BBnet connectivity problems

harringtonp

Have been with BBnet a few years but recently there have been quite a few outages. Devices would drop the wireless connection to the router and then go about reconnecting again. This process could take a couple of minutes (some devices are better at it than others) and no sooner than they would reconnect, the same thing would happen shortly after. This behaviour is more noticeable in the evenings.

Now when the problem occurs, I can take the RJ45 connection going into the back of the router and plug it directly into my laptop and I have internet connectivity. In fact when plugged in direct and bypassing the router I have rarely seen problems.

After discussing this with BBnet support we came to the conclusion that the router may be old and problematical. So I replaced it with a new version of the same model (TP LINK model TL-WR841N) but see the same problems.

I then borrowed an old Trendnet router and really went at it. I fixed the wireless mode to G as most devices support this, reduced packet size from 2346 to 2304 (saw this suggested somewhere but don't really understand the rational), used WEP authentication as it is less complicated and set the DHCP lease time to 1 week.

The above made no difference so I then assigned static IP addresses to the wireless adapters of all devices which use the connection and set the DNS server to 8.8.8.8 (google) on these wireless adapters. I did this yesterday and there was an instant improvement. However I still see the problem this evening (Friday) of wireless connections being dropped though there is less of it.

I've very little idea what the problem is, I'd put it down to the service except that when I bypass the router all is good. I'd put it down to the router except that I've tried 3 and really played with configuration.

Taking a wild guess I'd surmise that are frequent but very short internet outages. Modern devices probably aggressively test for internet connectivity and pick up on these outages. They then drop the wireless connection and start the reconnection process which takes far longer than the actual brief provider outage.

Is this a feasible explanation ? Does anybody else have similar experience or any ideas as to what is going on ?

9726_9726

harringtonp wrote: »

Modern devices probably aggressively test for internet connectivity and pick up on these outages. They then drop the wireless connection and start the reconnection process which takes far longer than the actual brief provider outage.

Is this a feasible explanation ? Does anybody else have similar experience or any ideas as to what is going on ?

Routers don't drop the WiFi interface in unison with "outages" on the WAN side.

I suspect you have interference on the 2.4GHz band on your home.

This does not point to a provider issue at all.

TTTT

A bigger problem is their throttling back after their new 4 Gig daily "fair use allowance" which in a no TV household gets used up early by my kid on YouTube. Their solution? Stream at lower quality. FFS it's 2017 and I would like to be able to get a real Internet service without moving house. Roll on fiber!

ItHurtsWhenIP

harringtonp wrote: »

Taking a wild guess I'd surmise that are frequent but very short internet outages. Modern devices probably aggressively test for internet connectivity and pick up on these outages. They then drop the wireless connection and start the reconnection process which takes far longer than the actual brief provider outage.

Is this a feasible explanation ? Does anybody else have similar experience or any ideas as to what is going on ?

I'd echo what 9726_9726 said - you're picking up interference from somewhere/something. Have you moved the router to a different place before this problem started or has something big and metallic been moved near it?

Have you introduced any baby monitors, wireless alarm, cameras, outdoor weather station or other things that work wirelessly?

You don't indicate if you are very rural or not - do you have an attached or very close neighbour - could they have introduced any new wireless device in their house?

It could also be "noisy" electrical gear. Was the microwave running when the wifi dropped? Dishwasher/Washing Machine/Dryer? Somebody arc welding outside?

Edit: Are you pushing through any heavy torrents over wifi? Also WEP won't fix your problem at all so go back to WPA2.

harringtonp

TTTT wrote: »

A bigger problem is their throttling back after their new 4 Gig daily "fair use allowance" which in a no TV household gets used up early by my kid on YouTube. Their solution? Stream at lower quality. FFS it's 2017 and I would like to be able to get a real Internet service without moving house. Roll on fiber!

No this is not the problem, have checked with them and am never near the 4GB limit.

