[SOLVED] Recurring wifi issues on multiple routers

[GreenGiant117]

So I have an issue with my wireless network.
I had a Netgear R7000 setup to put out separate 2.4 and 5GHz networks, and that worked for just shy of a year, then the wireless died on it, by this I mean I could connect to the networks but I was getting terrible throughput to the internet and to my NAS (QNAP TS-451+) via wireless but hard wired on the same device (laptop and desktop) I got great performance. Going through multiple rounds of firmware updates (even a couple betas from support) and resetting multiple times, and all the other diagnostics I could think of it ended up needing an RMA which Netgear charges you shipping both ways for. The fact that I would have to shell out probably $50 and that I would be without a router for the better part of one to two months, I decided to just go with an upgrade and purchased a TP-Link Archer C3150 since it was on a great sale and had pretty good reviews.
I have been using this router since September (about 8 months now) and I am now starting to experience the same issues.

At first I noticed issues when streaming Youtube on my phone (Pixel 2XL at the time) at the far reaches of my house, it would show disconnected then Back Online once or twice over the course of a longer video or two, I figured this was prioritization of the 5G network, losing it, and reconnecting to the 2.4G, no big deal, but recently my new phone is experiencing these disconnects fairly often (Pixel 3XL) and my laptop will suddenly lose internet connection for no apparent reason, I stay connected to the network, but it has no internet.
As before wired experiences no lapses in coverage or speed, so its not my internet dropping out to my house.

Why would two different branded devices, 8 months apart experience the same issues?
Since switching I have hard wired more of my house to reduce the load on the wifi, though I do have a lot of home automation installed so there are many devices (18-25) on the wifi at any given time.

I have considered upgrading again to a mesh system, since my house is rather large (around 75 feet end to end, with 2 stories and a basement to cover)

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[bill001g]

Mesh is just fancy marketing. They are just slightly more advanced wifi repeaters. They still suffer from having 2 radio signals..1 to the main router and a second to the end client. So now you have 2 radio signals that can be interfered with. If you plan to use them on ethernet cables as AP then mesh doesn't do much more than just buying actual AP. Using AP is the best way to get better wifi coverage and has been used by large industry for years. It is not something new mesh just pretends it is.

Wifi is crazy to troubleshoot. You never really know if the equipment it actually faulty or if it is the much more common issue of interference from neighbors wifi equipment. All it takes is your nieghbor to get a new router and choose the same radio channels as you are using. In addition you have the mobile hotspot things in some cars so you get drive by interference now days. You have very few option you can change the radio channels but most routers use 2/3 of 2.4g band and 4/9 channels on the 5g band. There is not much you can change and if you have a fancy try band router it actually uses 8/9 of the 5g channels. It is only going to keep getting worse with the new 802.11ax using the total 5g bandwidth for 1 router. Also you have tons of people buying into the "mesh" sillness and so now people have mulitple radio devices in their house that can interfere with each other and all your equipment.

 

[GreenGiant117]

Mesh is just fancy marketing. They are just slightly more advanced wifi repeaters. They still suffer from having 2 radio signals..1 to the main router and a second to the end client. So now you have 2 radio signals that can be interfered with. If you plan to use them on ethernet cables as AP then mesh doesn't do much more than just buying actual AP. Using AP is the best way to get better wifi coverage and has been used by large industry for years. It is not something new mesh just pretends it is.

Wifi is crazy to troubleshoot. You never really know if the equipment it actually faulty or if it is the much more common issue of interference from neighbors wifi equipment. All it takes is your nieghbor to get a new router and choose the same radio channels as you are using. In addition you have the mobile hotspot things in some cars so you get drive by interference now days. You have very few option you can change the radio channels but most routers use 2/3 of 2.4g band and 4/9 channels on the 5g band. There is not much you can change and if you have a fancy try band router it actually uses 8/9 of the 5g channels. It is only going to keep getting worse with the new 802.11ax using the total 5g bandwidth for 1 router. Also you have tons of people buying into the "mesh" sillness and so now people have mulitple radio devices in their house that can interfere with each other and all your equipment.

I agree that it is a rebrand of access points, though they are specifically designed and programmed to work better at it without the insane setup time consumption of setting up normal access points.

To your point about neighbors, I am far enough away from other houses and the road that I do not think this is an issue, also as I said it worked fine for 8 months then started acting up

 

[bill001g]

There is no way to be sure you have to remember all the crap that runs wifi. Things like roku runs its own ssid for the remote. Instead of choosing the least used channel it actually creates the ssid on the strongest channel it can find. There are lights and thermostates and even washing machines that run wifi.

When it comes to hardware issues it is hard to know if it is the client or the router. It is very rare for either to fail which is why interference tends to be the most common cause.

I can't see what there is to setup on a AP. The SSID and the ip to manage it. If you think they can do roaming that is another myth, the end client not the AP determines where the end device connects to. Best the "mesh" network can do is keep dropping the connection until the end device picks what the mesh thinks is best.

 

[patelpk72]

I was have the same issues. My internet connection would cut out for 3-5 minutes multiple times a day . (80 devices in the house). I had Comcast and Verzon 5G. both had the issues so assumed it was with my internal setup. removed some older switches i had that could be of issues. reduced load by wiring as much as i could (even using powerline ethernet in some cases). The used two different AP forced on two different channels to separate devices such as lights, thermos, etc. better but still have issues now less frequently. waiting to try a wifi 6 router but i'm thinking i just need to get a business grade router like cisco or ubiquity or something.. looking also so Synology RT router (as i have 2 Synology NAS and love them). anyone been through this nightmare already? it has to be that i have too many devices on my network for home grade routers that Comcast adn Verizon provide.