keep losing signal to N66U router, and going to limited connection.

[TundraBoy]

Hey guys, sorry if this has been asked a thousand times before, I just cant find a solution that works. It seems to be mainly my computer in the house that does it, but the wifi signal either drops out or goes limited ever 10 minutes on 2.4ghz, and instantly on 5ghz so 5ghz at this point is just unusable. I have had the n66u for less than a month because devices were always losing connection to our virgin superhub 2. The superhub is now being used as a modem for the n66u router. I'm currently using Merlin's 3.0.0.4.376.48_3 firmware and a tp link WDN 4800 wireless adapter. I've also tried a number of different drivers for my wireless adapter all from the TP-LINk website. At this point I dont know if it's just my adapter, or something on the ISP side. I've tried two n66u routers with the same problems. Also it mainly happens when the PS4 in the room next to mine is on, I dont know whether it is to do with the ps4 giving off a wifi signal on the same channel or anything. But if I change the router channel, so does the channel of the ps4's signal.

 

[jlake]

Hey guys, sorry if this has been asked a thousand times before, I just cant find a solution that works. It seems to be mainly my computer in the house that does it, but the wifi signal either drops out or goes limited ever 10 minutes on 2.4ghz, and instantly on 5ghz so 5ghz at this point is just unusable. I have had the n66u for less than a month because devices were always losing connection to our virgin superhub 2. The superhub is now being used as a modem for the n66u router. I'm currently using Merlin's 3.0.0.4.376.48_3 firmware and a tp link WDN 4800 wireless adapter. I've also tried a number of different drivers for my wireless adapter all from the TP-LINk website. At this point I dont know if it's just my adapter, or something on the ISP side. I've tried two n66u routers with the same problems. Also it mainly happens when the PS4 in the room next to mine is on, I dont know whether it is to do with the ps4 giving off a wifi signal on the same channel or anything. But if I change the router channel, so does the channel of the ps4's signal.

"Limited connection" is often a red flag for an IP address conflict. It typically happens when you have more than one router (DHCP server) on the same LAN segment.

If possible, check to see if you have the same problem with a wired connection. If it only happens using wireless, then it could be a wireless issue. But I would first start by making sure you don't have an IP address conflict.

Most of the time, you can resolve an IP address conflict by changing the local IP address of the N66U to something like 192.168.25.1.

Make sure you don't have any other equipment acting as a router/DHCP server.

If you determine that you only have one router on your network, and you don't have an IP address conflict, try the basic troubleshooting steps below.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=12453

 

[jlake]

The other thing you might want to check is your MTU on the ASUS router. I guess I would probably check over in the superhub2 forum and see what MTU you should have on the ASUS when your superhub2 is in modem mode.

 

[TundraBoy]

"Limited connection" is often a red flag for an IP address conflict. It typically happens when you have more than one router (DHCP server) on the same LAN segment.

If possible, check to see if you have the same problem with a wired connection. If it only happens using wireless, then it could be a wireless issue. But I would first start by making sure you don't have an IP address conflict.

Most of the time, you can resolve an IP address conflict by changing the local IP address of the N66U to something like 192.168.25.1.

Make sure you don't have any other equipment acting as a router/DHCP server.

If you determine that you only have one router on your network, and you don't have an IP address conflict, try the basic troubleshooting steps below.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=12453

Alright, thanks champ. I tried the troubleshooting and changing the ip address of the router, but no luck. Every other device other than mine seems to be fine now, and for some reason it only drops when the playstation 4 appears as a wifi signal. I dont know if it is acting as a router/DHCP server, or its just my ethernet card being bad. Wired connections work fine, but my computer is too far away from the router for me to keep it as a wired connection. Also when I am connected it is the most varied thing, when I download files the speed changes from anywhere between 40kb/s to 6mb/s.

 

[TundraBoy]

Scratch that last part sorry, I'm dropping out either way

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hi TundraBoy,

I have exactly the same setup as you (VM superhub in modem mode connected to RT-N66U). I also have a PS4 (and PS3, laptops, mobile phones, etc).

They all work perfectly OK. There's nothing special that needs to be done to get it all working. No need to set MTU's. Don't use a static IP on the PS4 (or any other clients for that matter) just let the routers DHCP do the work for you. All your wireless devices will be on the same channel - that's normal. They are designed to coexist with each other.

That said, it doesn't sound like a configuration issue, it sounds more like your PC isn't sending/receiving a strong enough signal to stay connected to the router. Because you say that the PS4 doesn't have this problem I would suggest that it is the location of your PC that is the problem.

5GHz signals have a shorter range and less penetration through walls than 2.4GHz so that would be consistent with your 5GHz dropouts.

Try moving the PC to a different location, even just by 1 metre, and seeing if the signal strength reported by the PC changes significantly. If your PC doesn't show you the signal strength clearly try installing something like inSSIDer.

I had a desktop PC with a wireless adapter where the antennas were very near the wall behind my desk. It could barely stay connected to my old router downstairs. But by moving the PC away from the wall by just 4 inches made all the difference.

 

[TundraBoy]

Hi TundraBoy,

I have exactly the same setup as you (VM superhub in modem mode connected to RT-N66U). I also have a PS4 (and PS3, laptops, mobile phones, etc).

They all work perfectly OK. There's nothing special that needs to be done to get it all working. No need to set MTU's. Don't use a static IP on the PS4 (or any other clients for that matter) just let the routers DHCP do the work for you. All your wireless devices will be on the same channel - that's normal. They are designed to coexist with each other.

That said, it doesn't sound like a configuration issue, it sounds more like your PC isn't sending/receiving a strong enough signal to stay connected to the router. Because you say that the PS4 doesn't have this problem I would suggest that it is the location of your PC that is the problem.

5GHz signals have a shorter range and less penetration through walls than 2.4GHz so that would be consistent with your 5GHz dropouts.

Try moving the PC to a different location, even just by 1 metre, and seeing if the signal strength reported by the PC changes significantly. If your PC doesn't show you the signal strength clearly try installing something like inSSIDer.

I had a desktop PC with a wireless adapter where the antennas were very near the wall behind my desk. It could barely stay connected to my old router downstairs. But by moving the PC away from the wall by just 4 inches made all the difference.

Alrighty, thanks a lot will give all of that a try. I really do find it so odd that at times I can go for a couple of hours without getting drops sometimes, but as soon as the PS4 turns on I instantly drop out. I have a usb wifi adapter showing up later today too, so will give that one a whirl just to see if there is something wrong with the one I am currently using.

 

[TundraBoy]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the help. I fixed most of the dropping out by using a usb adapter for the wifi instead. Only thing I have now is my download speed will drop when I go to google search anything from about 3mp/s to 800kb/s and I get really frequent lag spikes when playing games. When I ping to google It jumps from 37ms to 240s on every 10th attempt or so. Probably just because it was a cheap adapter, n300 wna3100 by netgear, and my distance from the router. Anyway thanks a million for the help and sorry if I wasted your time where it turned out to be the wifi card rather than router.