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Wifi dropping out

emmasteen
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎13-07-2020

Wifi dropping out

Hi there,

We are having issues with our Wifi dropping out regularly. This has been going on for the last three weeks, and this morning the Wifi connection is out completely. We have checked all the cable connections and re-plugged them to make sure they are secure, but nothing has helped so far. The Wifi light on the router keeps flickering hectically.

We have been trying to reach customer service but the automated voice let us know they cannot take our call. Would anyone have any idea what this could be?

Best wishes,
Emma
22 REPLIES 22
jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
Fixes: 248
Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Wifi dropping out

@emmasteen Welcome to the forums. When you say your 'Wi-Fi is dropping out completely', do you mean your wirelessly connected devices, or do you mean your actual connection to the internet - two completely different scenarios?

If it is, as I suspect, your actual internet connection, the following is a good place to start: https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/ and if you actually report back with the results, maybe other customers could help, or maybe one of the Help Team will pick this up.

John
emmasteen
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎13-07-2020

Re: Wifi dropping out

Hi John,

Thanks for your quick advice. I think the internet connection is not working. I’ve done the troubleshooting and the broadband light flickers permanently too. I’ve ordered a new microfilter now to make sure that’s not where the problem lies.

Many thanks,
Emma
jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Wifi dropping out

Emma, if the internet light is flickering, that is perfectly normal - it indicates data is passing to/from your router. What is the 'wireless' light doing?

John
emmasteen
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎13-07-2020

Re: Wifi dropping out

The wireless light is flickering too, but faster and more irregularly than the broadband light.
jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
Fixes: 248
Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Wifi dropping out

Again, normal behaviour. When you say the wi-fi is 'dropping out' do you mean your wireless devices fail to get a connection, or they struggle?

What equipment (phones/tablets/PCs) do you have? Sorry for all the questions, but a situation like this has to be approached in a controlled manner.

John
emmasteen
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎13-07-2020

Re: Wifi dropping out

Hi John, thanks so much for your help with this. We use laptops, phones and tablets with our wifi connection. In the past three weeks they have struggled to connect (and lost connection sometimes, which restored after a few minutes), but today none of them can connect. On my laptop for example it says ‘No internet, secured’ when I click on the router in the panel for wifi.
jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
Fixes: 248
Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Wifi dropping out

Very strange (to me, but I'm no real expert). What Operating System are you using on the laptop, and can you check what is showing in 'Network & Sharing Center'?

John
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,921
Thanks: 9,538
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Wifi dropping out

Hi @emmasteen 

A warm welcome to the forums.

Which self help steps have you followed?

Which router are you using?

Do you have ethernet connected devices which continue to function whilst those connected via Wi-Fi do not?

Is the phone line noisy?

Broadband is not going to work well if the "phone" line is not working properly.

Please perform a quiet line test - dial 17070 select option 2 using a corded phone plugged into the test socket behind the face plate of the master socket. It should be silent. A noisy phone line (or no dial tone) will have a marked adverse impact on the performance of broadband.

If the line is noisy or there is no dial tone, then a PHONE LINE fault needs to be raised with your phone provider. If this is PlusNet, you can report a fault on line using the button below.  From the Q&A list, choose the one which matches the problem, 'open' the 'section' and click the trouble-shooter link.  NB: If you receive a failure message (rather than a log-in prompt) then log-in to the user portal in a different browser tab and attempt to use the trouble-shooter again.


 

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
Fixes: 248
Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Wifi dropping out

@Townman You were going to be my next port of call!😉

John
emmasteen
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎13-07-2020

Re: Wifi dropping out

Hi @Townman,

Thank you for your message!

So far we have done the following:
- checked all cable connections according to Plusnet website and made sure they are all plugged in correctly (we have one master socket, no test socket as far as I can see)
- rebooted both router and devices

We are using the router 2704n Plusnet.

We don’t have any ethernet connected devices (we don’t have a cable for it).

We don’t have a phone and so cannot check the phone line for noise unfortunately.

Is this helpful? I am hoping there is something up with the microfilter and as soon as we change this, it will be fine.

Many thanks,
Emma
emmasteen
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎13-07-2020

Re: Wifi dropping out

Hi John,

We’ve got two laptops on Windows 10, and one on macOS High Sierra. In their respective network settings (I hope this is what you mean below) they show as connected to the Wifi, but the Windows laptops also flag that there is no internet on this wifi.

Thank you,
Emma
jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
Fixes: 248
Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Wifi dropping out

I'll probably end up cross posting with @Townman , but as I replied first.............

How old is your master socket - they have all had a test socket for a long time?

The 2704N router will give @Townman ideas.😁

An ethernet cable is a good idea, so long as you have a device that can accommodate one -helps to eliminate wireless as a problem.

A cheap corded phone is an essential piece of equipment for eliminating broadband problems.

I seriously doubt the filter is the problem, based on your comments so far.

John
jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Wifi dropping out


@emmasteen wrote:
Hi John,

We’ve got two laptops on Windows 10, and one on macOS High Sierra. In their respective network settings (I hope this is what you mean below) they show as connected to the Wifi, but the Windows laptops also flag that there is no internet on this wifi.

Thank you,
Emma

Windows 10 - I'll leave that to @Townman - I'm afraid I have no experience of that OS, but I have read elsewhere of their flaky behaviour.

John
emmasteen
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎13-07-2020

Re: Wifi dropping out

Hi John,

You were right, there is a test socket! I just didn’t find it at first. Having plugged the cable into that one, the wifi connection is now working on our devices. A BT video I watched said that this means the fault is with our equipment - would this be an issue on our devices in that case? What can we do about that? I assume it’s not a great idea to keep using the test socket...

We are also getting a phone now to be able to test the phone line.

Thank you,
Emma