Wifi plus keeps losing the signal every few hours.

  • 23 January 2023
  • 25 reacties
  • 554 Bekeken

  • is een Top Poster
  • 6 reacties

Backgroud info:
I am a relatively new customer (since late December) and I have Zyxel T-54 modem. The modem works fine and there were no signal hiccups with it.

I additionaly ordered mesh point so I have Zyxel WAP6807 (directly from T-mobile). When I first installed it, the installation was succesful and I placed it where I wanted (living room, top lamp green, middle lap green, wifi working). After that, the internet works great.

 

However, after a few hours the device lost the signal: top lamp green, middle lamp off, bottom lamp green. Therefore, the wifi it sends out has no internet. The router itself is still working fine, because if I turn off mesh and connect to wifi signal produced by modem, the internet works.(the signal can still reach the living room and the spot where the mesh is, but it’s weak for business video calls)

Sometimes it is enough to restart the mesh and after that, it can still send out the working wifi. Other times, this does not help and while the mesh has also middle lamp green, the signal has no internet.

In such case, I have to reset the mesh and install it anew. This is just a temporary solution because after few hours, same behaviour occurs. When I say few hours, that can range from ~ 8-30 hours. I tried to reset both, modem and mesh, install the mesh again to see if that would help but it doesn't.

Needless to say that this is unwanted behaviour if this happens during the work call. Therefore, advice would be appreciated.

 

This shouldn't have any impact but I”ll mention that I connect my laptop to mesh via cable.


25 reacties

Reputatie 7
Badge +9

Hi @Pavol, welcome to the Community! Thank you for the specific details. Would you mind following some steps for me? That way I get a better idea of ​​the situation:

The wifi extender needs to be free of any obstacles, here are some examples of wrong placement of the wifi extender: 

• The wifi extender is placed on the ground. Eye-level is desirable for an optimal signal
• The wifi extender is placed behind a metal object (such as a tv, stereo or refrigerator)
• The wifi extender is placed around an aquarium or aquariums (water disrupts the signal)

If the wifi extender is not placed correctly, move it for an optimal signal. Then perform a speed measurement again. Is this not the case? Give the WAP a factory reset by pressing the button on the back of the WAP for 5 seconds with a pin. Manually reconnect the WAP to the modem using these exact steps showed here: https://www.t-mobile.nl/klantenservice/thuis/internet-wifi/installeren/wifi-punt

Has the problem been solved now? If not, there may be something wrong with the modem. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

Hi @Tommie,

The extender is placed at the beginning of my working desk so there are no obstacles in a way. Everything else (monitor, laptop etc.) is further on the desk. The middle lamp is green when I set up the device, which I believe should mean that the signal, or distance from the modem, is fine.

 

I thought this could be an issue in the beginning, so I tried what you suggested during the first days already.

I placed the extender on a cabinet at the entrance of living rooom (closer to the modem). Device after reset, there where no other electronics around and it was at around 1.5m height but it had the same result - worked fine for couple of hours, then indicated that it lost the signal and kept sending out wifi without the internet. To fix this, as mentioned earlier, I had to again restart or reset and re-install the extender.

 

As it had the same result when placing elsewhere, I put it back on my desk as this way I can plug my laptop to the extender directly.

Reputatie 7
Badge +9

Hi @Pavol, thank you for checking everything. There might be a problem with your modem. Would you mind running some tests for me? Then I can start an investigation:

 

I’d like to receive a couple of screenshots of speed tests. Please take a close look at the following steps! If the tests don’t meet the necessary criteria, we can’t start an investigation. -Go to www.speedtest.net/apps in your browser and download the app for the device on which you want to perform the speed test - Please shut down all open systems including VPN -The computer or laptop has to be connected via an ethernet cable, a speed test of a TV or gaming computer can’t be used -Run the speed test. For the best results it’s best to test on several target servers. When you press the big GA-button, you can choose a server. Is the speed below the attainable average? Repeat the test on the same device but with a five minute intermission between the tests -Take at least two screenshots of speed tests on different target servers and make sure your whole desktop screen is visible, so we can see the connection type (it's important that it's visible that the speedtest is made with a internet connection via a ethernet cable) -Take a screenshot of the taakbeheer (Task Manager, on Windows) or the activiteitenmonitor (Activity Monitor on iOS): In Windows you’ll find this by pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL; choose more details if they’re not directly visible In Apple MacOS you can search for "Activity Monitor" from the Spotlight search box -Take a screenshot of the IP configuration: Windows: via the search function under shortcut “Windows + R”, type in: “cmd” and press Enter (or search for Opdrachtprompt/Command Prompt in the starting menu). After opening, type in: ipconfig / all and press Enter Apple MacOS: via the Finder or the Spotlight search window you can open the Terminal app. Type in: /sbin /ifconfig and press Enter. This will display all connections the device has at that specific moment. Please send me the screenshots in one message and make sure that the mentioned steps are followed precisely. Thanks in advance!

