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 06-09-2024 08:00 AM
Would you like me to send a WIFI booster?
on 05-09-2024 02:53 PM
Any chance of an F266 WiFi Booster to improve WiFi coverage for this customer?
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 05-09-2024 09:54 AM
on 05-09-2024 09:52 AM
have received some analyser screenshots for the customer, but I am waiting on some more.
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 04-09-2024 04:36 PM
I was waiting for you to respond, plus I have been very busy with quite a few complex Wi-Fi issues at the same time.
Do not worry about interpreting the results, I will do that for you. I will send a PM to you that contains a link for a guide of mine on Wi-Fi interference. It is quite long (about 30 pages), but you will probably only need to look at three or four pages in total. Initially look at the section called "Are you suffering from interference – prove it first". This is the first link in the table of contents. This section includes full details of free Wi-Fi analysers that I recommend for Windows, Windows phone, Android and Apple operating systems. However, I have no way of testing the Apple product. Select the analyser of your choice & my guide explains how to use it.
If you are using Wi-Fi Scanner, then please attach the zip file to this thread. As soon as I have downloaded it, I will remove the attachment from your post, to preserve your privacy.
With all other analysers, please follow my instructions below.
Collect the screenshots that I require and include them in your reply.
Please post the screenshots to me in a PM (to protect your privacy), which I have requested in my guide. No photos please as they can be difficult to read, because the text can get out of focus when zoomed in. Please ensure that the analyser window is maximised (if Windows) before taking the screenshots & upload them via the "Insert Photos" button (in a mobile browser it's the picture icon) on the post editor's toolbar with the Size parameter set to Large.
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 04-09-2024 04:30 PM
You misunderstand me; I've no wish to keep rebooting the router. I was just pointing out that I couldn't think of an alternative before you suggested you could give me diagnostic homework. Now, I keep checking my community subscription to see if you are ready for me to begin reporting back to you. I just didn't want you to think I was talking you for granted.
Meanwhile, I do understand wi-fi signal strengths can vary. My living room chime was plugged in to a mains socket on the other side of a fireplace from the router. I moved it to a plug board socket in the middle of the room, and the RSSI shot up to -35. I then moved the plug board to the other side of the fireplace and it was -32 an hour later.
As for RSSIs, I honestly thought the - was just there to separate RSSI from it's value. 😳
on 04-09-2024 02:58 PM
Thank you for these figures, Ring devices 1 & 2 have very poor signal strength, device 4 was OK when you took these, but WiFi signals change over time. Devices 5 & 6 also have a very poor signal strength. RSSI is measured in dBm and what you are not showing here, is that they are all negative numbers, so -45dBm is a much higher signal strength than -73dBm. So your ring doorbell (ring device 1) has the lowest signal strength of the lot.
What I meant by:-
That is not the way to resolve WiFi devices dropping out, that is most probably down to WiFi interference.
Is that rebooting the router, causes it to find a better WiFi channel, but this can degrade over time, I am interested in finding the root cause & hopefully fixing it permanently. Of course, if you would rather keep rebooting your router, that is up to you, but please bear in mind that you may not know that you need to do this, until after you have missed numerous callers!
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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04-09-2024 12:14 PM - edited 04-09-2024 12:24 PM
@KeithFrench Im very grateful for your support but my thinking is that it has been the way to resolve WiFi devices dropping out if I didn't know of any other. I am aware of my poor Ring signal strengths and there was mention of them in my original post here.
If I tell you that my Ring RSSI figures this morning are
1 Doorbell 73
2 Mains camera 71
3 Battery camera 51
4 Living room chime 45
5 Kitchen chime 64
6 Upstairs chime 64
and that the app dashboard shows 1 and 2 as having poor wi-fi signal strengths, and that 1, 2, and 4 are the devices which drop out most often, will you still want to see the screenshots you mentioned? I'm thinking the first anomaly here is the fact that the device which seems to have the strongest signal, 4, the living room chime, about 2.5m from the router, is the one which drops out the most often.
04-09-2024 11:15 AM - edited 04-09-2024 11:16 AM
That is not the way to resolve WiFi devices dropping out, that is most probably down to WiFi interference.
However, initially with a Ring & some other doorbells, their app can display the signal strength received from the router at the doorbell. Please can you PM me a screenshot of that screen?
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 a lot more from interference than the much faster 5GHz band, but the 2.4GHz one can sometimes have a better range, but this all depends on your local area.
In other words, I try to help you optimise your Wi-Fi connection. 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.
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 04-09-2024 11:06 AM
This is actually where I lose the plot. The Mcafee Stay connected to this VPN at all times button is always in the Off position. When I see the VPN Detected error in my app, I just have to flick the Mcafee button to On and back to Off; then the app works as expected. I can't get my head round that, but it works and I can now concentrate on comparing life with the Sagemcom router vs life with its Huawei predecessor. So far it seems pretty similar, ie my Ring mains security camera and one of the Ring chimes have both gone offline a couple of times so far, but not having to keep rebooting the Sagemcom to sort the app should improve things here.
on 04-09-2024 10:01 AM
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.
TalkTalk support and Community Stars - Who are they?
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.
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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?