[SOLVED] Wi-Fi Wireless Network just disappears

gbgamer

Honorable
Oct 7, 2016
4
0
10,510
Hello,

I have a general question. What would make a network (name) just drop off and disappear?

Basically, at my business, I have an outdoor access point, which people connect to wirelessly from their phones or laptops etc.

Every few days, the network name will just disappear. No one can see the network on their devices at all. When I reboot the main internet box, (the one that the access point is connected to), the network will re-appear after the reboot, and people will then see the network, and can click on it and connect to the internet.

(I recently had comcast upgrade that main box, and I get about 100 - 130mbps when I do a speed test, when the network is fine. At any point there could be about 30 - 50 devices connected to the network eg some cell phones, some laptops etc).

Thanks for any help!
 
Solution
Kanewold, thank you for taking the time to reply.

I am not totally versed in 'networking', and my breif readup on DHCP indicates to me that this could possibly be the issue.

Are you able to expand a bit and let me know what I can do in the settings to improve this. Eg do I look at increasing the lease time?
Would need to know what router you have to give you a detailed answer.
The generic answer is to look at the LAN page in your router GUI. There should be a DHCP section. One of the parameters is lease duration. It is often 86400 (24 hours in seconds), set it to 4 hours (14400). That will allow the router to forget about devices sooner. IF you have very high turnover of customers you could go for two hours...

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Hello,

I have a general question. What would make a network (name) just drop off and disappear?

Basically, at my business, I have an outdoor access point, which people connect to wirelessly from their phones or laptops etc.

Every few days, the network name will just disappear. No one can see the network on their devices at all. When I reboot the main internet box, (the one that the access point is connected to), the network will re-appear after the reboot, and people will then see the network, and can click on it and connect to the internet.

(I recently had comcast upgrade that main box, and I get about 100 - 130mbps when I do a speed test, when the network is fine. At any point there could be about 30 - 50 devices connected to the network eg some cell phones, some laptops etc).

Thanks for any help!
First thing that comes to mind is that you run out of DHCP address range. Try shortening the DHCP lease time to 2 to 4 hours.
 

gbgamer

Honorable
Oct 7, 2016
4
0
10,510
First thing that comes to mind is that you run out of DHCP address range. Try shortening the DHCP lease time to 2 to 4 hours.

Kanewold, thank you for taking the time to reply.

I am not totally versed in 'networking', and my breif readup on DHCP indicates to me that this could possibly be the issue.

Are you able to expand a bit and let me know what I can do in the settings to improve this. Eg do I look at increasing the lease time?
 

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Kanewold, thank you for taking the time to reply.

I am not totally versed in 'networking', and my breif readup on DHCP indicates to me that this could possibly be the issue.

Are you able to expand a bit and let me know what I can do in the settings to improve this. Eg do I look at increasing the lease time?
Would need to know what router you have to give you a detailed answer.
The generic answer is to look at the LAN page in your router GUI. There should be a DHCP section. One of the parameters is lease duration. It is often 86400 (24 hours in seconds), set it to 4 hours (14400). That will allow the router to forget about devices sooner. IF you have very high turnover of customers you could go for two hours (7200). I wouldn't recommend shorter than 2 hours.
 
Solution