[SOLVED] Why is the signal from my WiFi repeater dropping?

[pdubz]

My desktop PC is plugged into the LAN port of the repeater and my modem/router is plugged into the WAN port. The repeater is running in router mode, using the same SSID for the wireless network as the router/modem. This has worked without issue for several months , but all of a sudden, and without making any changes, there is no WiFi signal from the repeater. If I reset the repeater and reconfigure it, there will be a signal for a short while before it drops. I have also tried just switching the power to the repeater off and on again, and the signal was available briefly before disappearing again. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[RealBeast]

My desktop PC is plugged into the LAN port of the repeater and my modem/router is plugged into the WAN port. The repeater is running in router mode, using the same SSID for the wireless network as the router/modem. This has worked without issue for several months , but all of a sudden, and without making any changes, there is no WiFi signal from the repeater. If I reset the repeater and reconfigure it, there will be a signal for a short while before it drops. I have also tried just switching the power to the repeater off and on again, and the signal was available briefly before disappearing again. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Look at the "extender" settings. How are you testing for the signal, with a cell phone wifi app?
And you actually want a different subnet (with the router to the WAN)?

Please provide more information like model numbers for both devices. The "extender" should be set up in AP mode if you can reach it with an Ethernet cable from the router unless you actually need a distinct subnet.

 

[pdubz]

Yes, I am testing the signal with a phone, but the WLAN indicator light on the repeater also suggests there is no signal. Additionally, when I set up the repeater, three boxes with configuration info appear on the main setup page: WLAN, LAN and WAN. When I subsequently realise there is no signal and access the setup page, the WLAN box has disappeared from the page.

In terms of a different subnet, I'm not actually sure whether I want this, but I suspect the answer is no. I am a network novice, so I was really just trying to solve the two problems caused by my router/modem being at one end of the house, namely the lack of WiFi signal in the other end of house and the fact that I could not connect my (wired) desktop PC. The reason I have not set the repeater to AP mode is simply because it has always worked in router mode. Since it has stopped functioning, I have tried switching to AP mode, and it seemed to work briefly before also dropping the signal. The downside was that I had to reset the repeater to be able to access the setup page again. I should mention at this point that while the repeater was in router mode, the info boxes referred to above still stated that the WLAN was operating in AP mode.

The router/modem is a Virgin Media Super Hub 3, which is also known as VMDG505 and TG2492LG-VM. The repeater is a generic brand made in China. There is very little else to go on.

The wired connection through the repeater still works fine, and the wireless connection has worked fine for months without issue.

 

[gggplaya]

If it has worked fine for months, then started acting up with no changes made to your settings. I would tend to point to hardware failure. These wifi chips can run very hot, sometimes the solder gets brittle and cracks, or sometimes the chips start to burn up. In the several devices that I've had wifi chips go bad, the problems typically starts intermittently with drops, then becomes more frequent before eventually dying altogether.

 

[gggplaya]

If you're buying a new one, I'd probably get a powerline wifi extender if I were you.