Question Having some strange issues with all wireless devices, connections, mice, etc

[punkncat]

A couple of days ago the range on the WiFi in our house lessened significantly. For instance, normally have 2 bars in the bedroom, now have none. Phones are going to 5G when we step out of our living area where the (all in one service provided) modem is. This isn't super unusual in itself as it happens from time to time, but generally clears up in a day or so.

Within a day of that my wife's computer, my computer, and the computer in the living area started having issue with the 'fobs' receiving the signal from it's device. For instance, in the living room I keep having to turn off and turn on the wireless keyboard in order for it to react. My wife and I both had to install USB extension and have the 'fob' within inches of both our wireless mice. I had to go one step further last night and physically move my tower closer to the (other) mouse and keyboard that I use for them not to drop out. All of the fobs are within a few inches to perhaps a foot and a half of the device.
Both 'mice' are skipping, moving very strangely, keyboard drops letters and/or will stop for a moment then catch up.

All the batteries are good in the devices. This is happening across 3 different PC and still happening to the WiFi. Bluetooth (audio) devices do not seem to have any issue.

I tried a signal tester thingy you can DL for the phone and it shows good signal strength in the living area but it's dropping sharply off within just a few feet. I have no new appliances, or any changes to service, etc. within the same time frame. I actually had to completely disconnect my Alexa because it kept losing connection and was unable to reconnect. Edit to add, this is also happening with the Arlo camera that is farthest away, just on the other side of a wall from the living area.
I have 11 (10 without Alexa) devices connecting wirelessly including everything in the house, and have 25 available IP for them.

What manner of interference could cause such an issue?

 

[Ralston18]

What modem or modem/router is installed?

The issue seems to be with 2.4 GHz.....

 

[punkncat]

What modem or modem/router is installed?

The issue seems to be with 2.4 GHz.....

The device description says Arris TG1682G. It is the provided unit from the ISP. It was replaced within the last year simply because the firmware of the (nearly identical) one I had previously was no longer supported. It was the one you could actually go into locally to make changes. This one is all done via the webpage, so to speak.

There are several devices running on 5G and some on 2.4G. Some of those devices are stuff like the remotes for FireStick and such.

I literally have the fobs for my mouse and keyboard sitting within ~6-8" of each device and everything is going fine for now...bit crazy. I just have to turn the living room keyboard (Logitech) on and off between each use if more than a few seconds.
I was reading on line that this can be electromagnetic interference from appliances, electrical motors, things such as that. The guide I was looking at was suggesting to disconnect things and test each time. I haven't installed any new fluorescent bulbs or anything.

Very strange issue ongoing.

 

[bill001g]

You have mulitple issues I suspect. The keyboard and mouse are very likely using bluetooth and not wifi. They directly connect to your pc and not your wifi router. Your end device are connecting to the router and not using the bluetooth even though they may run on the same 2.4g. Bluetooth and wifi do not seem to interfere with each other much even though both run on 2.4g. Then again bluetooth is very low power and very low data rate compared to a router.

Most times problems with bluetooth are a issue with the bluetooth adapter in the pc but it depends on what you have. Some are the same as the wifi card and others are small USB bluetooth things. Maybe try to turn off the router or just the wifi radios in the router and see if it makes a difference. Try to run just 1 computer that has a bluetooth module at a time.

 

[Ralston18]

11 Wireless devices (if Alexa is included) and, if I understand correctly, you have established a DHCP IP address range for 25 devices which includes some wired devices I expect. (I.e., those 3 PC's - correct? Any other wired devices?)

Is it possible that a computer on your network has ended up with both the wireless and the wired network adapter enabled?

My thought would be to make a list of all network devices that includes device name, connectivity, IP address, and MAC.

Sketch out the network to see what is connected to what and how.

The router can provide some of that information. You can use "ipconfig /all" and "arp -a" network computers to gather and verify device information.

netsh and Powershell (as Admin) can likewise be used to find out even more:

Examples:

https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/using-netsh-commands-for-wi-fi-management-in-windows-8/

https://www.webservertalk.com/netsh-wlan-commands

With the problem being wireless issues then you can apply netsh wlan to delve deeper into the issues.

And netsh can be run within Powershell

https://www.webservertalk.com/netsh-wlan-commands

Try running "netsh wlan show all" on a wireless connected computer(s). You should get quite a listing configuration information.

[Note: FYI - stay with just using network related "Get" cmdlets in Powershell. Do not risk making some inadvertent configuration changes.]

Overall - document your network in detail to determine if all is as expected or required.

Going out of my comfort zone somewhat but my thought is that the wireless could be faltering in part or in whole due to a broadcast storm. Another thought is packet flooding. The latter implying some deliberate or malicious intent. Hopefully both thoughts are just that and can easily be taken out of consideration.

 

[punkncat]

^ Yes, I had my system set up to provide 10 IP addresses to wired and wireless devices. This was before a couple of items got brought into the house and also before I worked on a big load of computers several months ago. I was surprised by and am now familiar with the "connected but no internet" error that comes of that. I increased my DHCP leases to accommodate all the devices in the house, plus a couple of extra for guests.
Our ISP does provide a "guest" login option like hotspot, but my neighborhood is spaced in such a way that someone would literally have to sit in a car out front to utilize it.

I have looked through all of the connected and "offline" devices within the router and recognize all but one, which is actually not online. The rest are your typical items, phones, tablet, computers, Arlo base...such as that. I don't believe that this issue resides in the router device. As mentioned, it relatively new and the signal strength app shows it putting out good signal. I believe the issue is either some manner of interference and/or the (mouse/keyboard/wireless devices) causing each other issue. The last aspect would actually make sense in the office where two of the computers and (6) wireless devices are hooked to (2) PC. The issue extending to the living area computer is odd, but even that is only about 20' away.

I am going to do some Google search on the packet flooding and broadcast storm as I am not familiar.

Thank you for the suggestions. I have some appliances to unplug for testing today as well.....do any of these signal strength app things come with a tool to show actual interference being broadcast?

 

[punkncat]

As a for instance on the issue, with picture help.

You can see how close the mouse fob is. If I move it the few more inches back towards the support leg of the monitor it will start skipping, missing, and acting strange.

https://ibb.co/PCBtvF0

The mouse on the other side of the desk and keyboard do a little better. The keyboard fob is at the back of the computer perhaps 2' or a little less. The fob for the other mouse is on a USB extension as well, and about a foot away.
The wife's PC across the room has her mouse fob about a foot away as well.

 

[punkncat]

Just as a follow up on this.

I found a better program for analyzing RF signals. I found that the channel for both my 2.4 and 5GHz bands were very heavily trafficked. I set the channel manually based on what the analyzer was showing me, on both bands and it appears that the WiFi is now operating as expected.
I am still having issues with fobs, but thinking that the issue with that might be related to having so many devices operating in the same small space.
In the office at one time I ha(d) 9 devices, all with Bluetooth on. I didn't actually realize it was so many there without thinking about it. I have removed 2 of the devices, and it seems a bit better. I still don't have what I would consider full range on the mice, but they aren't skipping like they were.

 

[Ralston18]

@dave.d.a.f

This thread has been inactive for 3 1/2 months and OP's March 24th follow-up identified the problem as channel congestion and changed channels.

I did not note any potential issues with the Arris TG1682G modem/router per se.

Not sure about your post and why you replied to me vs OP.

Accidental post? Seems a bit random.....