Wireless timeouts exactly every 5 minutes

[icekxd]

Hello,

Let me begin by saying that I am on a network with multiple access points situated around the entire building. It is a hotel with a lobby, restaurant and a bar as well as two floors with 53 rooms on each. The access points are separated by approximately 15-20 metres. I have one right outside my door yet still only get 70% signal strength with the adapter 1 metre away from the door without obstructions, but that's not the problem.

The problem is that the connection times out exactly every 5 minutes. When playing online, I can start a stopwatch and pinpoint an exact time to a second when it will boot me out of the game. Timeout lasts merely a second, but it's enough to interrupt my daily operations. During this timeout, packets are sent, but none received. Very rarely, it happens once or twice every hour that once it will skip the expected 5 minute timeout and just timeout all over again after 5 more minutes. Also, this happens for everyone residing here. A networking 'specialist' has been here several times, improved wireless range, yet this problem persists.

I have tried buying a new wireless adapter with higher speed. Used a different one for better range. I have also tried selecting a specific access point so that it won't change automatically. I know for sure that during this timeout I remain connected to the network, but I can't receive any packets. Majority of access points are channel 6. Several are channel 11, makes no difference, only farther distance = lower speed.

Could it be a SSID conflict of the access points? If so, why doesn't it happen all the time but only every 5 minutes? Why does my PC stop receiving packets every 5 minutes for a very short moment but sends them successfully? What can I do to fix this? It is literally doing my head in, I cannot simply do one task without this stupidity interfering with it.

Finally, contacting the network administrator is helpless. Problem persists for months as far as I know. I can access Alcatel-Lucent WebView however there is no chance for me to log in or even attempt to, as ethernet ports are non-functional.

 

[COLGeek]

I suspect the "lease time" on your assigned IP address is timing out every 5 minutes. This can only be corrected by the router/AP's administrator.

 

[icekxd]

I suspect the "lease time" on your assigned IP address is timing out every 5 minutes. This can only be corrected by the router/AP's administrator.

Thanks for your prompt reply. I was considering that, but if that is the case, then why is it occasionally going over 5 minutes? Actually, on one occasion it stopped timing out for over 3 hours and then started again, then stopped for another 2 hours. It was towards the evening when most people were using the network.

I am totally clueless in this matter.

Also, as far as I can see from ipconfig, DHCP is disabled, therefore lease time shouldn't be the case here. But I might be wrong here. http://imgur.com/a/MzlBH

 

[corroded]

If you do not have admin on the system (Router and AP controller unit) you are SOL. Get out your cell phone and make it a hotspot and bill back the overages or move...

Without access to the system we are all shooting blind, sorry.

 

[icekxd]

If you do not have admin on the system (Router and AP controller unit) you are SOL. Get out your cell phone and make it a hotspot and bill back the overages or move...

Without access to the system we are all shooting blind, sorry.

Moving seems like the most reasonable solution. But it's not a possible one, as I am studying here.

In terms of lease time being 5 minutes, I don't think it's the case as DHCP is disabled as far as I can see from IPconfig.

Regards.

 

[COLGeek]

I suspect the "lease time" on your assigned IP address is timing out every 5 minutes. This can only be corrected by the router/AP's administrator.

Thanks for your prompt reply. I was considering that, but if that is the case, then why is it occasionally going over 5 minutes? Actually, on one occasion it stopped timing out for over 3 hours and then started again, then stopped for another 2 hours. It was towards the evening when most people were using the network.

I am totally clueless in this matter.

Also, as far as I can see from ipconfig, DHCP is disabled, therefore lease time shouldn't be the case here. But I might be wrong here. http://imgur.com/a/MzlBH

Seems this info is slightly different than your original post. The problem could also be associated with the number of users/devices connected to the network at any given time.

You are stuck without working with the network administrator. I assume others have similar problems. Have you checked with anyone else?

 

[COLGeek]

If you do not have admin on the system (Router and AP controller unit) you are SOL. Get out your cell phone and make it a hotspot and bill back the overages or move...

Without access to the system we are all shooting blind, sorry.

Moving seems like the most reasonable solution. But it's not a possible one, as I am studying here.

In terms of lease time being 5 minutes, I don't think it's the case as DHCP is disabled as far as I can see from IPconfig.

Regards.

If DHCP is disabled, who gave you a fixed IP address to use for your system? Have your tried using DHCP on your end? If so, how does this setting (with the assigned IP) perform?

 

[icekxd]

I suspect the "lease time" on your assigned IP address is timing out every 5 minutes. This can only be corrected by the router/AP's administrator.

Thanks for your prompt reply. I was considering that, but if that is the case, then why is it occasionally going over 5 minutes? Actually, on one occasion it stopped timing out for over 3 hours and then started again, then stopped for another 2 hours. It was towards the evening when most people were using the network.

I am totally clueless in this matter.

Also, as far as I can see from ipconfig, DHCP is disabled, therefore lease time shouldn't be the case here. But I might be wrong here. http://imgur.com/a/MzlBH

Seems this info is slightly different than your original post. The problem could also be associated with the number of users/devices connected to the network at any given time.

You are stuck without working with the network administrator. I assume others have similar problems. Have you checked with anyone else?

I thought I mentioned it in the original post, sorry. I have checked with reception who are "aware" of this issue. It also happens to others.

It is also worth mentioning that all of my devices timeout at the same exact time. I have checked on my phone connected to the WiFi as well as my PC and they do timeout at the same time.

And in terms of DHCP on my end, I haven't tried that because quite frankly, I don't know how to. I'll have a look into it.

 

[icekxd]

Never mind, I have done this already. Makes no difference on IPv4 whether it obtains an IP address automatically or whether I specify one. on IPv6 I don't know.

 

[icekxd]

Nevertheless, I forgot to mention that this hotel is situated on a training airfield, within 50 metres away from an active runway. There is an instrument landing system which is basically two very strong radio beams with a localizer (a massive antenna array)

Could this be the issue?

 

[COLGeek]

Nevertheless, I forgot to mention that this hotel is situated on a training airfield, within 50 metres away from an active runway. There is an instrument landing system which is basically two very strong radio beams with a localizer (a massive antenna array)

Could this be the issue?

RFI could certainly affect the wireless network, depending on the frequencies involved. If so, there is likely little (beyond converting to wired connections) that can be done to resolve the potential interference.

 

[COLGeek]

It seems you aren't the only member with an issue at this location:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3192923/internet-drops-minutes-due-connecting-access-points.html