[SOLVED] Wireless/LAN issues despite what router I use...

[Richy85]

Hi guys, hoping someone can help as am at the end of my tether!

Moved into a new place back in February. Previously to that in my last places I've been using a TP-Link TD-W8970 router for all my networking needs which has always worked flawlessly.
Decided to make a modest upgrade to the TP-Link AC1200 VSDL router to get rid of the bt openreach VDSL modem and make things a bit neater as the router was going to be in visible sight and wanted to minimise clutter, cables etc.

Since then have had endless issues with networking. WiFi keeps constantly dropping out at random intervals. Will often still say Connected, secured on devives but try to load websites and it will just sit there in limbo trying to load, try and open games or programs and will get message saying no internet connection. Try and reconnect and devices usually just sit there trying to connect for aaaages before they give up and time out.
LAN'd computers will normally work fine, so usually I end up going on my main wired PC and going into the router to restart which usually fixes the problem. For a wile.

Occasionally though it will bork the LAN as well. Been getting home recently and the GF and kids say that theres no wifi. So I go an turn my PC on to access the router panel to restart and it wont even access the router, just sits there trying to load like the wifi does.
Sometimes it will BARELY work on LAN but everything will be suuuuuuper slow. Returns to normal speeds after restart tho.
Sometimes I come down in the mornings and turn my PC on and it will say no internet so have to hard rest the router even though everything was working perfectly fine the night before and nothing had been used overnight in the time between.

Figured I might just have a dodgy router so got a replacement sent out and sent old one back. Was fine for about a week and the issues started again.

Started to think that maybe one of my devices might be the issue so tried each device on its own individually over the course of several weeks. Doesn't seem to matter what device is attached/connected, router still f's up on it's own.

stuck with that router for a month or two trying to figure stuff out. Eventually got really annoyed and figured maybe I'm just super unlucky and got two bad routers in a row.... Stuff happens.
So sent that router back for a refund and wired up my old router with the attached VDSL modem.
Again, all was fine for all of a week or two and EXACTLY the same issues.

I'm at a loss now to think of things to do.
Had two new routers and even my old router is doing exactly the same thing...

I've tried each device individually, tried different chanels on the router, firmware is up to date.
Starting to wonder if maybe I have some localised interference from somewhere?
Or is it one of my devices that keeps borking the routers? I have two LAN'd PC's both windows 10. I have a synology NAS attached via LAN. Wireless devices include a sony tv, sky box, an LG TV which doesnt get used much as in my man cave up top of garden and is always turned off, have a hauwei mediapad tablet, galaxy tablet, galaxy s7, oneplus 6t and an epson printer connected.

Most of these devices were used prior to coming to this new place and never had an issue before on this old router which I am using again now...

It's driving me insane.
I don't think the issue itself is with any particular router, but would dearly LOVE to fix whatever the problem is

 

[kaehligj]

Is the router placed in a confined space with walls nearby ?
If you have set for 5GHz bands, try 2.4GHz bands instead.

Do a search for networks under network settings, to look for any other networks nearby, that may blow out you router.

Bluetooth devices are known to interfere with 2.4GHs WiFi bands.
Try disable you cellphones bluetooth interface.

Any proprierty devices working in the 2.4GHz band could also cause problems, like non BlueTooth wireless dongles for keyboard, headphones etc.

Lastly total up how many walls the WiFi must pass through to reach the clients.
Only one wall is acceptable in my book, and if that is a brickwall, you may even need a repeater.

 

[Richy85]

Thanks for reply.

Not a confined space but it's mounted on a wall in a room roughly 4m-5m.

No bluetooth devices in the house.
I've used a wifi scanner to try and find the most optimal channels, doesnt help.

Most devices are in adjacement rooms or floor above.
Although, my man cave is top of garden and can still acess the wifi just fine and can stream HD movies from my NAS with ease.

 

[kaehligj]

You updated your router to a 1200 mbps type.
Which mode have you set it to ? (b/g/n/ac)
And which mode are your client receivers capable off ?

 

[Richy85]

All routers have been set to 11b/g/n mixed. Current router is only 300Mbps

And dunno.

 

[kaehligj]

Try a wifi repeater.
The type that plugs into a wall outlet.

You will only need to replace your outer setup on the client - and re-type the WEP password for this new connection, as this will be repeated too.
The repeater will mark itself with the same name as your router, but have an extension like repeat or extend to that name.

Repeaters are cheap these days on Ebay or Amazon.

 

[kaehligj]

BTW: silly question, I know, but ...
Your router is equipped with at least 3 external antennas ?

 

[Richy85]

Funnily enough, I had some TP-link powerline range extenders/repeaters.
Stopped using them because they were causing IP conflicts.

 

[Richy85]

BTW: silly question, I know, but ...
Your router is equipped with at least 3 external antennas ?

Yup.

 

[Richy85]

Literally just happened again tonight.
Turned my PC off and went into lounge and GF said wifi hasnt been working again. So i go and start PC up again to access router and nothing. No internet, cant get into router. Browser just sits there trying to load but not coming back with any errors or anything.
Literally had been playing games and surfing minutes before turning it off perfectly fine.

Had to hard reset router again...

Driving me NUTS.

 

[bill001g]

I have not read this complete thread but it from your last post is sounds like a router failure especially if you attempt to access it via ethernet. Although failure of the wifi radio chips is rare it does happen and it is not uncommon for you to be able to connect to the wifi but no data will pass.

You could try firmware update but this sounds like a hardware issue.

When it breaks try unplugging everything except 1 lan cable and see if you can access the router. You could also see if you can ping the router. If the router has a button to turn off the wifi radios you can try that too.

Goal is to see if maybe some device is causing issues on your network rather than the router itself being bad.

Still when a router does not respond at all especially if you can not ping it from the lan that generally is a crashed router.

 

[Richy85]

How can it be a fault of the router when this is happening on two store bought routers and still even on my old router that has been working flawlessly previously since 2013?

 

[nigelivey]

Try a wifi repeater.
The type that plugs into a wall outlet.

You will only need to replace your outer setup on the client - and re-type the WEP password for this new connection, as this will be repeated too.
The repeater will mark itself with the same name as your router, but have an extension like repeat or extend to that name.

Repeaters are cheap these days on Ebay or Amazon.

Never use repeaters, by design they will slow your network connection or WEP passwords for anything!!!!!