Slow wifi and no connection on 2.4Ghz devices

[mutimer]

Hi,

Hoping somebody can help with this.

This morning a couple of things happened with 2.4Ghz devices failing to connect to the router. The router is FAST-5364-3.T8 running firmware version SG4K100158.

The 2.4 Ghz devices are:

Ring doorbell : The Ring app reports device as offline. Can't connect to Ring cloud for video feed, device is reported as offline. Have checked ring service status for incidents and all ok at their end at the time of writing, 17.02.2023. Reset the ring doorbell and reconnected to wifi. Same thing, device reported as offline.

Worcester Bosch Boiler Smart Thermostat device: Just had a new boiler fitted this morning 17.02.2023. Worcester Bosch engineers were unable to connect the thermostat to the 2.4Ghz Wifi connection. The 2.4Ghz wifi is the only wifi visible to the thermostat (5Ghz is not visible). They verified problem is with TalkTalk.

Also, we have recently noticed that the broadband has been intermittently slow. We have previously encountered a similar issue last year when could not connect to work VPN and firmware had to be updated. Have tried switching the router off for 30 seconds and same thing happens. Has this issue occurred as the result of an automated firmware update?

Spoke to TalkTalk support on phone and mentioned to try reducing the number of concurrent devices connected to the router, so that < 5 devices concurrently connected. Tried doing this and same issues occur, the thermostat and the ring doorbell cannot connect.

Have also tried performing a TalkTalk speed test at this link and reports an error that fails to connect to test server. Tried in different browsers and get the same error message. The error message is:

```

Could not connect to the test server. A firewall could be blocking the connection or the server might be having some issues. Please try again later.
```

Disabled the firewall on both mac devices and speed test still fails.

Finally, logged into router and noticed some DNS errors in router logs. I have pasted some examples below.

```
17.02.2023 19:07:17 Error DNS
DNS name resolution failure (_7001._https.appdeum.talktalk.co.uk)
17.02.2023 19:03:08 Error DNS
DNS name resolution failure (bucket.betacampaign.co.uk)
17.02.2023 19:03:08 Error DNS
DNS name resolution failure (bucket.betacampaign.co.uk)
17.02.2023 19:03:08 Error DNS
DNS name resolution failure (bucket.betacampaign.co.uk)
17.02.2023 18:44:27 Error WIFI
A device failed to connect to SSID (private MAC addr) because it provided incorrect login information.
17.02.2023 18:43:24 Error DNS
DNS name resolution failure (_dns.resolver.arpa)
17.02.2023 18:43:24 Error DNS
DNS name resolution failure (_dns.resolver.arpa)
17.02.2023 18:18:52 Error DNS
DNS name resolution failure (_8080._https.speedtest.ttxm.co.uk)
17.02.2023 18:12:48 Error DNS
DNS name resolution failure (_8080._https.speedtest.ttxm.co.uk)
```

Can anybody help diagnose and fix this?

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi mutimer

I'm really sorry about the issues you have experienced and I will feed this back.

If you do experience any further issues then please post back here and we will send you a replacement router for testing.

Thanks

Debbie

[mutimer]

Hi Karl,

Many thanks for your suggestion. Yep a replacement router would have done the trick. The issue has been resolved by a router reset. Talktalk engineer came out yesterday and reset router. He informed us that he could view settings in router dashboard but could not change anything while logged in as admin. Engineer did a factory reset and all was ok.

As expected this was probably caused by an update on the Thursday evening that had not completed for whatever reason. The engineer came out to the property, did diagnostic tests etc. and reset the router and all was ok. We updated passwords etc.

Not sure if this could have been resolved on Friday over the phone with talktalk support initially…. Basically on the phone it felt like this:

1. Customer: Reports fault

2. Talktalk support on phone: System all ok this end, try reading this email for further diagnosis, e.g power off router and remove interference devices etc. Ring us back in 24 hours if problem persists.

3. Customer: Does as instructed. Reports unit faulty still after 24 hours.

4. Talktalk support: System looks fine no problem this end. It looks as though it is a third party issue with thermostat and ring door bell. Also suggest try reading through guidance email again.

5. Customer: Says no, and reiterates it is not third party issue because could connect to thermostat successfully via phone hotspot and third party IT control.

6. Talktalk: We I’ll send engineer out at your expense ~£50 (redeemable if talktalk equipment at fault).
7. Customer says ok and engineer visits and agrees that talktalk system at fault.

8. Customer not impressed!

[mutimer]

Hi, yes since I have posted the message I checked some metrics while standing near the router with a laptop where the thermostat is located. The RSSI was -33mDb and the noise level was -95mDb. This gave a signal to noise ratio of ~59Db. So no major problems experienced with interference.

Talktalk engineer came out yesterday and reset router. He informed us that he could view settings in router dashboard but could not change anything while logged in as admin. As expected this was probably caused by an update on the Thursday evening that had not completed for whatever reason. The engineer reset the router and all was ok. We updated passwords and network names% Took too long to get resolved!

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi @mutimer 

Would you also like to try a replacement router to rule out a hardware issue ?

Thanks  

Karl. 

[KeithFrench]

I am not talking about electrical interference, although that can cause problems. Wi-Fi interference is totally different. It is down to interference on WiFi channels.

[mutimer]

Thanks Keith, this morning we have tried disconnecting all devices again, powering off the ring door bell with associated chimes and moving any devices that could cause conflicting interference away from the router. The thermostat still does not connect with valid credentials.

TalkTalk have created a support case reference and have asked that we contact them after 24 hours. In this case the support case will be escalated to the next level with one of their engineers.

Thanks for your help and suggestions. 

Mutineer

[KeithFrench]

Slow speed, intermittent dropouts, breaks in the signal or no signal on some or all devices or no internet access might be caused by Wi-Fi interference from other local networks, which can also lead to a permanent reduction in speed. No ISP can be responsible for your local environment, this is mainly a byproduct of the popularity of Wi-Fi.

Generally speaking, the 2.4GHz band suffers much more from interference than the 5GHz band, but the 2.4GHz one can sometimes have a better range, but this all depends on your local area.

Have you had TalkTalk’s Wi-Fi optimisation disabled on your Sagemcom FAST5364 router? When this is enabled, as it is by default, it has the power to override any Wi-Fi configuration changes that I might suggest that you need to make. This will not help rectify this type of problem if Wi-Fi Optimisation is allowed to change my suggested settings. Only TalkTalk can do this for you, you cannot do it yourself. If not, just request they disable this for you in your reply.


The next stage involves sending out a guide to you to help you get me some important diagnostic results so that I can analyse them for you and recommend changes to your router configuration to solve them.

I only send this out to people who request it.