Question How do I make my AP perform better?

[karasahin]

Hello,

I've been using a wireless to wireless AP for about a year and it's barely an above average experience. Though it has gotten better with some tricks and does help me getting better signal, it's not without problems.

My problems with it: 1) random connection drops that occur for about a few seconds for roughly every half an hour. 2) this problem becomes worse (takes longer time to reconnect) if more than one device is connected.

What I've tried: updated its firmware, switched wifi channel to 1 and 20 MHz only, placed it on a higher place and away from walls etc.

Is there any more things to do to improve coverage/stability while keeping this wireless to wireless setup?

Thanks.

 

[Lutfij]

Make and model of your AP/device? Might want to include all devices that you have or will pair with the AP.

Seems to me that the device you own is struggling to manage your internet traffic. Either that or your device isn't in clear line of sight with your wireless devices or is heating up to degrade it's performance.

 

[karasahin]

Make and model of your AP/device? Might want to include all devices that you have or will pair with the AP.

Seems to me that the device you own is struggling to manage your internet traffic. Either that or your device isn't in clear line of sight with your wireless devices or is heating up to degrade it's performance.

Thanks for your super fast reply!

The AP is Zyxel 3205 v3. Paired it with a router Zyxel VMG3312-B10B. 4 (a desktop and 3 phones) devices connect to the router while 1 (a laptop) connects to the AP.

I have to connect my phone directly to the router, which is not good because stability (of the AP) becomes worse if I connect it to the AP.

You could be right about that all that. Is there a way to check if it does struggle with its internet traffic management? I should also add that I've disabled its WPS and enabled Intra-BSS Traffic features.

The AP and router actually stare each other with no obstacles in their sight. I haven't measured the distance but I get almost always full bar in Windows and the dbm is almost always lower 60, sometimes as low as 48 and average of maybe 55.

I haven't noticed about the AP overheating from outside but can't know for sure. Maybe it throttles itself. Again, how do I check it?

 

[kanewolf]

Both router and AP are old technology. They are 2.4Ghz ONLY devices. That makes they very slow by current network standards.
The AP and router have only 100Mbit ethernet ports. So the MAXIMUM speed you will get is 100Mbit on the LAN.
The N standard WIFI probably maxes out at about 70 - 80Mbit.
The best answer is to replace that hardware.
If you ask your ISP for a list of supported MODEMS, then you can use ANY router. It doesn't have to be a special VDSL router like your current one.
The for about $30 on E-Bay you could get a used Asus RT-68U. Or get 2, because Asus is real easy to use as an AP.

 

[karasahin]

Both router and AP are old technology. They are 2.4Ghz ONLY devices. That makes they very slow by current network standards.
The AP and router have only 100Mbit ethernet ports. So the MAXIMUM speed you will get is 100Mbit on the LAN.
The N standard WIFI probably maxes out at about 70 - 80Mbit.
The best answer is to replace that hardware.
If you ask your ISP for a list of supported MODEMS, then you can use ANY router. It doesn't have to be a special VDSL router like your current one.
The for about $30 on E-Bay you could get a used Asus RT-68U. Or get 2, because Asus is real easy to use as an AP.

Thanks for your reply.

You are indeed correct that they are equipped with old tech but my internet is only 35 Mbit for down and 12 Mbit for up, so what I need from a router and AP is more stability, than more speed.

I've been reading that developments for Wifi technology is focused on providing more speed, than more coverage but maybe it's wrong. Could a router with a newer Wifi tech provide me a better coverage/stability?

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks for your reply.

You are indeed correct that they are equipped with old tech but my internet is only 35 Mbit for down and 12 Mbit for up, so what I need from a router and AP is more stability, than more speed.

I've been reading that developments for Wifi technology is focused on providing more speed, than more coverage but maybe it's wrong. Could a router with a newer Wifi tech provide me a better coverage/stability?

Coverage is limited by the transmit power of the CLIENT. It is much less than the router/AP.
Newer routers generally won't have greater coverage.
Since your current hardware is 2.4Ghz ONLY, you are in very crowded radio space. That may be your problem. If you live with multiple neighboring WIFI signals competing with yours.

 

[karasahin]

Coverage is limited by the transmit power of the CLIENT. It is much less than the router/AP.
Newer routers generally won't have greater coverage.
Since your current hardware is 2.4Ghz ONLY, you are in very crowded radio space. That may be your problem. If you live with multiple neighboring WIFI signals competing with yours.

Could you elaborate the part about the client a bit more? Sorry, I have only limited knowledge about all this networking stuff.

Yes indeed, therefore I have switched wifi channel and mhz to the ones that might provide better stability but it seems probably not enough.

I haven't thought about wifi signals competing with each other. Interesting. Yes, my laptop sees 14 different wifi channels other than mine's. If I had a router/AP with 2.4 and 5 GHz both, would this help mitigate it?

 

[kanewolf]

Could you elaborate the part about the client a bit more? Sorry, I have only limited knowledge about all this networking stuff.

Yes indeed, therefore I have switched wifi channel and mhz to the ones that might provide better stability but it seems probably not enough.

