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Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

jjok
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎10-06-2020

Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

Hi. A couple of weeks ago I was having a problem where my internet connection was constantly dropping out. Plusnet made a change to the SNR which seems to have sorted that issue, but ever since then I've been having problems with the Wifi. Most wireless devices are struggling to keep their connection, or to get a connection in the first place.

I think wireless might be more reliable for things placed right next to the router, but that of course isn't practical. I've got devices around the house that have been connecting to the network for a year or more from their current position that are suddenly unable to connect.

Does anyone have any idea what's happened, or what I can try? It seems unlikely that it's related to the change Plusnet made, but could it be?

My modem router is the Technicolor tg582n. I've tried a WiFi analyser app and it shows only one other router that's in range, and that one's using a different channel.

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Baldrick1
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Re: Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

@jjok  Welcome to the forum.

Does the WiFi Analyser show the signal level? Does it drop significantly as you move away from the hub?

Changing your SNR to give you fewer drops will have slowed the connection speed. Are you sure that it's not just a speed problem?

Your hub is long in the tooth and could be the cause but the Hub Zero now suppled by Plusnet to ADSL customers also has poor WiFi capability.

Personally I would go onto an auction site and get a BT Smarthub 6. They cost very little and have far superior wireless performance. You will find setting instructions pinned to the top of the router board.

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jjok
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Posts: 5
Registered: ‎10-06-2020

Re: Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

@Baldrick1 thanks for you r reply.

The WiFi Analyser shows signal strength and distance. The distance (which I assume it's guessing from the signal strength) seems like it's reasonable accurate. Of course, the Wifi on the phone I was using dropped out twice, so that made it harder to test.

I think I may have also been experiencing a slower connection. The remote desktop connection and video calls that I've been doing for work have been a lot worse that usual.
It definitely seems that it's a WiFi issue that I'm having. I have several devices that talk to each other across the network for home automation. They don't use the internet, but I've been findng those devices randomly offline. Some won't reconnect at all.

Thanks for your suggestion of getting a new router. I've been thinking of doing that since I had the internet problems. I was constantly restarting the modem to try and fix it, which of course meant that everything was getting disconnected, even things that don't use the internet (as the modem and router are the same device).
Are you using your own router in conjunction with your Plusnet modem?

It's just really annoying because my router/modem has been working perfectly well for the last 7-8 years and I don't know why it's suddenly stopped working.

jjok
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎10-06-2020

Re: Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

OK, I would say that my internet is actually considerably slower than it was before, presumably since the SNR change. It makes it pretty unusable if more than one person is trying to use it.

I would also say the the WiFi signal does drop off pretty suddenly as you move away from the router. The Wifi Analyser seems accurate within 5-6 metres of the router, but then jumps to about 24m as I move further away. Devices at 8-9 metres from the router are unable to connect at all.

 

I spoke to Plusnet on Twitter and they suggested trying a different Wifi channel. I've tried 2 different channels over the last 2 days and neither seems to have helped.

Baldrick1
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Re: Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

@jjok 

To be honest you are pushing it at 9m if there are walls etc in between.

My earlier advice to get a Smarthub 6 stands. These directly replace your current Hub and work on both ADSL and fibre should you upgrade in the future.. They just need setting up to work with your Plusnet service, see here. https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-the-BT-Smarthub-6-on-a-Plusnet-Account/m-p/1587673#M85...

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Strat
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Re: Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

Moderators Note
This topic has been moved from ADSL Broadband to My Router.
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jjok
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Posts: 5
Registered: ‎10-06-2020

Re: Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

Thanks for your advice @Baldrick1. I've decided not to go for the Smart Hub, as apparently you can't use custom DNS settings with the default firmware, and I can't see that you can run any other firmware on it at the moment.

What I have done is bought a BT Home Hub 5 with OpenWrt on it. My plan was to use the TG582n as just a modem, then connect the Home Hub to it as the router and wireless access points, positioned further towards the middle of the house. But after a couple of evenings messing around, I didn't really get anywhere.
Instead what I've done is completely replace the old modem/router with the new one. It seems to be working well, so far. All of my devices are back on the network, even though the new router is in the same place as the old one.

No idea why the TG582n suddenly started misbehaving.

Baldrick1
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Re: Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

@jjok 

For information in case any other reader gets confused, you are quite correct in saying that you can’t set custom DNS servers on a residential Smarthub 6. However as I alluded to in my setting instructions you can on the Business version as indeed I believe you can on the Business standard Home Hub 5.

The reason why you might have had trouble using your TG 582 is that unless you had set your new HH5 up as an Access Point you would need to set the TG 582 as a bridge modem. I do not know if it has this capability.

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jjok
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Re: Suddenly unstable WiFi connection

Ah, that's interesting that you can set custom DNS on the business Smart Hub. Definitely worth knowing.

There are a few tutorials around, mostly on this forum, with instructions on how to set the TG582n into bridge mode. I followed one of them, but ended up doing a factory reset. It's fairly likely that it didn't work because I didn't have the right settings in OpenWrt on the Home Hub. I may try it again at some point, but I'm pretty happy that everything is back working now as it did before.