BTW people talk big numbers about internet speeds these days but if I could get 1MB/sec upload and download 24x7 for 52 weeks of a year I'd be very happy.

harringtonp

9726_9726 wrote: »

Routers don't drop the WiFi interface in unison with "outages" on the WAN side.

I suspect you have interference on the 2.4GHz band on your home.

This does not point to a provider issue at all.

No I wasn't claiming that the router dropped the WIFI connection. I was just wondering if a device discovers that there is no internet access does it tear down the wifi connection to the router and start again.

harringtonp

ItHurtsWhenIP wrote: »

I'd echo what 9726_9726 said - you're picking up interference from somewhere/something. Have you moved the router to a different place before this problem started or has something big and metallic been moved near it?

Have you introduced any baby monitors, wireless alarm, cameras, outdoor weather station or other things that work wirelessly?

You don't indicate if you are very rural or not - do you have an attached or very close neighbour - could they have introduced any new wireless device in their house?

It could also be "noisy" electrical gear. Was the microwave running when the wifi dropped? Dishwasher/Washing Machine/Dryer? Somebody arc welding outside?

Edit: Are you pushing through any heavy torrents over wifi? Also WEP won't fix your problem at all so go back to WPA2.

Thanks for these suggestions. The only possibilities from the list above are dishwasher and washing machine but would these really interfere that much ? And I'm pretty sure that I've seen the problems when they have not been running and have been problem free when they are (like now, dishwasher is on). In an estate but houses each side are vacant most of the time !

Just changed to WEP as in the past with linux based systems they could cope with it much easier than WPA (clutching at straws I know)

On occasion I have seen a ping from the router to an IP address fail and from my laptop when plugged in directly so I still think that very short outages being picked up by devices and subsequent wifi tear down is a possibility

ED E

harringtonp wrote: »

This behaviour is more noticeable in the evenings.

harringtonp wrote: »

In an estate but houses each side are vacant most of the time !

Noise issues.

harringtonp

ED E wrote: »

Noise issues.

Perhaps but if you run with original idea internet is far busier evenings and short drop outs are more likely to occur.

vkid

harringtonp wrote: »

Taking a wild guess I'd surmise that are frequent but very short internet outages. Modern devices probably aggressively test for internet connectivity and pick up on these outages. They then drop the wireless connection and start the reconnection process which takes far longer than the actual brief provider outage.

Is this a feasible explanation ? Does anybody else have similar experience or any ideas as to what is going on ?

Pretty sure a router won't drop the wireless connection to devices when the internet drops. I am on a similar wireless service, and if the service goes down I still hang on to the connections between the device and the router.
I don't think the router cares if the internet is on or off wrt to connections to your devices. They will stay connected, you just obviously won't have any internet.

Sounds like wireless interference to me or a device issue.

PAKNET

harringtonp wrote: »

Perhaps but if you run with original idea internet is far busier evenings and short drop outs are more likely to occur.

As is the extremely bandwidth limited WiFi spectrum.

If you're plugged by cable and having no issues, then the problem is not the internet connection but the wireless only.

harringtonp

Has anybody every heard of wireless devices interfering with each other or is this an unlikely scenario ? There is a new Android phone in the house.

ED E

There are only three "regular" wifi channels. If you can see more than three homes from your front door, you're competing.

harringtonp

ED E wrote: »

There are only three "regular" wifi channels. If you can see more than three homes from your front door, you're competing.

Thanks, you could be on to something here, I do see other wifi networks around the place and I do live permanently in a "holiday" estate which can get a lot busier on summery weekends. Had not considered this as our own signal is strongest but will look further into it.

9726_9726

harringtonp wrote: »

Thanks, you could be on to something here, I do see other wifi networks around the place and I do live permanently in a "holiday" estate which can get a lot busier on summery weekends. Had not considered this as our own signal is strongest but will look further into it.

If you have an Android (which you do), install WiFi analyzed. Not fully scientific but may help you to choose a channel in your router.