What's new

RT-AC86U and Amazon Ring/Echo wifi disconnections

  • SNBForums Code of Conduct

    SNBForums is a community for everyone, no matter what their level of experience.

    Please be tolerant and patient of others, especially newcomers. We are all here to share and learn!

    The rules are simple: Be patient, be nice, be helpful or be gone!

PULCK

Occasional Visitor
I'm getting repeated disconnections on my Amazon devices (Ring alarm base station and Echo Show) with my RT-AC86U. Does anyone have any thoughts on what might be causing this?

Rebooting the router sorts it out... for a while. Disconnections can happen weeks or days apart without any rhyme or reason.

I thought it might be a conflict between the 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks. I originally had them using the same password but different SSIDs. But switching them to unique passwords doesn't seem to have sorted the problem.

Any ideas much appreciated.
 
I'm getting repeated disconnections on my Amazon devices (Ring alarm base station and Echo Show) with my RT-AC86U. Does anyone have any thoughts on what might be causing this?

Rebooting the router sorts it out... for a while. Disconnections can happen weeks or days apart without any rhyme or reason.

I thought it might be a conflict between the 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks. I originally had them using the same password but different SSIDs. But switching them to unique passwords doesn't seem to have sorted the problem.

Any ideas much appreciated.

A 2018 China 86U could be dying about now.

Could be WiFi channel issues like interference or auto channel changing. Try disabling Smart Connect and setting fixed, non-DFS, least-congested channels (not Auto). See my US channel notes.

Also, try disabling Airtime Fairness and Universal Beamforming per band... also in my notes.

OE
 
A 2018 China 86U could be dying about now.

Could be WiFi channel issues like interference or auto channel changing. Try disabling Smart Connect and setting fixed, non-DFS, least-congested channels (not Auto). See my US channel notes.

Also, try disabling Airtime Fairness and Universal Beamforming per band... also in my notes.

OE
Thanks. I bought the router a matter of months ago and really I've had this problem on and off since the beginning. So doubtful that it's already dying.

I already had all those settings as per your suggestions. (Just checking - my 5ghz control channel is 36 and for 2.4ghz it's 11. That's OK, isn't it?)

I don't know if this is connected but an app on my phone (which is essentially a forum-reading app) also acts up occasionally and won't refresh threads until I switch to my phone signal (i.e. non-wifi). I did wonder if some of these devices/apps are relying on some sort of location-tracking data for identifying the user, and whether this is somehow being blocked by the router (not by me! I don't use a VPN). Or am I just talking gobbledygook!?
 
Thanks. I bought the router a matter of months ago and really I've had this problem on and off since the beginning. So doubtful that it's already dying.

I already had all those settings as per your suggestions. (Just checking - my 5ghz control channel is 36 and for 2.4ghz it's 11. That's OK, isn't it?)

I don't know if this is connected but an app on my phone (which is essentially a forum-reading app) also acts up occasionally and won't refresh threads until I switch to my phone signal (i.e. non-wifi). I did wonder if some of these devices/apps are relying on some sort of location-tracking data for identifying the user, and whether this is somehow being blocked by the router (not by me! I don't use a VPN). Or am I just talking gobbledygook!?

A 'problem on and off since the beginning' could suggest the router has an issue since the beginning, i.e., DOA. But forget that for now since you said the issue only affects certain Amazon devices.

Did you update the router firmware and then reset it to factory defaults before configuring it? This would be a clean start.

Have you used a WiFi Analyzer app to 'see' the least congested 2.4/5.0 channels to use? Do you have any media devices with their own WiFi direct signal like for a Roku Remote Controller... my Roku Ultra broadcasts on channel 36, which might cause trouble for nearby wireless clients trying to use channel 36 on the router.

OE
 
A 'problem on and off since the beginning' could suggest the router has an issue since the beginning, i.e., DOA. But forget that for now since you said the issue only affects certain Amazon devices.

Did you update the router firmware and then reset it to factory defaults before configuring it? This would be a clean start.

Have you used a WiFi Analyzer app to 'see' the least congested 2.4/5.0 channels to use? Do you have any media devices with their own WiFi direct signal like for a Roku Remote Controller... my Roku Ultra broadcasts on channel 36, which might cause trouble for nearby wireless clients trying to use channel 36 on the router.

OE
Yes, it only affects Amazon devices (and the one phone app, although I've no idea if that's related) so I don't think it's faulty.

I'm running AsusWRT-Merlin 384.19. I followed a guide from this website when I installed it, but I can't remember if I reset it to factory defaults beforehand. Is that worth trying?

I don't have a Roku, but I do have Amazon Fire and Google Chromecast devices. Do they use direct wifi signals?

Other thoughts: I have a couple of Tenda MW3 mesh boxes and TP-link powerline adapters around the house. Can they cause wifi issues?

In the meantime, as you suggest, I'll do a site survey on Wifi Analyzer.
 
Yes, it only affects Amazon devices (and the one phone app, although I've no idea if that's related) so I don't think it's faulty.

I'm running AsusWRT-Merlin 384.19. I followed a guide from this website when I installed it, but I can't remember if I reset it to factory defaults beforehand. Is that worth trying?

I don't have a Roku, but I do have Amazon Fire and Google Chromecast devices. Do they use direct wifi signals?

Other thoughts: I have a couple of Tenda MW3 mesh boxes and TP-link powerline adapters around the house. Can they cause wifi issues?

In the meantime, as you suggest, I'll do a site survey on Wifi Analyzer.

Eventually, yes, a reset and config from scratch is a clean start.

A site survey will tell you if any other WiFi signals are present.

I don't think Powerline adapters would affect Wifi unless they are the wired backhaul for the problem wireless clients.

OE
 
I did a site survey and all looks fine. I think a reset and config from scratch is probably in order next.
 
I haven't done a factory reset yet but last night my Ring alarm base station disconnected again and then reconnected a couple of hours later. I thought I'd take a look at the Router's syslog.

There are repeated entries for the DHCP number and MAC address of the Ring base station. They are all as follows:

dnsmasq-dhcp[1262]: DHCPDISCOVER(br0) 192.168.2.189 ##:##:##:##:##:09
dnsmasq-dhcp[1262]: DHCPOFFER(br0) 192.168.2.189 ##:##:##:##:##:09

This repeats for hundreds of lines of the log.

Any idea what that means?
 
Last edited:

Latest threads

Sign Up For SNBForums Daily Digest

Get an update of what's new every day delivered to your mailbox. Sign up here!
Top