 

Hello @Tommie 
I followed the instructions you provided. I got the speedtest app on my laptop and connected the laptop to modem via ethernet cable.

Here are the results of the tests:

Test 1

Test 2

Test 3
 

Test 4

 

Here are the screenshots of the Task manager (I hope that's what you wanted):

 

And the cmd screenshot:

 

Thank you for your time looking into this. Please let me know if you would need anything else.

Reputatie 7
Badge +4

However, after a few hours the device lost the signal: top lamp green, middle lamp off, bottom lamp green. Therefore, the wifi it sends out has no internet. The router itself is still working fine, because if I turn off mesh and connect to wifi signal produced by modem, the internet works.(the signal can still reach the living room and the spot where the mesh is, but it’s weak for business video calls)

Just to give one tip 😉 

If the signal of the router itself is already to weak for video calls etc at that place, it will also be to weak for the Zyxel WAP6807. My advice will be to place it closer to the Modem (or connect it with a wire if possible). 

My rule of thumb is always place it where the modem signal is still good but close to the place it need improvement. Even moving it 1 meter might improve it already.

 

 

Hello @Sven-TMT 

Thank you for the tip. I do understand that correct placement should help but let me explain why this did not help in my case. I spend some time today to do some tests which will hopefully help with clarification.

 

 

Scenario 1: No extender (extender turned off)

I’d like to clarify the remark about the signal. In the pictures bellow you can see the signal indicated while my laptop is connected directly to modem. To me it looks like the signal should be fine.

 

Here are the speed tests (done via app). It seems fine but it’s not sufficient when having screensharing session while simultaniously working on VM(s) - needed for my job.

 

 

Scenario 2: Via extender placed on the other side of the room

In this scenario, the extender is not excessively far from modem. It is ~4-5 meters closer to modem than the laptop showcased in the Scenario1. The speedtests are shown below and there is only a slight improvement. Despite only small speed improvement, the performance is better suitable for my work.

However, as described in the main topic, there is an issue with this scenario. The extender seems to lose the signal every few hours. Sometimes it helps to restart the extender (unplug, wait a bit, plug again). Other times, this is not sufficient and it is necessary to reset the extender (plug to modem, reset with pin 10sec, install, place to desired room).

 

 

Scenario 3: Extender placed on work desk

In this scenario, the extender is on the work desk approximetly 1 meter closer to modem than laptop in Scenario1. The laptop is plugged to the extender via ethernet. This seems to have the best results as you can see in the pictures from speedtests.

However, same issue as in the Scenario 2 or as described in the main topic. The extender stops working after few hours.

 

The scenarios 2 & 3 have the same issue - replacing the extender does not seem to have any effect on this. I hope this helps to explain why I opted for scenario 3 in the end.

Reputatie 7
Badge +9

Hey @Pavol, thank you for all the trouble!  I can't easily see what's going on from here. I therefore sent a technician to take a closer look. You will receive a text message and e-mail from Guidion to schedule an appointment. I hope they can solve this issue. 

Hi @Tommie 

Thank you for your assistance so far.

The technician was here and said that as long as the measured internet speed is more than 30Mbps, this should be considered fine because that's the guarantee from T-mobile regardless of the chosen internet connection (1Gbps in my case).

Of course, more than 30 was measured so the conclusion was that the modem should be okay. I explained the issue with extender and was informed that all we could do is replace the device.

My extender was replaced but the new one is behaving in the similar way, but worse. I am using the Scenario 2 that I mentioned in my previous comment and the situation now is:

  • The extender works fine but for shorter intervals as it was with previous extender
  • After some time, now it is from 15 minutes - 5 hours, the extender stops working. However, this time there is no indication on the extender - the middle lamp does not turn off but stays green and the extender sends out the network signal without the internet.
  • Again, restaring sometimes helps but other times it is required to reset the extender and install anew.

Therefore, exchanging the extender did not solve the issue.

Reputatie 7
Badge +9

Hi @Pavol what is the internet speed what you get wired? Did you connect the wifi extender wired or wirelessly? Do you see any change in the lights on the wifi extender? I would be happy to help you with this.

Good afternoon, I found this thread interesting as I am having the exact same issue. Initially I thought it was my modem and/or connection however it seems to be the extender. I even ordered a second extender thinking that a new one would work better. Gideon came out and changed everything (other than the extenders) and the problem continues. What I have now done to rule out where I place my extender is to connect the extender via ethernet cable in my office where I need the extender (I have a network set up in my house - I have some further comments on this shortly). Even when connected via an ethernet cable the extender will work for a few hours and then disconnect and take 5-10 minutes to reconnect. This has happened three times this afternoon alone. Coming back to my second point above, why not just connect my PC directly to the ethernet port. I have tried this and when on video calls, people say that they can’t hear me every few minutes. This happens every time I use the ethernet option. I am lost at what to do because speed wise, it works perfectly (when its working). It disconnects for no reason and I cannot find a trend or reason for this. 

