Android wireless is unstable

[Justinh]

I have an RT-AC68P, and the wireless connection with Android tablets is unstable in some form or fashion. I can be browsing the web and suddenly the tablet seems to not be able to browse for a minute or two. No network errors shown on the tablet. I just wait and it starts working. Listening to a live audio stream is almost impossible, I guess because the stream is too unstable that it gives up and errors out after 5 seconds or so.

The question is: Is there some setting on the router I need to change to make the 2.4GHz radio reliable for Android? I'm using channel 8 and 20MHz.

I bought a cheap tablet a couple of years ago and couldn't get it to connect at all, until I found one strange setting I had to toggle to make it able to connect. (Don't remember which setting.)

Then this month I got a Samsung Galaxay Tab A. It is worse than the cheap tablet! It connects quickly and reliably, but then will intermittently just stop communicating across the Internet (like in Chrome or the app stores) for a short period.

My Windows laptop and TV don't seem to have this issue on the 2.4 band. Ethernet and 5GHz devices don't see this problem. I don't have any other networks close by that could cause interference.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I have an RT-AC68P, and the wireless connection with Android tablets is unstable in some form or fashion. I can be browsing the web and suddenly the tablet seems to not be able to browse for a minute or two. No network errors shown on the tablet. I just wait and it starts working. Listening to a live audio stream is almost impossible, I guess because the stream is too unstable that it gives up and errors out after 5 seconds or so.

The question is: Is there some setting on the router I need to change to make the 2.4GHz radio reliable for Android? I'm using channel 8 and 20MHz.

I bought a cheap tablet a couple of years ago and couldn't get it to connect at all, until I found one strange setting I had to toggle to make it able to connect. (Don't remember which setting.)

Then this month I got a Samsung Galaxay Tab A. It is worse than the cheap tablet! It connects quickly and reliably, but then will intermittently just stop communicating across the Internet (like in Chrome or the app stores) for a short period.

My Windows laptop and TV don't seem to have this issue on the 2.4 band. Ethernet and 5GHz devices don't see this problem. I don't have any other networks close by that could cause interference.

Disable Wireless\Professional\Airtime Fairness and Universal Beamforming for the 2.4 band. Maybe that will help.

OE

 

[Frankflash]

just by any chance is your google play service up to date

 

[follower]

I have an RT-AC68P, and the wireless connection with Android tablets is unstable in some form or fashion. I can be browsing the web and suddenly the tablet seems to not be able to browse for a minute or two. No network errors shown on the tablet. I just wait and it starts working. Listening to a live audio stream is almost impossible, I guess because the stream is too unstable that it gives up and errors out after 5 seconds or so.

The question is: Is there some setting on the router I need to change to make the 2.4GHz radio reliable for Android? I'm using channel 8 and 20MHz.

I bought a cheap tablet a couple of years ago and couldn't get it to connect at all, until I found one strange setting I had to toggle to make it able to connect. (Don't remember which setting.)

Then this month I got a Samsung Galaxay Tab A. It is worse than the cheap tablet! It connects quickly and reliably, but then will intermittently just stop communicating across the Internet (like in Chrome or the app stores) for a short period.

My Windows laptop and TV don't seem to have this issue on the 2.4 band. Ethernet and 5GHz devices don't see this problem. I don't have any other networks close by that could cause interference.

1. List the all of devices you have.
2. Do you have any Google devices like Google Nest Hub?
3. Do you use IPTV which is connected to AC68P?

 

[Justinh]

I turned off the radio options per OE's suggestion - no tangible improvement. See the attached pics for my settings.
I don't have any Google devices, don't use IPTV (though my modem is equipped for it, that functionality should be disabled). I have PCs, TVs, a switch, powerline Ethernet, and an HD HomeRun on the network.

I tested the same live audio stream using Chrome with a W7 laptop, the old tablet, and the Galaxy. Only the Galaxy could not reliably stream.

Here are some examples of my experience:
I'm browsing in Chrome, some page takes forever to load (no UL/DL activity shown in the Wi-Fi arrows), shut down the browser, open Play store - only the search bar is shown because no content is downloaded for several seconds, then boom - everything downloads quickly.

Then select Firefox browser, select Install, another long pause to start download, then boom it DLs fast. Open Firefox and nothing happens for ~30s, then boom stuff DLs.

Whenever there is a net pause, Wi-Fi icon up/down arrows do not show activity, like it is waiting on something before responding.

Conclusion: There is some incompatibility with the Galaxy and my network, or the Galaxy is just junk.

Any other things I can look at?

 

[OzarkEdge]

I turned off the radio options per OE's suggestion - no tangible improvement. See the attached pics for my settings.
I don't have any Google devices, don't use IPTV (though my modem is equipped for it, that functionality should be disabled). I have PCs, TVs, a switch, powerline Ethernet, and an HD HomeRun on the network.

I tested the same live audio stream using Chrome with a W7 laptop, the old tablet, and the Galaxy. Only the Galaxy could not reliably stream.

Here are some examples of my experience:
I'm browsing in Chrome, some page takes forever to load (no UL/DL activity shown in the Wi-Fi arrows), shut down the browser, open Play store - only the search bar is shown because no content is downloaded for several seconds, then boom - everything downloads quickly.

Then select Firefox browser, select Install, another long pause to start download, then boom it DLs fast. Open Firefox and nothing happens for ~30s, then boom stuff DLs.

Whenever there is a net pause, Wi-Fi icon up/down arrows do not show activity, like it is waiting on something before responding.

Conclusion: There is some incompatibility with the Galaxy and my network, or the Galaxy is just junk.

Any other things I can look at?

View attachment 20686 View attachment 20687

Have you tried not hiding the SSID? Hiding it doesn't really hide it, so I would not bother hiding it. And it might trouble a connection.

Have you tried forgetting and recreating the WiFi connection on the Galaxy?

OE