Question Run into an issue with my 5GHz band.

[punkncat]

I am with Xfinity/Comcast. Very recently I was upgraded from an old Arris modem (IIRC) to a newer XB7 by Technicolor. The old modem allowed me to type in the IP address and would be "inside the modem" (as it were) to make changes to my network. There was a change I guess a couple of years now where they did away with that capability and made you go online to make changes within the web page for the provider. A while back they did away with that as well and now the only way to see and make changes to the network are via a phone app.

Back when I originally set this up I created my own set of IP addresses and left (50) addresses available to my LAN. I have a couple of items such as my NAS set to a specific (static) IP where some of the other items like phones and whatnot are dynamic. When the newest of these modems came in the setup was actually quite easy and it asked me along the way if I just wanted to bring over the settings that were already in place. I did and have had no issue up to now. I am using (40) of the (50) addresses I set up. Normally would be much less than that but my son is home with all his wireless toys.

So, to the point here. I have been working on an older PC trying to get it set up for wireless use. I ordered an Intel 7260AC MiNi PCI-E card for that PC and ordered a set of internal antenna which are about 14" long. I placed them along the perimeter of the case and stuck the ends (small square board with sticky tape) to the front plastic panel internally.

If I connect to the 2.4GHz band it works just fine. The Bluetooth works just fine. I can see the 5GHz network and can connect to it, but here is where the fun begins. It takes it a few more moments to connect to the 5 than the 2.4 band. Think like 45-60 seconds (5) as opposed to 10 seconds (2.4). I get good download speeds and every thing seems fine for about 2-3 minutes. After that it will connect and disconnect every few seconds. Some of the programs I use alongside such as Steam just refuse to try and stay connected with the connection going in and out like that. Others include Netflix, and even in a browser on YT. I have it set to automatically connect to the best network, so this will go on for a while until it finally just settles on the 2.4 band. It is then stable and works fine aside from trying to actually download anything today (lol). Signal strength for both bands is very good, never below 3 bars. Of note here, I used a program on my phone that shows traffic/channel and set things up where the 2.4 is on C11 and 5 is on C44 IIRC.

I considered the age of the PC and the fact that I was using a wireless mouse, keyboard, BT speaker, and WiFi so in an effort to eliminate that as suspect I put wired KB/M on it which did not change the main issue with the 5GHz band.

The PC spec is:
W10-activated
Silverstone Milo HTPC case (all metal aside from front panel)
ASUS H110 I M32CD*
i5 6600
2x4 Corsair Vengeance DDR4 @2400 (no way to change this in BIOS)
Samsung 840 series SSD's (2)
GTX 750ti - half height
All running from a Gold rated Dell PSU which I would have to look but think it is ~300-350W

*The motherboard for this unit actually came from an ASUS Vivo PC M32CD. It has no front panel connectors on board and the analog sound does not work. HDMI and BT pairing are fine. I got the daughter-board that goes with this and could not get it to connect without locking up the SATA bus (so to speak, hard freeze or no boot)
I have no issue with my wired or wireless devices otherwise. I figure it is another quirk of this cursed board. Since having the app as the method to administer the WiFi LAN I am not really sure how to check how many 'leases' I previously gave the 2.4/5 GHz band and may be barking up the wrong tree on that anyway.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[kanewolf]

it is not surprising that you have issues if your antennas are inside your case.

 

[dwd999]

How congested is your neighborhood? You could use an app like the free WiFi Analyzer by Matt Hafner from the Microsoft Store to see what channel you're using and how many neighbors may be using the same channel. The modem/router you're using is a terrible device if you have close neighbors because the signal strength is so strong that it can cause interference among neighbors. So you could check which channels are being used the most and move to another less used channel. If the lowest channel 36 is not being used too much I've found that that one generally provides the strongest signal and better performance.

 

[punkncat]

it is not surprising that you have issues if your antennas are inside your case.

Wouldn't that show as low signal, or bouncing signal (bars)?

The front panel is plastic just like as would be on a laptop which these are made for. Most of the antenna wire are behind the plastic fascia.

edit- Just for SnG I went ahead and ordered a set of external antenna with a half height bracket for the Mini PCI-e card. Amazon tends to be pretty cool about returns, so we shall see .

 

[punkncat]

How congested is your neighborhood? You could use an app like the free WiFi Analyzer by Matt Hafner from the Microsoft Store to see what channel you're using and how many neighbors may be using the same channel. The modem/router you're using is a terrible device if you have close neighbors because the signal strength is so strong that it can cause interference among neighbors. So you could check which channels are being used the most and move to another less used channel. If the lowest channel 36 is not being used too much I've found that that one generally provides the strongest signal and better performance.

As above, I have utilized that (or a similar) program. I will check again just to be sure something didn't default.

 

[punkncat]

I should also mention, in regard to the number of connected devices. There are 26 of the 40 which are not actively connected but have been within the time frame for it to drop off that list. I have the lease period as two days.

 

[punkncat]

Well, as expected the external antenna didn't resolve the issue. Got plenty of signal strength. Every other device in the house which is connected to the 5GHz band is working as expected. I find it rather odd just sitting here troubleshooting that every other 'available network' is flashing back and forth from showing as available to the only band I can see is the 2.4GHz band.

I have run SFC/DISM and had no errors. I restarted the modem, and also went through and removed all devices that hadn't been connected within the last month. No change.

I had a Kernal Security Check Failure BSOD while trying to troubleshoot having only the password for the 5GHz band learned in. I read there can be various causes for that one and it seems to point towards possible bad RAM. I have had exactly zero issues prior to this with that error even during the build, setup, and check stage with a USB WiFi module I keep on hand.

It is unfortunate to say but with the new way my ISP requires connection (lack of) to the modem I just can't see all the things I want to see. It won't even allow me to see the IP addresses I initially set up nor how many leases I have given to each band. I almost suspect that it is at that limit I set and now have no perceptible way to change that.

 

[punkncat]

It appears that this issue is more than originally reported. Even the 2.4GHz band keeps dropping connection with Steam or YT, just takes longer. It is also happening with the dongle that I was using before. IDK if a clean install would do anything for it as the OS comes back 'clean' in the checks performed above.

Guessing that whatever took out this motherboards ability to read its own front panel daughterboard must have caused other damage that wasn't initially evident.

 

[dwd999]

Perhaps the Intel 7260AC card is simply defective and/or subject to overheating which causes the problem. Was this new from a reliable source? Perhaps switching to a usb based solution might help.

 

[punkncat]

Perhaps the Intel 7260AC card is simply defective and/or subject to overheating which causes the problem. Was this new from a reliable source? Perhaps switching to a usb based solution might help.

Yes, was new mini PCI-e card and a USB dongle is now doing the same thing.