Wi-Fi disconnect problems with Talk Talk Sagemcom FAST F5464-2.T4 modem router.

[damiansmart]

Wi-Fi disconnect problems with Talk Talk Sagemcom FAST F5464-2.T4 modem router.

I am having a very frustrating problem with two iPhone SE’s (2022 model with WiFi 6).

Both the iPhones are disconnecting from my home Wi-Fi many times a day, sometimes they will only stay connected to the Wi-Fi for less than an hour. Both the phones are within a five metre range of the Talk Talk router, and both are strong full three bar signal, but are not receiving any data from the router.

Turning Airplane mode on and then turning it off again does not resolve the connection loss. Turning Wi-Fi off and on again in the phone settings does restore the data connection, but gain not for very long.

We are using two iPads on the same network, but neither of those two devices have

These are the things I have tried to resolve the problem, some on the two iPhones and some on the router:-

Restarting the Talk-Talk router.

Re-set network settings on both iPhones.

Turned off Wi-Fi assist in the iPhone settings.

Turned off Private Wi-Fi address in the iPhone Wi-Fi settings for the Wi-Fi network its connected to.

Turning off Band steering in the Talk Talk router Wi-Fi settings to enable splitting the two networks.

Giving the 5GHz Wi-Fi a unique SSID to create two separate Wi-Fi networks for 5GHz and 2.4 GHz.

Changed the 5GHz Wi-Fi to channel 40.

Reduced the 5GHz bandwidth to 40MHz.

None of the above has made any difference.

Yesterday I had a long discussion with Microsoft CoPilot AI LLM.

During the discussion CoPilot suggested that the problem almost certainly lies with the Talk Talk 5464 router. And here is what it said:-

“Even with separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSID’s, band steering disabled, fixed Wi-Fi channels private address off and network setting reset. It nearly always means the router is one these in the background”

“Changing channel width, adjusting transmit power, renewing DHCP address too aggressively, broadcasting hidden mesh/SON SSID’s, applying Talk Talk Wi-Fi optimisation and forcing roaming using 802.11k/v.”

“ The Fast 5464 is known for doing these even when the interface looks like they are off”

“Talk Talk’s FAST firmware is designed to: override user settings, adjust Wi-Fi parameters remotely, optimise for average devices, not Wi-Fi 6 iPhones, broadcast hidden SSID’s for mesh/SON and force roaming behaviour.”

“You have now reached a point where: The remaining causes are all Talk Talk-controlled, they cannot be disabled by you and they disproportionately affect modern iPhones.”

With all that in mind I have been advised to stop using the Talk Talk router and replace it with a new third party modem/router. problem as it has: no Wi-Fi optimisation, no hidden SSID’s, no forced roaming, no channel overrides.

I have been advised that a TP-Link Archer VX1800v is likely to fix the No remote configuration pushes and no mesh/SON interference.

 I doing the right thing? And how easy is it to set up with my Talk Talk FTTC part fibre connection?

[siphosethu-TT]

Hi there @AldridgeAndy, will take note of that, if you need any assistance please start a new thread. 

[AldridgeAndy]

@siphosethu-TT TalkTalk have been aware of this issue with Hub1 & 2 for maybe more than 12 months now. I am still waiting on a reply from forum staff to my own thread/topic/post from yourselves.

I appreciate that TalkTalk are now far less likely to swap out customer side equipment as financial reporting for your impending sale is the main focus, but the impact on customer retention in the medium term needs to be relayed to your decision makers. 

[siphosethu-TT]

Thank you very much @KeithFrench, hence there's not much we can do here on this I'll escalate this to see if the back-office team to see if they can do something about this okay.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @mandisa1-TT 

I have managed to download some of the required Wi-Fi diagnostic information from the customer. I can confirm that there is no WiFi interference present at the time this was captured and with reference to the location of the PC running the diagnostics. 

@damiansmart has told me that he believes that these iPhones do not work very well on a WiFi 5 connection, which is the maximum supported WiFi mode of the Sagemcom 5364/5464 routers. The resolution, according to the customer, is to use a WiFi 6 router.

WiFi 6 is supposed to be backwardly compatible with WiFi 5 and I have never seen such a problem with any of my WiFi 6 capable devices working with a Sagemcom 5464 at WiFi 5. However, I do not have any iPhones.

I find it a bit difficult to believe that such a major manufacturer as Apple does not work correctly on a WiFi 5 connection. If this were so, then I feel there would have been a lot more complaints from other customers. True, there have been two other customers with long-running threads on the forum, with similar issues. One is @AldridgeAndy. He did tell me that (which might support Damien Smart's claim), is that his iPhones worked fine when connected to an eero running WiFi 6, but not his 5464. The TalkTalk Devices team in those cases could never replicate the issue.

[mandisa1-TT]

.

[mandisa1-TT]

Do you have any active monitoring for life threatening health reasons which is solely dependant upon your TalkTalk Broadband or Telephone line?

For example a care alarm, lifeline, health pendant or fall detector.

[mandisa1-TT]

Thank you @KeithFrench for the help.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @damiansmart 

Please can you PM me the information from the WiFi Scanner, so that I can rule this out anyway?

I have seen in the past two customers with iPhone issues with the Sagemcom 5363 & 5464, but only two customers is a very small percentage of the number of iPhones that must be being used with these two routers. The issues with their iPhones could not be replicated by TalkTalk's Devices team at all.

[siphosethu-TT]

Let's hear @KeithFrench output on this @damiansmart. 

[damiansmart]

Hi Keith

Thanks for your reply. I have the Wf-Fi scanner installed on my laptop since you last advised me on WiFi connection issues a while ago.

Using the WiFi scanner software I can see that currently there are no other SSID's using the 5GHz wifi in my vicinity that show up on the scanner, so I'm pretty certain that the issue is not related to interference.

Both the iPhones are using the 5GHz Wi-Fi and both suffer the same problem.

[mandisa1-TT]

Much appreciated @KeithFrench 

[KeithFrench]

Hi @damiansmart 

@mandisa1-TT has asked me to help you. You will never be able to connect at WiFi 6 speeds due to the fact that this router only supportsup to WiFi 5.

Where the WiFi instability is concerned, this is most likely down to WiFi interference. Wi-Fi interference (nothing to do with electrical interference) can cause:-

1. Slow speed,
2. intermittent dropouts,
3. breaks in the signal,
4. no signal at all,
5. or no internet access.

This can affect one or more devices. This can also lead to a permanent reduction in the speed of one or more devices. 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 far more from Wi-Fi interference than the much faster 5GHz band. However, the 2.4GHz band has a longer range than the 5GHz band and can penetrate walls better. This may very well change depending on your local area.

In other words, I offer a free, impartial analysis of your Wi-Fi network and will try to help you optimise your Wi-Fi connection. The next stage involves my sending out a guide to help you get important diagnostic information for me. I will then analyse these results for you and recommend changes to your router configuration, if required.

I only send this out to people who request it.

[mandisa1-TT]

Hi there @damiansmart we are sorry to hear you are experiencing a connection issue with some of your devices, we will look into this for you.

@KeithFrench I would appreciate your advice on this, would you say this is the known bug with the Fast 5464 as it is only affecting the 2 iPhones?