Limited Connectivity Issues - New Router?

[ZerozxCJ]

We recently upgraded routers, it has increased our speeds and has solved the signal strength issue one of our desktops had since it was further away from the router. However, at least twice a day -- if not more -- the internet access notification in the taskbar has the yellow triangle with an exclamation mark pop up (like this one), and it indicates I have limited connectivity. The new router is a TP-LINK Archer C5. Since this did not happen with our old router, I assume it's got to because of the router or its settings.

The connectivity is lost for all devices and computers -- including my iPhone which I keep connected to WiFi when at home. What could be causing this? I don't know if my router is somehow faulty or if there's a setting I can change to fix this, but it's beginning to be very annoying. Sure, it's not an end-of-the-world problem, but having to unplug/reset the router 2-4+ times a day when you're in the middle of working or just playing a game is incredibly irksome.

Please help me out! If anymore information is needed, I'll try to provide it.

edit: ha, right before I tried to post this, it happened again.
edit 2: just FYI: my phone is the only device able to connect to the 5Ghz band. All other computers/devices are on the 2.4Ghz band.

 

[COLGeek]

Check the IP address lease time (how often clients keep an address for before refreshing). Also verify that you have the latest firmware installed.

 

[ZerozxCJ]

Check the IP address lease time (how often clients keep an address for before refreshing). Also verify that you have the latest firmware installed.

Checking and then upgrading the firmware is one of the first things I did after setting it up, so it's got the latest.

I'm looking around in the settings and can't seem to find where the IP address lease time is. Any help here?
EDIT: never mind, I think I found it. Here's the lease time: "Address Lease Time: 120 minutes (1~2880 minutes, the default value is 120)"

 

[COLGeek]

Go here and get the user manual. See page 61.

http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/Archer-C5_V2.html

 

[COLGeek]

Set to max and see if behavior changes.

 

[ZerozxCJ]

Set to max and see if behavior changes.

I set it to the maximum lease of 2880 minutes, but after saving the settings and rebooting the router, it happened again. Had to go reset it again.

 

[COLGeek]

Try this. Disable the 5Ghz band. Only use the 2.4Ghz for wireless. Does that help at all?

There have been reports of similar problems with dual-band routers. Just trying to isolate the issue.

 

[ZerozxCJ]

Try this. Disable the 5Ghz band. Only use the 2.4Ghz for wireless. Does that help at all?

There have been reports of similar problems with dual-band routers. Just trying to isolate the issue.

As we go through the trial-and-error, should I change back the settings to what they were before, and just focus on one at a time? Or keep them all changed as we go along??

Alright, I had the "Dual Band Selection" settings originally set to "Concurrently with 2.4GHz and 5GHz (802.11a/b/g/n/ac)" -- it's now switched to only work with the 2.4Ghz.

 

[COLGeek]

I would start with the router running in its default (out of the box) state, with the exception of disabling the 5Ghz band). Do you know if anything else (other than configuring wireless security) was tweaked on the router from its default config? Also, be sure to disable remote access to the router for security purposes.

 

[ZerozxCJ]

I would start with the router running in its default (out of the box) state, with the exception of disabling the 5Ghz band). Do you know if anything else (other than configuring wireless security) was tweaked on the router from its default config? Also, be sure to disable remote access to the router for security purposes.

No, the only thing I can think of which I haven't already mentioned is I made sure the wireless security settings were set to WPA2 with AES encryption.

 

[COLGeek]

I would start with the router running in its default (out of the box) state, with the exception of disabling the 5Ghz band). Do you know if anything else (other than configuring wireless security) was tweaked on the router from its default config? Also, be sure to disable remote access to the router for security purposes.

No, the only thing I can think of which I haven't already mentioned is I made sure the wireless security settings were set to WPA2 with AES encryption.

That should be fine.

 

[ZerozxCJ]

I would start with the router running in its default (out of the box) state, with the exception of disabling the 5Ghz band). Do you know if anything else (other than configuring wireless security) was tweaked on the router from its default config? Also, be sure to disable remote access to the router for security purposes.

No, the only thing I can think of which I haven't already mentioned is I made sure the wireless security settings were set to WPA2 with AES encryption.

That should be fine.

Well, I guess I'll give it some time and see if the change to the 2.4Ghz-only band helped (I can't know for sure immediately since it's never been at set times during the day). If my connection goes off again with the limited connectivity notice, I'll let you know. Thanks for the help so far

 

[COLGeek]

Understood. Someone is always here willing to help. Good luck!

 

[ZerozxCJ]

Understood. Someone is always here willing to help. Good luck!

Update: Since the last time we posted here, the 27th, it seemed to be going fine. I went the rest of the 27th without a limited connectivity notice once I changed the settings to work with the 2.4Ghz band only, and the entire next day as well.

Today, the 29th, it happened again just now. Hard to say whether it's happening again or if the time I went without an issue was just a fluke. I'll see if it happens anymore today or over the next day or so.

EDIT: Nope, an hour or two after originally posting this, it happened again. Looks like the problem is still there.