Wi-Fi Dropping Consistently All Day While Internet Seems Fine, Have Exhausted My Options

Pyrrhus · Oct 2, 2014

Our house is suffering from constant, consistent connection drops with high-speed cable (Optimum) and it's driving me mad. We replaced our router, the ISP has come multiple times--all the hardware and wires are fine. From my tests, the internet never seems to drop when I bring down my laptop and plug straight in to the router or modem, so it's a wifi issue.

I've looked around for help before and tried plenty of things, but no luck. The signal strength is fine and the speeds are good when it's working, but multiple times per day (at certain parts of the day, multiple times per hour), the connection will just abruptly cut out. It's usually only for a few seconds--enough to drop my Skype call, or kick me out of my online game (I play a lot of games and write about them for a living--I need reliable internet) and then it comes back. I really can't take it any more, as I'm constantly getting disconnected while trying to work and play, but I don't know what else to do.

It's not specific to a device--my phone, PC, and PS4 will all get knocked off at different times.I've fiddled with channels and settings, nothing seems to work and as I said, it affects all devices--and at different times. My PS4 will get knocked offline while my computer keeps working, or I'll go downstairs to see if anyone else is having a problem and their connections will be fine. I hope someone can help, I'm going crazy!

Relevant info:

-D-Link router by Optimum, DR 868L
-Aris TM 822G Modem
-I can provide specific device specs if needed, but since this issue happens across my phone, other phones, iPads, laptops, etc, I'm thinking it's not device-specific.
-Error is just standard no connection or internet connection unavailable--sometimes the bars are there and it won't say anything, but still won't work, like the IP or something gets lost. It seems some things are knocking others off the network, if I had to guess.
-We usually have 6 or 7 devices connected to the Wi-Fi, but I can be the only one home on 2 devices and it will continue to drop.

bill001g · Oct 2, 2014

It is likely the standard issue interference from neighbors or other equipment in the same frequencies.

Pretty much you are going to have to try to find a small part of radio frequency that nobody else is using. Unfortunately your neighbors are all trying that too. So it may work one day and break the next.

So here is your big problem. To get the maximum speed out of 802.11n they use 40mhz of bandwidth. There is only 60mhz of bandwidth on the 2.4g band. This means only 1 person can use the 2.4g band at 40mhz at a time. Now on 5g there is 180mhz of bandwidth. Unfortunately all the new 802.11ac routers want to use 80mhz (soon 160mhz). This means only 2 people can use the 802.11ac at the same time without interfering.

So maybe you get lucky and can find a 40mhz band and 80mhz on the 5g band all to yourself but I doubt it.

The only solution is go back to using only 20mhz of bandwidth on both 2.4g and 5g and hope you can find a free area. Pretty much you are giving up on 802.11ac and using 802.11n at a maximum rate of likely 150m. It is a trade off speed vs stability.

When everyone tries to get the maximum rates pretty much nobody get much of anything in a high density living area with lots of routers.

Pyrrhus · Oct 2, 2014

bill001g :

It is likely the standard issue interference from neighbors or other equipment in the same frequencies.

Pretty much you are going to have to try to find a small part of radio frequency that nobody else is using. Unfortunately your neighbors are all trying that too. So it may work one day and break the next.

So here is your big problem. To get the maximum speed out of 802.11n they use 40mhz of bandwidth. There is only 60mhz of bandwidth on the 2.4g band. This means only 1 person can use the 2.4g band at 40mhz at a time. Now on 5g there is 180mhz of bandwidth. Unfortunately all the new 802.11ac routers want to use 80mhz (soon 160mhz). This means only 2 people can use the 802.11ac at the same time without interfering.

So maybe you get lucky and can find a 40mhz band and 80mhz on the 5g band all to yourself but I doubt it.

The only solution is go back to using only 20mhz of bandwidth on both 2.4g and 5g and hope you can find a free area. Pretty much you are giving up on 802.11ac and using 802.11n at a maximum rate of likely 150m. It is a trade off speed vs stability.

When everyone tries to get the maximum rates pretty much nobody get much of anything in a high density living area with lots of routers.

I'm willing to try it, because some slowdown is preferable to getting disconnected all day. I understood most of that, but how would I go about doing it?

bill001g · Oct 2, 2014

There are setting in most routers in the same area that you set you SSID and WPA stuff. You can directly set the channel width to 20mhz. Some router use slightly different selection criteria.

After that it is a matter of finding channels with few users. I used to recommend INSSIDER but they now charge $10 for it which is ok if you would use it a lot but for a one time use it tends to be hard to say if that is a fair price.

You can generally get similar information by looking at the screen that show all the ssid when you pick a new network. The generally tell you the channels and signal strength of people around you.

Pyrrhus · Oct 2, 2014

bill001g :

I've used INSSIDER and connection interference isn't too much of a problem, there are only about 2 networks near by, picking a different channel wasn't hard. Changing to 20mhz will effect the whole network, right? Will everyone be slow? Often, only my computer will drop while others' remain connected, don't want to ruin everyone's internet. Thanks!

HyNrgy · Oct 20, 2014

There are a couple of things to try. If you have an android phone you can try an app called wifi analyzer (i use it) to see what the signal strenght is and how many things are on a particular channel.

Also you can try pingtest.net to see if you are experiencing packet loss (though it requires java and some people do not like that)

There are many things that can affect wifi (some cfl lightbulbs will interfere with 2.4 Ghz) also, if house is old they may have aluminun foil insulation between floors (one customer had that issue so we had to run ethernet to an extender on different floors to remedy that)

Another possible solution on the main pc and ps4 (if they stay in same location) would to be use a homeplug for those devices and bypass using wifi for those devices (if you cannot homerun an ethernet to them or do not want to go through the hassle of doing that). If house (would not recomend this in an apartment) and electrical wiring is good, this might solve it for you. here is a link to one that may be overkill for you and you can have several going of the just the one connected to the router
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Adapter-Starter/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1413791413&sr=1-4&keywords=homeplug
I chose amazon because the return policy is fairly decent but you can also try a big box store if you want the return less of a hassle and quicker (just verify return policy)

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