencing so we can offer further assistance?

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 Alex H
 Plusnet Help Team
DS
Seasoned Champion
Posts: 2,307
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Registered: ‎06-01-2017

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Welcome to the forums @Jones032 

Log into your router http://192.168.1.254

Scroll to the bottom of that page.

Please post up the software version and the date to the side.

Assuming you've already split the wifi (instructions on the link further up), have you tried to only connect to the 2.4GHz SSID?

 

Regarding the Hub 6, there are some changes you need to make. There are some posts somewhere on here giving the instructions. You'd either need to search and find them, or maybe someone can point you in the right direction. It must be a FTTC one for fibre or adsl connections. a FTTP one won't work as it's only fibre to the premise.

 

 

Jones032
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎02-04-2019

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Hi AJ

For whatever reason, I seem to constantly get WiFi which though is still connected to my device with good signal strength, just doesn’t seem to stay “working”.

When running YouTube etc the app will say “please tap to reconnect/ retry”

It just seems to lose all effectiveness
BD
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,359
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎24-04-2017

Re: WiFi constantly dropping out

Hi @Jones032, thanks for getting back to us.

When testing your connection I beleive the problems you're seeing with interupted connection but constant wireless is also behind the impacted speeds we are seeing getting to your router.
The below testing shows errored seconds are being corrected however it's the 31Mbps sync which is rather concerning.

Test Outcome Pass
Test Outcome Code GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000
Description GEA service test completed and no fault found .
Main Fault Location OK
Sync Status In Sync
Downstream Speed 31.0 Mbps
Upstream Speed 5.1 Mbps
Appointment Required N
Fault Report Advised N
NTE Power Status PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result Pass
Bridge Tap Not Detected
Radio Frequency Ingress Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise Not Detected
Cross Talk Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres 785.2
Upstream Rate Assessment Low
Downstream Rate Assessment Low
Interference Pattern Not Detected
Service Impact No Impact Observed
Home Wiring Problem Not Detected
Downstream Policing Discard Rate 0.0
Customer Traffic Level Upstream and Downstream Traffic Detected
Technology VDSL
Profile Name 0.128M-40M Downstream, Retransmission High - 0.128M-10M Upstream, Error Protection Off
Time Stamp 2019-03-20T15:45:00
Parameters MIN MAX AVG
Down Stream Line Rate 32.3 Mbps 37.4 Mbps 33.9 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate 4.7 Mbps 5.3 Mbps 5.1 Mbps
Up Time 732.0 Sec 900.0 Sec 899.7 Sec
Retrains 0.0 4.0 0.0
Current and Last 15 Minute Bin Performance
Parameters Last Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins) Current Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)
Start Time Stamp 2019-04-02T14:13:48Z 2019-04-02T14:28:48Z
Ingress Code Violation 7 8
Egress Code Violation 0 0
Errored Seconds 0 0
Severely Errored Seconds 0 0
Unavailable Seconds 0 0





I'd advise then firstly to use a wired connection and see if the issue persists first of all to be sure. From this side however it certainly seems something is impacting the conenction as a whole however double checking would be best.

If the intermittent conenction issues also occurs when on wired conenctions then I'd advise running through the below troubleshoot checks to see if the speeds jump back up to the 38Mbps or so we'd expect to see.

I'd recommend starting with basic checks here: http://goo.gl/p2tpvL

And if that doesn't help the next thing would be to rule your internal wiring out by plugging the connection into your test socket which is under the faceplate of your master socket and seeing if the speeds return and intermittent conenction issues stop. This rules out internal wiring, face plates and extension sockets as being the cause. How to locate the test socket and set your connection into it can be found here:
https://community.plus.net/t5/Library/Testing-From-The-Master-Socket/ba-p/1322242

If the problem still persists from here we will go down the route of raising a fault. Let us know how it goes.


Alternatively.... if when testing a wired connection everything is spot on and it does seem solely like wireless is causing the issue you're seeing then I'd advise to follow my wireless imprvement guide below on how to use apps such as "wifi analyser" to help determine the best channel for your property but also how to split the 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless frequency as some devices can have 5GHz compatability issues.

The guide below will show you how to log into the router and change the wireless channel as it's usually another router in the area on the same or similar channel that will be causing issues for both wireless frequencies. Before picking a channel I'd suggest downloading a free app called wifi analyzer which will scan your area for all the routers and show what channels they are on between 1-13. Although the above app isn't essential it helps you pick where your router would be best in terms of channels and saves a lot of time doing it via trial and error.

1) To connect to your Hub One, you will need to open a browser and go to 192.168.1.254 If you have any issues doing this via Wireless, we recommend trying to do it via Ethernet cable instead.

2) You should come to a page with information about your connection, click 'Advanced Settings' at the top and it will ask you to sign in with a Password. This is located on the back of your router under 'Admin Password'

3) Select the option for 'Wireless' followed by '5 GHz Wireless'. What we want to do to begin with is turn 'Sync with 2.4 GHz Wireless' to 'Off' and update the SSID to be different. The easiest way would be to add '-5G' to the end so it is identified as its own connection. Once this is changed, we will need to keep an eye on it for a day or 2 to see if the issue continues. If it does, the next step would be to change the wireless channel. Keeping in mind the original 2.4Ghz unchanged name network connection would be the best to connect your devices to for a stronger signal.

4) Following the above guide to get to your 'Advanced Settings' page, you will need to change the settings within the 2.4 GHz Wireless tab and the 5 GHz Wireless tab.

5) Under the correct heading, you will need to find 'Channel Selection' on the list and change this from 'Automatic' to any one of the other channels, This can also need doing under '5 GHz Wireless' to cover both signals. Give it 3-4 hours of testing to see if the issue still persists and try to change the channel again if you see little or no improvement.
Let us know how it goes.