GT-AC2900 2.4GHz connection issue

[S4vant]

Hi there everyone, I've been experiencing an issue with my GT-AC2900 router that seems a little bit weird and was hoping that someone has encountered it before or could steer me in the right direction.
In the past few months the 2.4GHz radio has been acting very odd. Devices connect to it but show no internet access, BUT when I look at the network map, those devices are not shown as connected at all. I have to disable and re-enable the radio for the clients to reconnect properly again. the 5GHz radio has been running fine.
Usually there are about 26 clients connected to the router, and about half of then are on 2.4GHz because they are a bit further away and or they don't support 5GHz.

The router is running firmware v3.0.0.4.386_51582, and is not running with any mesh nodes.
I have scheduled reboots every other night, but I have had this issue occur even a few hours after a reboot.

Has anyone experienced this sort of issue? Are there any settings that I can change?
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Tech9]

This router was the "gaming" version of popular in the past RT-AC86U, unfortunately known for numerous hardware issues including failing radios. If your router doesn't work well after hard factory reset and minimal configuration - time to replace. It's an EoL device.

 

[S4vant]

This router was the "gaming" version of popular in the past RT-AC86U, unfortunately known for numerous hardware issues including failing radios. If your router doesn't work well after hard factory reset and minimal configuration - time to replace. It's an EoL device.

Fair enough. We've had it for about 5 yrs now. I see in your signature that you use Ubiquiti, how do you feel that platform performs vs the consumer "mesh" systems?

 

[Tech9]

It's generally better hardware and software quality, but also more expensive and requires Ethernet infrastructure for best performance. With popular for home use Omada and UniFi options wireless mesh is available, but considered Plan B mostly for range extension. There is no SMB targeted hardware with dedicated radios for mesh uplink/backhaul. Both TP-Link and Ubiquiti offer consumer mesh products as well, Deco is very popular at fair price, AmpliFi not so much and expensive.

If single AIO home router is good enough for Wi-Fi coverage perhaps a newer model is all you need. Popular around AX-class models from Asus are RT-AX86U Pro, RT-AX88U Pro, GT-AX6000. They also come often on sale price. If you want to take chances with BE-class models popular around dual-band is RT-BE88U, tri-band best offer is perhaps RT-BE96U.

 

[Tech9]

Ubiquiti UniFi equivalent to RT-AX88U Pro is something like this:

Cloud Gateway Max NS - Ubiquiti Store

Compact 2.5G Cloud Gateway with 30+ UniFi device / 300+ client support, 2.3 Gbps IPS routing, and selectable NVR storage.

ca.store.ui.com

Access Point U6 Long-Range - Ubiquiti Store

Ceiling-mounted WiFi 6 AP with 8 spatial streams and extended signal range.

ca.store.ui.com

The two devices above are Gateway, Controller, Switch and Access Point - complete mini UniFi system.

 

[S4vant]

Ubiquiti UniFi equivalent to RT-AX88U Pro is something like this:

Cloud Gateway Max NS - Ubiquiti Store

Compact 2.5G Cloud Gateway with 30+ UniFi device / 300+ client support, 2.3 Gbps IPS routing, and selectable NVR storage.

ca.store.ui.com

Access Point U6 Long-Range - Ubiquiti Store

Ceiling-mounted WiFi 6 AP with 8 spatial streams and extended signal range.

ca.store.ui.com

The two devices above are Gateway, Controller, Switch and Access Point - complete mini UniFi system.

Thanks @Tech9 !
So I'd need a PoE for the AP's then or something like the Switch Lite 8 PoE? I only have CAT 5 running to the spots where I would put the AP's .
From what I can see, it looks like the Cloud Gateway Max does not have any Wifi radios itself correct? So I would need at least 1 if not 2 of the AP's depending on my space.

 

[Tech9]

I know it's tempting, but don't go to SMB too fast. Also don't overpay for hardware with futureproofing ideas. If you have up to Gigabit ISP and not very demanding home network you can replace the AIO router with something newer in $200-300 range. Nothing SMB will come this cheap. UniFi or Omada may be better in a long run, but you have to pay more. I don't know what your needs are and don't want to push you in a wrong for your use case direction.

 

[Tech9]

Here is Gigabit capable version of the above UniFi example system:

Cloud Gateway Ultra - Ubiquiti Store

Compact Cloud Gateway with 30+ UniFi device / 300+ client support, 1 Gbps IPS routing, and multi-WAN load balancing.

ca.store.ui.com

Access Point U6 Plus - Ubiquiti Store

Compact, ceiling-mounted WiFi 6 AP with 4 spatial streams that improves upon the U6 Lite with higher performance and dual-band WiFi 6 support. Ideal for small and medium-sized businesses.

ca.store.ui.com

If you plan 2x APs - the U6-Plus version is significantly cheaper, the coverage from 2x units will be plenty.

APs need PoE power, but for 2x only PoE injectors are low cost option (if no extra LAN ports are needed):

UniFi PoE Adapter (15W) - Ubiquiti Store

An adapter that can power UniFi PoE devices, reduce dependency on PoE switch power, and provide a Gigabit LAN connection.

ca.store.ui.com

The above is not the latest and greatest in technology, but fair price, tested and extremely reliable. Set and forget.

 

[S4vant]

I know it's tempting, but don't go to SMB too fast. Also don't overpay for hardware with futureproofing ideas. If you have up to Gigabit ISP and not very demanding home network you can replace the AIO router with something newer in $200-300 range. Nothing SMB will come this cheap. UniFi or Omada may be better in a long run, but you have to pay more. I don't know what your needs are and don't want to push you in a wrong for your use case direction.

Yeah, I tend to over think these things sometimes.
I work from home with a lot of Teams video calls and host nearly daily mini-webinars, but these PC's are wired connections. All the other streaming is the normal TV, Social media, etc in a 3 person household. We have 1 Gigabit service. The house is not huge, 2 floors and finished basement, but I want everything to have a solid connection no matter where I am in the house.
I always felt that a single AIO router (its on the 2nd floor in my office) couldn't reach the far edges.
For the past couple of years I had the GT-AC2900 as the main router and converted an older AC68U as a mesh node, but that seemed to never work that well, with clients connecting to the mesh node at the far end of the house when they would be 6 feet away from the main router. The AC68U is now offline since it also can't maintain a stable mesh connection.
I like the concept of mesh nodes but they just don't seem to reliably hand off the clients. no matter what signal threshold.

Looks like the GT-AX6000 can be had for just over $200 down here in the states.

 

[Tech9]

Your choice, whatever fits your budget and you feel comfortable with it. I personally run a few connected sites and UniFi makes it easy to control all networks from a single management screen. I also use exclusively specific type of APs because of this reason.