Get expert support with your Fibre connection.
on 24-08-2024 09:17 AM
I've been on Fibre 65 for a couple of years now and, initially, it seemed reasonably stable. Then, I was given a Ring doorbell at the beginning of last year. This has worked as expected except that one or more of the doorbell, the battery cam or the chimes has tended to stop working from time to time and had to be reconnected to WiFi. It's been annoying, but not a massive problem because these devices seem to provide quite good instructions on how to recover from connectivity problems.
My Epson ET-2850 printer, purchased around mid ’21, has been a different kettle of fish. It has dropped its connection too often for comfort, and required various efforts on my part to become reconnected, eg by powering it, my router, and/or just my WiFi connection off and then back on etc.
Very recently, however, these issues have become more difficult to resolve in that the printer became unavailable for several consecutive days earlier this week, and I could not recover it using any of my old strategies. Two days ago, I took it to the print shop that originally sold it to me, and they kindly configured it for their shop network, where it appeared to work with no problems. When I took it home, I attempted to reset it for my home network, but this appeared to fail with error (E-9), the subsequent printer generated report being as shown below.
Later that evening, I noticed that the device was again showing its connected-to-WiFi symbol and found that I could print files again.
The printer is still working this morning, well over 24 hours later, though it did go offline late last night for a while. While I'm happy for now, I'm not over confident that I won't have similar problems again before too long.
Apart from my printer and doorbell problems, the other main issue with my WiFi has been that, all too often, I have attempted a Google search but have seen a black ‘no internet connection’ display for a few seconds before the requested information has then appeared. Also, sometimes, I have seen an equally black ‘download pending’ screen that has not delivered the goods, although a repeate attempt sometimes has done.
These issues have often lead me to suspect my WiFi signal strength. I can't access the same information on my Samsung A9 tablet, but my Samsung A71 phone suggests it's of the order of 110 dBm 30 asu, not that I have any real understanding of what these figures imply.
The Ring doorbell and accessories have device health displays in the Ring app, all of which seem to suggest signal strengths varying from around 45 and 70 ssi. If I look online, sometimes I see that higher ssi values indicate weaker signals, sometimes I see its the lower ones. As I say, I suspect I'm suffering from a poor signal, even though at least half my devices, including my printer just now, are only a few metres away from my router.
I apologise for the length of this post, but can anyone offer any thoughts here, please?
Check Network Connection
Check Result Unknown
Error code (E-9)
Confirm the connection and network setup of the PC or other device.
Connection using the EpsonNet Setup is available.
Contact your network administrator for assistance.
If your problems persist,
see your documentation for help and networking tips.
Checked Items
Wireless Network Name (SSID) Pass
Communication Mode Check Pass
Security Mode Check Pass
Mac Address Filtering Check Pass
Security Key/Password Check Pass
IP Address Check Pass
Detailed IP Setup Check Unknown
Network Status
Printer Name EPSON0xxxxx
Printer Model ET-2850 Series
IP Address 169.xxx.y.zzz
Default Gateway Network Name (SSID) abcde
Security WPA2-PSK (AES)
Signal Strength Excellent
MAC Address E0:BB:9E:01:XX:YY
on 04-09-2024 09:53 AM
Apparently, the problem was caused by the customer's McafeeVPN, which is set to be always on. This has been turned off & back on again & all is now working.
Keith
I am not employed by TalkTalk, I'm just a customer. If my post has fixed the issue, please set Accept as Solution from the 3 dot menu.
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on 03-09-2024 10:52 AM
@KeithFrench I've been on Android for a long time now and, regrettably, I'm lazy about deleting no longer used apps. There must be at least 300 apps on my phone and it will take me a long time to list them fit you. My router firmware is about to be upgraded, so it will probably be better if I check that out first. Thanks for the offer, though.
on 03-09-2024 10:46 AM
on 03-09-2024 10:40 AM
@Debbie-TalkTalk Yes, go for it.
on 03-09-2024 10:28 AM
Hi @durdle
Will it be ok for me to do the firmware update now?
We advise to leave the router switched on without being rebooted. It should take no longer than 15 minutes to update.
on 03-09-2024 10:27 AM
Hi @durdle
From what I can see that app does not appear to contain a VPN client. It does not seem to get very good reviews either.
Can you try getting me a list of the apps that you have installed on the phone & tablet, there are lots of possible VPN clients that they could be using. When you have these lists, perhaps sending them to me in a PM would be best to protect your privacy.
Keith
I am not employed by TalkTalk, I'm just a customer. If my post has fixed the issue, please set Accept as Solution from the 3 dot menu.