I haven't thought about wifi signals competing with each other. Interesting. Yes, my laptop sees 14 different wifi channels other than mine's. If I had a router/AP with 2.4 and 5 GHz both, would this help mitigate it?

Sure. Mostly WIFI is used for handheld or portable devices. Since they are battery powered they have lower transmit power than the router. So your device may be able to receive a signal but not transmit anything back.
Having dual band router/AP MIGHT help. But only if you have dual band clients. Newer phones and laptops are usually dual band.
Having 5Ghz provides more radio channels than 2.4Ghz AND 5Ghz is attenuated by walls more than 2.4Ghz so outside signals are reduced by the exterior walls.

 

[karasahin]

Sure. Mostly WIFI is used for handheld or portable devices. Since they are battery powered they have lower transmit power than the router. So your device may be able to receive a signal but not transmit anything back.
Having dual band router/AP MIGHT help. But only if you have dual band clients. Newer phones and laptops are usually dual band.
Having 5Ghz provides more radio channels than 2.4Ghz AND 5Ghz is attenuated by walls more than 2.4Ghz so outside signals are reduced by the exterior walls.

Thanks a lot.

Lastly, I'd like to share a pic about packet statistics. What should I understand from it? It says system is up for 12 hours and yes I haven't turned it off but connection drop issue has kept happening during that time.

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks a lot.

Lastly, I'd like to share a pic about packet statistics. What should I understand from it? It says system is up for 12 hours and yes I haven't turned it off but connection drop issue has kept happening during that time.

That is 0.7% . That is nothing. My APs (I have 4) have between 1% and 16% TX retries.
I wouldn't obsess about a few errors. The devices will just retry.

You have used the word "AP" in previous posts, but after re-reading, it actually seems like you are talking about an extender.
How is the AP connected to the router? Wired or wireless ?

 

[karasahin]

That is 0.7% . That is nothing. My APs (I have 4) have between 1% and 16% TX retries.
I wouldn't obsess about a few errors. The devices will just retry.

You have used the word "AP" in previous posts, but after re-reading, it actually seems like you are talking about an extender.
How is the AP connected to the router? Wired or wireless ?

That's good to know. It won't bother me now.

Yes I have, indeed I think it should have been "Universal Repeater" as the device is working on this mode now. And yes, it receives wireless connection from the router to transmit wireless connection to my devices.

I'd like to keep this wireless to wireless setup as is as it's handy but I'm starting to think if asking for a fully stable connection from a setup like this is asking for too much. What do you think?

 

[kanewolf]

That's good to know. It won't bother me now.

Yes I have, indeed I think it should have been "Universal Repeater" as the device is working on this mode now. And yes, it receives wireless connection from the router to transmit wireless connection to my devices.

I'd like to keep this wireless to wireless setup as is as it's handy but I'm starting to think if asking for a fully stable connection from a setup like this is asking for too much. What do you think?

OK. Since you are using a wireless link between these devices, a pair of dual band devices will definitely improve things. With what you have now, the limited bandwidth of 2.4Ghz has to be split between connecting to clients on the extender and relaying back to the router. So your performance and any transmit errors get magnified. Your MAXIMUM throughput goes from 70Mbit to 30Mibt (approximately). So now you are slower than your WAN.
Getting an ethernet cable between the two units would be the BEST answer, using your existing hardware.

 

[karasahin]

OK. Since you are using a wireless link between these devices, a pair of dual band devices will definitely improve things. With what you have now, the limited bandwidth of 2.4Ghz has to be split between connecting to clients on the extender and relaying back to the router. So your performance and any transmit errors get magnified. Your MAXIMUM throughput goes from 70Mbit to 30Mibt (approximately). So now you are slower than your WAN.
Getting an ethernet cable between the two units would be the BEST answer, using your existing hardware.

Makes sense.

I'll think about all that. The ethernet cable solution sounds great as it's both cheap and still maintains partly wireless connection. This is what I should try first before buying a new router and AP/extender. Thanks a lot again.

For now I'll keep using my extender as is until connection drop issue becomes too unbearable. Signal is now almost always full, I've managed to lower reconnect time down to just 1-2 secs and my phone still often receives signal from the router so... it's kinda sufficient.

I'm still open for suggestions from others on how to make an extender more stable while it's working on a universal repeater mode (receives wireless to transmit wireless)

 

[Ralston18]

And do double check that all network computers are configured to use just wired or wireless.

Only one network adapter, be it wired or wireless, should be enabled on any given computer.

Not both network adapters at the same time.

Sometimes overlooked while switching computers between wired or wireless.

 

[karasahin]

And do double check that all network computers are configured to use just wired or wireless.

Only one network adapter, be it wired or wireless, should be enabled on any given computer.

Not both network adapters at the same time.

Sometimes overlooked while switching computers between wired or wireless.

Interesting, good to know.

The desktop doesn't have a network adapter other than the ethernet one but my laptop has both and I think both of them are active/enabled. How do I disable the wired/ethernet one? I don't use it at all.

Edit: I've just disabled it. Thanks!