5GHz signal dropping out

[#1]

Hi all. Wondering if anyone can help. We have unlimited fibre extra with the Plusnet hub one router, but Ard struggling with the 5GHz signal dropping. It can be fine for a few hours but then we loose it. All of our other WiFi devices are fine (which all seem to use the 2.4GHz) and don't loose signal apart from our mobile phones (which are both Pixel 2XLs).

At first we thought it was due to the handsets but have since had replacement phones and still the problem persists. On other WiFi networks away from our home we don't have this problem.

We have been through all the router settings, tried automatic channel selection, as well as trying every available channel individually but still the problem persists. Once the signal drops out the only way to get it back is to do a hard restart of the router. We've also downloaded a WiFi analyser to see if there is a problem with channel congestion but they are all showing as good (5stars) options.

Any other suggestions? Could it be that our router is failing somehow? Would we be better buying a different brand?

[#2]

Hi @Luminal,

Please accept my apologies for the issue with your wireless signal.

Are the 2.4GHz / 5GHz frequency bands split? If not please follow this guide in splitting the 2.4GHz / 5GHz frequency bands and once complete try connecting your phones to the 2.4GHz frequency.

If you have already tested by connecting this way, could you kindly provide us the firmware version of the router, this can be accessed by following the guide below:

1) To connect to your Hub One, you will need to open a browser and go to http://192.168.1.254

2) You should come to a page with information about your connection, click 'Troubleshooting' then 'Helpdesk' 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. Item 3 should contain the firmware version.

Thank you.

[#3]

Hi thanks for the suggestions. Our router firmware is showing as

Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 Last updated 28/01/19.

We have split the frequency bands but when we do so the newly renamed 5GHz band doesn't even show in the list of connectable WiFi networks.

[#4]

I assume that you are looking using your phone to look for the 5GHz transmission? Not all devices have a 5GHz receiver.

Alternatively you haven't inadvertently switched off the 5 GHz band in the advanced wifi settings?

[#5]

Thanks, the current firmware version was released to improve WiFi performance so there might not be any benefit on changing that. 

Do let us know in relation to what Baldrick has asked though as it might be relevant. 

[#6]

@Luminal, do your problems coincide with when your firmware was last updated at the end of January, or were you having problems prior to this?

If you haven't tried it already, a factory reset would be worth a shot. You'd need to insert something into the pinhole at the rear of the router until the status light flashes green. Note that you'll lose any settings that you've changed from defaults.

Looking at your logs, I would also strongly recommend against manually fixing the 5GHz channel the router is using. You are much better off leaving this on the auto-selection option.

I can see various attempts where you've tried fixing the 5GHz channel to a value > 100. These are all DFS-regulated frequencies, and if any nearby licensed radio traffic is identified on these channels then it's very likely to cause you problems. See the DFS column in the table part-way down this page.

@adamwalker, the Pixel2 XL does have a 5GHz receiver (I have one myself).