Wireless Connection issues

[Rosco]

I have an AC68 running in my apartment. I've got a whole smack load of stuff from my phones/tablets to my scale to my Sonos set to my air purifiers connected it to it with little issue, but I have one device that occasionally acts up. The feed from my D-Link WiFi Baby monitor (DCS-825) occupationally gets dropped.

Though my place isn't that big, only about 70 sq m, the monitor sits in the farthest room away from the router, which is unfortunately placed in the corner of my living room. I can't re-position the router or the monitor, so I was looking at other solutions, basically replacing one of the two. If it's a signal strength issue, maybe I need a more powerful router (or just antennae?) but if it's a problem with the monitor itself, then I could get a different one of those.

I do know the iPad (Air 2) that lives in the same room never shows full WiFi bars, but it's never had trouble maintaining it's signal. I'd figured that was because it has a better radio in it though.

I like the Asus routers and software, so I would like to stick with the brand, but I'm not partial to D-Link, and there are a few options as far as monitors go.

Any thoughts and advice on this are welcome, and thanks in advance!

 

[SoCalReviews]

Can you position the router up higher while keeping it at the same location? I am using wall mounts that allow me to place my 68P and 1900P routers higher than a table or desk allows. Can you mount the baby monitor up higher or on the wall? You could temporarily place the router or baby monitor up higher or have someone hold one of them up to see if it helps with the radio signal.

It would also be helpful to know what version of firmware you are using. I know that there are subtle range and performance differences between some of the firmware.

To hold a router or baby monitor up high on the wall this is one option...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DDQMT3S/?tag=snbforums-20

Below is the mounting bracket I am using. It's a little stronger than the first one and has a second lower shelf but either one would work. I have my 68P router with the front side with the blue LEDs flush against the wall side. The power cord and Ethernet cables come out and then to the sides. If mounted properly it's very strong.

You can tie down the router to the sides of it with zip ties or cord if you want to have it held firm on the bracket. Just mount it up high enough to be out of reach from young ones and keep the chords held to the wall so they can't be pulled on... and don't have anything below it that it could fall on if anyone ever did by chance try to pull it over.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C71OCXK/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[Rosco]

Hi, thanks for the input!

My router and monitor are both pretty high up. Router on the top of my desk's shelf unit, and the monitor on top of a wardrobe closet.

Current firmware of my router is 3.0.0.4.378_9313. It's telling me there's an update, but it doesn't want to execute it for some reason, I'll try again later.

 

[fax]

Manual reboot the router to be able to install the new update and as it will most probably be the "380" line (against your current 378) its best to start fresh and fully reset the router after the update (+ manual input of custom settings afterwards).

 

[mich]

Wifi communication is a two-way thing. Asus routers in general (at least the ones with external antennas) are known for their wifi range, so the culprit is probably your baby monitor. Just look at it, it probably doesn't have massive external antennas like the AC68 has. So your options are to either get a different baby monitor, or somehow decrease distance and/or obstacles between router and monitor. Probably the most important thing to consider is the angle in which the signal has to pass through walls - try to get as close to 90 degrees as possible. If that is not enough, you can add additional hardware like a wireless repeater or an access point that connects to your main router via ethernet or powerline.

Another thing to try, if your baby monitor supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi is to switch to the other frequency band (the one you're currently not using) - 2.4 GHz has better range, but 5 GHz is usually less crowded, especially in urban areas.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Hi, thanks for the input!

My router and monitor are both pretty high up. Router on the top of my desk's shelf unit, and the monitor on top of a wardrobe closet.

Current firmware of my router is 3.0.0.4.378_9313. It's telling me there's an update, but it doesn't want to execute it for some reason, I'll try again later.

Fax's and mich's suggestions are right on. Your .378 branch of firmware is long outdated. I had the same problem as you once where my Asus router firmware would not update until I rebooted it. Follow Fax's directions exactly to reboot the router and update to the .380 branch of firmware. Make sure the router works after the firmware update.

Take note of your router settings before you reset it (with the rest button... press and hold ten seconds while router is turned on and then wait a few minutes for it to restart after reset). You will lose your configuration information. Go through the router set up Manually input your custom settings again. Power cycle the router once after you have confirmed your connection is working.

Once your firmware is fully updated see if you still have the same connection issues. If you do then your culprit is as mich suggested the weakest link in the wireless signal chain... the baby monitor itself. I've read in many forums that baby monitors and wireless web cams in general have been notorious for having connection issues with routers.

Check if any large metal obstructions (refrigerators, etc.) are in line between that room and the router room. Also test with different channel settings. 2.4Ghz will have the best range but it also has the most interference. Use 20Mhz band width instead of auto/40Mhz bandwidth for 2.4Ghz. Manually try different fixed channels. If you are using 5Ghz for the baby monitor (I usually prefer the 5Ghz frequency for many reasons) you will have less interference but the range will be less than 2.4Ghz due to the physics of the frequencies.

Try our suggestions and let us know how it works out.