Internet Connection

[Slytod]

Ah just made the change anyway. Updated 2 mobiles, tablet, and laptop. Have to see how it goes. (Antivirus moaning about router password but it's left at default anyway for the moment. Bad guys unlikely to make effort to get past the network one anyway.)

The above, is it recommending different passwords for the 2 bands or advising against it ? Presently they have both different names & different passwords. Suspect on the other routers one couldn't or didn't distinguish and of course, the problem was first seen on them.

 

[PeterOz]

I would set them to the same so the devices should pass from 1 to the other if they both have same name and password.

Ah just made the change anyway

Well we can now rule out that option as a problem.
Is the modem connected directly to a wall power socket or a powerboard.
Should be direct to wall

 

[Slytod]

Router is connected directly to the wall socket.

Still getting drop outs but it seems to reconnect a bit easier at present. Fewer periods of switching WiFi off and on again to retry, fewer switching from auto to manual connection or vice versa trying to get it to reconnect. Still get periods of claimed connected without Internet.

 

[PeterOz]

log into the modem and see what the uptime is. You could be dropping on that side.
Have you asked the isp to reset your connection.

 

[Slytod]

I shall look at it tomorrow. The ISP are not the easiest to deal with (despite all the awards they claim they get). My girlfriend was intending to write a detailed letter listing all the problems they've failed to sort and/or created so far. Unsure if she's sent it yet. No not mentioned a reset to them. Unconvinced they'd know what it was. I shall suggest it to her, or maybe she can add it to the complaint letter. Problem is, one can't switch supplier mid contract without losing out.

 

[PeterOz]

I shall look at it tomorrow.

That's fine.
When you loose internet on let's say tablet is it
A) losing connection to to the modem/router or
B) Is the modem/router loosing connection to the internet which then causes the tablet to loose connection.

Maybe we setup the laptop with a fixed wifi ip address and leave it on and when you notice the phone/tablet drop off
check the laptop - just a thought.
Or we could put a wifi monitor app on and see what happens

 

[Slytod]

Any clues where one might find uptime ? "Traffic meter" shows lots of zeroes. Looked in many places but I must be missing it.

What with her desktop being upstairs (with the router) one isn't keen to go rushing up when the tablet or phone drops out. My experience is that occasionally the desktop will go too but far less often. In fact a phone can drop the connection while another remains on, and vice versa. I suspect the desktop drops are unrelated but can't be sure. The router has been known to drop the internet but much of the time it still seems to be on. Nothing is clear cut. I'd suspect option 'A'.

If you have or can link to instructions we could try your suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[PeterOz]

What with her desktop being upstairs (with the router)

Something else added to the mix.
Let me see what manuals I can find for what routers you have

 

[PeterOz]

Do you have a wired network point somewhere downstairs?

 

[Slytod]

Unfortunately the only telephone point downstairs is in the kitchen, so even if I could find a splitter it's not really a suitable position for a cable or PC.

Yesterday, for the tablet, the WiFi connection was up and down like a fiddler's elbow. I eventually set up a hot spot from the mobile handset and connected the tablet to that instead. It indicates how one thing can connect when another thing has issues. It's almost as if all the routers are unhappy with multiple WiFi connections and randomly decide to drop some.

 

[PeterOz]

I was hoping you had a wired network cable downstairs. I was then going to try and setup one of the routers
as an access point.

f all the routers are unhappy with multiple WiFi connections and randomly decide to drop some.

Most unlikely. My guess is interference or distance.
Is the phone point in the kitchen active ? can you move the modem downstairs just for a test for a day or 2. Need to pinpoint the problem. The only way is to troubleshoot. Troubleshooting at times means having something moved to where it is not wanted or running a cable where it is not wanted but it is a temporary measure which then allows for a proper permanent fix without wasting money buying parts they may not help.
If it works downstairs then you can always extend the wifi signal. If upstairs and a point downstairs share same power circuit.

so even if I could find a splitter

Why would you need a splitter?

 

[Slytod]

I'd need to discuss with my girlfriend. I suspect she'd be concerned at the lack of space, but you never know. One issue is that the new location would be just across from the combination oven. Meanwhile, the plan is for us to go back to my place for a few days, travelling sometime tomorrow, so I may need to pause this for a short while.

Now you mention it, there is an extender in the kitchen to allow access on the patio, or further up the garden.

One always needs a splitter to separate the bb data from the voice phone. It's just that the wall socket upstairs includes the splitter integrally. That said, when posting above I think I had forgotten that all the others have separate splitters connected anyway.

The mobile items have often failed to connect properly when standing right next to the router.

 

[Bruce]

@Slytod - do you still need help?

 

[Slytod]

Oh yes. Nothing is yet solved.

I'm now back at my girlfriend's place. She seems amenable to putting up with the router in the kitchen for a few days but suggested it might be better if we could find a long cable so it was sited in the living/dining room instead, and out of her way. Unsure we have a cable that long. I may set something up this afternoon, time permitting: I'm presently working on my PC memory test issue.

 

[PeterOz]

She seems amenable to putting up with the router in the kitchen for a few days

If you have a point downstairs then you can leave the modem/router upstairs and set one of the others up as a repeater
Have a look at this and see what you think

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[Slytod]

Thanks. Only watched the first bit so far, but it seems to require a long cable stretching from the upstairs router to another one in the kitchen (or maybe vice versa, I'm presently unsure which way it goes, presumably if we're using the kitchen point then the old, reset one, goes upstairs ?) Anyway, I'm unsure we have, say 14 yard (?) ethernet cable to join the two routers. I'll watch the rest of the video and see if it clarifies how the upstairs PC gets connected.

Meanwhile, so far today, nothing has dropped out. Admittedly this was always a random event so I'm not expecting it to have cleared itself over the last couple of days without reason, but I'd have expected to see problems by now. Less inclined to start pulling things apart until it reappearedit

edit
18:25, 19:35, and 19:45, all had dropouts, although they recovered quickly. So still not 100%.
Looked the the video, it's interesting, but unsure how it helps. Save for keeping the upstairs desktop on the Net, had we a long ethernet cable to use. Losing the upstairs desktop may be a red line for my girlfriend, as she spends quite a bit of time on it. Didn't find time to progress today, in fact unsure of next move anyway. And 21:16.

 

[PeterOz]

You do not need a long cable it is already in the wall. Upstairs Router to wall socket. Down stairs Wall socket to router

 

[Slytod]

So both are plugged in to the same broadband but at different sockets/rooms. I'll try to find time tomorrow then. Cheers.

 

[PeterOz]

Now you mention it, there is an extender in the kitchen to allow access on the patio, or further up the garden.

Ok I assume that this is a wall socket in the kitchen.
If that is true then upstairs near the router you must have a wall socket that has nothing plugged into it.
We then assume that the wall socket upstairs has a cable that runs through the wall and downstairs and is connected to the wall socket in the kitchen.
If that is true. Then upstairs on the back of the router you have a cable that plugs into the desktop computer.
If that is true on the back of the router you must have empty ports.
if that is true. Plug a cable into a spare LAN port (NOT WAN) and plug it into the empty wall socket.
You should then have a direct connection from the upstairs to the kitchen. No need to run a cable down the stairs.

 

[PeterOz]

18:25, 19:35, and 19:45, all had dropouts, although they recovered quickly. So still not 100%.

The one thing I am not 100% sure of is the drop out from tablet to router.
Or is the connection from the router to the internet dropping out.

All the above is assuming the tablets and phones are losing connection to the router and the computer upstairs is still connected to the internet