TalkTalk support and Community Stars - Who are they?
on 03-09-2024 10:15 AM
@Michelle-TalkTalk I'm still all over the shop trying to pin down my VPN Detected error, but I have established that I can run the Trailcam Go app to download overnight videos from my garden camera provided I switch both my router and my phone off and then back on again. That's not good but it's what I have to do anyway at the moment once I get the VPN error. I don't have a lot of time to decide whether I wish to return the camera, and I would now very much like to take you up on your offer of a Sagemcom firmware upgrade. Will this be possible, please?
on 02-09-2024 05:32 PM
@KeithFrench, my phone runs Android 13, which will not be updated, and my tablet Android 14. The Trailcam Go app is downloadable from Play Store, where its entry confirms I have it installed. I've sent an email asking the support team if they have any advice to offer but I'm not holding my breath.
on 02-09-2024 04:25 PM
Are you talking about Android or Apple systems here? It will not be easy if you do not know its name. Was this something you installed from the relevant app store?
Keith
I am not employed by TalkTalk, I'm just a customer. If my post has fixed the issue, please set Accept as Solution from the 3 dot menu.
TalkTalk support and Community Stars - Who are they?
on 02-09-2024 04:22 PM
@KeithFrench, unfortunately I can't find a Show VPNs button, so I've no idea. The only clue I have is that my app can run as expected on my phone, but it won't run on either my phone or my tablet as soon as I try to run it on the tablet. That makes me suspect it's possibly running on the tablet. As for its name, again I have no idea. Sorry.
on 02-09-2024 02:51 PM
What sort of device is the VPN running on & what is it called?
Keith
I am not employed by TalkTalk, I'm just a customer. If my post has fixed the issue, please set Accept as Solution from the 3 dot menu.
TalkTalk support and Community Stars - Who are they?
on 02-09-2024 01:40 PM
"Can't you uninstall it?"
@KeithFrench , I would instantly uninstall the VPN if I knew where to find it. And if I knew how.
on 02-09-2024 01:35 PM
Of course. Our Devices Team are slowly starting to role out the new firmware over the next couple of weeks anyway so it could automatically update at some point overnight. From what we've seen it's not caused any issues.
Thanks
Michelle
02-09-2024 01:32 PM - edited 02-09-2024 01:42 PM
Ok, @Michelle-TalkTalk , I think I'll give the new firmware a miss for a little while unless anyone advises me that updating it would be to my benefit. And why. Can I come back to you, please, if I then decide I do want it?
Do you have any accessible information about the new firmware?
on 02-09-2024 01:27 PM
Can't you uninstall it?
Keith
I am not employed by TalkTalk, I'm just a customer. If my post has fixed the issue, please set Accept as Solution from the 3 dot menu.
TalkTalk support and Community Stars - Who are they?
on 02-09-2024 01:25 PM
Yes @KeithFrench , I seem to be learning that the hard way. I didn't set out to use them, I just fell foul of Mcafee's hype. As for this latest one, I have no idea where that came from, all I know is I don't want it. Until I can get rid of it, I still think I should stay on my current firmware for a while and see what transpires. I am open to persuasion there, though
on 02-09-2024 01:01 PM
Hi @durdle
Be careful when using a VPN, once active, you lose connectivity with all other locally connected devices.
Keith
I am not employed by TalkTalk, I'm just a customer. If my post has fixed the issue, please set Accept as Solution from the 3 dot menu.
TalkTalk support and Community Stars - Who are they?
on 02-09-2024 12:17 PM
Hello,
Ref the @Michelle-TalkTalk offer, I haven't looked into firmware versions yet. If you update it for the Sagemcom, will you be able to return it to the current version if it gives me more issues? If you will, I'll happily try it. If not, maybe I should hold off for a little while.
Unfortunately once we update the router firmware we wouldn't be able to roll this back to the previous version.
Michelle
on 02-09-2024 12:05 PM
Good afternoon durdle,
Not at all, we're happy to help 🙂
We have a new version of firmware for this router. Would you like us to update the router firmware now to see how this compares?
Thanks
Michelle
02-09-2024 11:58 AM - edited 02-09-2024 12:14 PM
Hi, Chris
You might regret asking that.
My main issues last week were:
Hive heating app unable to load
Ring doorbell app unable to load
Printer not working.
Turning off Secure VPN in my Mcafee app fixed the first two and now the printer failures are much less intrusive and tend to disappear if I do nothing.
Meanwhile, I'm having problems with my new Trailcam Go app, which I use to download images of hedgehogs on a video camera in my garden. I only purchased it last week, and it hadn't given me any problems over the while I was still using the Huawei router but it now fails VPN Detected using the Sagemcom, unless I disable the Mcafee app. It's all rather complicated but, in brief, the app will work on my phone, and allow me to download videos, but then stops working if I try to run it on my tablet. Once this app has failed, the only way I have managed so far to get it to work on my phone again is to reboot the Sagemcom. All this has only occurred this morning, so I'm still struggling to understand what's happening. In particular, since the Mcafee app either has its Secure VPN switched off or it's been disabled, I have no idea how to go about finding the VPN that's causing all this.
Not really one for these forums, but you did ask, and someone might have some suggestions for me.
Other than the above, the new router still seems stable, with down load speeds usually up around 49mbps but upload speeds usually below 10mbps.
Ref the @Michelle-TalkTalk offer, I haven't looked into firmware versions yet. If you update it for the Sagemcom, will you be able to return it to the current version if it gives me more issues? If you will, I'll happily try it. If not, maybe I should hold off for a little while.