Reputatie 7
Badge +9

Hi @MikeWintelre, welcome to our Community!😎

 

I am happy to help you with this. I just can't find a subscription on this e-mail address. Can you send me your postcode, house number, date of birth and the last four digits of your billing number in a private message? Then I'll have a look with you! 

Hi @Tommie , thanks for the response. I have sent you a private message with the information requested. 

Ik had dit probleem ook met het Zyxel modem en mijn redelijk nieuwe laptop (ook wifi-6 zoals deze gebruiker). Heb het modem vervangen door een Fritzbox, die is minder snel met wifi maar wel gewoon 100% stabiel en dat is veel belangrijker.

Reputatie 7
Badge +9

Hi @MikeWintelre, I immediately started looking for you. I see you have connected your own switch/router. Can you test the connection without it being connected? Then we can see if the fault is coming from the network or if it is due to the the connection. Would love to hear back from you. 

Hi @Tommie , I had this connected without the direct network connection before. The extender did exactly the same thing. I tried moving the extender and even ordered a second extender to see if it was the extender itself. Both have the same problem. The strange thing is that everything was working fine for a few months and all of a sudden, things changed and I get this continued problem with it disconnecting. 

Reputatie 7
Badge +9

Hi @MikeWintelre could you still try to remove the switch in between and reinstall the wifi points?

Hi @Tommie I have done this today and still face the same issue. For completeness, the repeater is about 8m from the modem through one wall and 10m from my office which is down an open passage. I have tried moving closer to the modem and further away. The optimal spot I had was around 9m away in the passageway between my office and modem. Everything works well until 2 hours later and it disconnects and reconnects again. My second wifi extender is on the second level. Even though this is only 4-5m from the modem, I get a green light which turns red from time to time. We also get signal drops and poor signal there which makes no sense.

This is what speeds and latency I am currently getting in my office with the point placed as above.

Reputatie 7
Badge +4

This is what speeds and latency I am currently getting in my office with the point placed as above.

Seem you are using a VPN from Cato Networks 😉. If you drop your customer ID in your profile I will have a look at your Wifi extenders.

Hi Sven, thanks. I have added it to my profile. Yes, using Cato VPN for my work laptop.

@Tommie @Sven-TMT - A quick update. Even with switching repeaters around and with the setup above, the wifi continues to drop. Fine for 1-2 hours and then drops as I just experienced now. I suspected that the VPN on my work laptop may also be causing the problems however I use a Sonos speaker setup and this highlights the drop quite clearly. 

Reputatie 7
Badge +4

Hi @MikeWintelre

I had a quick look at the WAP6807 connections back the the CPE. It is not great, to put it lightly 😉. 

Seems they are either placed to far from the CPE or there is already to much interference to have a good signal. Both of them report between -80 and -90 dBm RSSI. Which means the connection will either be really slow or just be disconnecting all the time, like you noticed. 

In this case i would advice to ,if possible, use a ethernet cable between the AP and CPE. Since you already tried to relocate the AP without any good results. 

Hi @Sven-TMT . Thanks for checking. That helps a lot. I did try to connect the AP with an ethernet cable in my office (where I need the wifi extended) but still got the same problems for some reason. I was chatting to another agent at T-Mobile and the mentioned I can try to link the two APs together so CPE to AP and AP to the second AP. I have tried that for now to see if this makes a difference. I didnt realize that this was possible so lets see if it works.

Reputatie 7
Badge +4

Hi @Sven-TMT . Thanks for checking. That helps a lot. I did try to connect the AP with an ethernet cable in my office (where I need the wifi extended) but still got the same problems for some reason. I was chatting to another agent at T-Mobile and the mentioned I can try to link the two APs together so CPE to AP and AP to the second AP. I have tried that for now to see if this makes a difference. I didnt realize that this was possible so lets see if it works.

Great! I Hope this will help :) 

For what I can see is that the connections between the clients and the AP are good. So if we can fix the connections between the CPE and AP it would improve a lot :) 

Hi I have the exact same issue, zyxel mesh drops connection after a few hours. restating works but then again drops connection. The access points seem are placed well, on the wall at eye level (with a velcro), when works all LED-s are green. But when drops, middle LED off, internet drops. Talked to CS a few times, some setting were changed remotely, works a few days then the problem restarts. As I see the thread, there is no definitive solution.

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