Frequent and increasing drops in connection

[Frances-]

Hi

I’m looking for some help with wifi issues that have been ongoing for a few months but are getting increasingly worse.

Issue: My connection seems to keep dropping randomly it started late last year but as it was only for a a few seconds before re-establishing I stupidly ignored it over the past month or two if has been getting much worse while there are periods it is stable for an hour or more there are also periods when I can lose the connection for 5-10 mins at a time multiple times an hour. This is now causing me issues as it drops the connection for online classes, zoom meetings etc.
It is not just with one device this affects my laptop, my desktop my mobile, the PS4 and the TV.

Setup: I have a Sagemcom FAST 5464 router sitting in the hall under the office and less that 15ft away from the TV with no wall in-between

What has been tried:
I have reset the router multiple times (both restarted and factory reset) which seems to improve it a little for a time before starting to drop again.
I have changed the channels for 2.4 and 5GHz in case that helps though the factory resets undoes those. So far it does not prevent the signal dropping out.
I have does line tests, it says it’s fine though the last one, done on Thursday night said in the following up text that there may be an issue with the set up and to contact the tech chat which I did spending an hour on with them on Friday as they talked me through testing the line and resetting the router etc then they sent me a link to work read though the Optimisation guide on the community page though teaching for optimisation only seems to bring up a lot of posts about turning it off. At which point I lost connection for the 4th time in an hour and this time for over 10 minutes. The router itself says it's been fully connected for over 3 days so since the last reset despite my constant "you are no connected to the internet" pages.

Any suggestions of what else I can try?

F

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi

I can see the Wi-Fi signal strength to your device has at times dropped low, so is on the fringes of the signal at times.

I can also see some Wi-Fi auto channel changes that may be interpreted as a drop in the connection for a brief moment.

I've made a change remotely to see if we can stabilise this and you can test over the weekend to see if the drops are less.

Thanks  

Karl. 

[Frances-]

Hi Debbie (& co)

I ended up dragging the big iMac down the stairs to the router as its apparently the only computer (under 15 yrs old) in the family/friend circle that still has an ethernet port to check.

It stayed connected to the internet with no seeming loss of connection for 4 hours last night and 3 this morning. That being said the laptop only recorded one drop over that time so weirdly the wifi seemed to be more stable while the other computer was attached to the router. Annoyingly it has dropped 2 times in the 30 mins since I shut it down to get ready to head to work and send this message.

So that is a work around but sitting perched on the stairs with a small hallway full of desktop computer is not comfortable or particularly feasible for a long term solution.

Frances

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Frances-

Were you able to test a wired device?

[Frances-]

Yes

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Ok, is the connection still dropping every few hours since your last post?

Michelle

[Frances-]

Hi Michelle

Unfortunately neither of my computers have an ethernet port to try a wired connection. I can try and borrow one later and sit on the stairs for a while to test that.

Frances

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hi Frances,

I'm sorry for the delay. Is it just currently the wireless devices which are dropping? Do you have any devices connected wired?

Thanks

Michelle

[Frances-]

Hi Michelle

Still the same, at least with the new router it only drops out once, maybe twice an hour versus the 5 or 6 times with the original router.

Frances

[Frances-]

Hi Keith

I can try the screenshots again on Wednesday (probably).

The little white light on the front of the router just stays the same steady solid white, there is no flickering or going out that I can see.

Frances

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Good morning,

I'm sorry for the delay. How has your connection been since your last post?

Thanks

Michelle

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Frances- 

I think @Debbie-TalkTalk may be off for a couple of days. It may be that I need to have another look at your WiFi since changing the router. However, when you lose everything, what happens to the light on the front of the Sagemcom?

[Frances-]

 Debbie

Had the replacement router up and running since Saturday unfortunately, while less frequent, I am still getting complete loss of internet multiple times a day.

To be doubly sure it wasn't just being overloaded with devices (even though there would only be 2 or 3 connected any any one time) I have only connected my laptop to it since it arrived.

So I'm still in the dark as to the continuous disruption of signal when it was fine previously.

Frances

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

HI @Frances- 

Thanks for your reply.

The replacement router is on its way, please allow 24-48hrs for this to arrive.

Let us know how the connection compares with this router.

Debbie

[Frances-]

Hi Michelle 

Yep happy to try that and see if it improves.

F

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Good afternoon,

Ok, would you like us to send a replacement router for testing purposes to see how this compares?

Thanks

Michelle

[Frances-]

Hi Michelle 

No I don't have another router to test it with I send the old one back when this one arrived as requested.

F

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Thanks @KeithFrench 

Have you ever tested with a replacement router?

Michelle

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Frances- I have analysed the screenshots you from your NetSpot WiFi analyser. They do not show any WiFi interference, the main problem being fairly low signal strength. Having asked you previously about the location of the router, there does not seem to be too much wrong with that.

I need to contact TalkTalk about this for you now.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Frances- 

Thanks for those files. I agree that WiFi scanner is a lot simpler to use & much better for me to analyse your network as well.

What you need to do with the netsh wlan show interface is to open a command prompt first (e.g. cmd), then once the window is open, enter the command.

You mention that the laptop is old, which might explain why it has only captured information from the 2.4GHz band. To see the full picture, please can you get the stuff via NetSpot as your Mac should be dual band.

[Frances-]

Hi Keith

I borrowed a windows laptop as Wifi scanner seemed simpler than NetSpot on my Mac. Instructions are excellent but I did have a problem with the 'netsh wlan show interface' namely the laptop is on its last legs and while the window pops up it also shuts down a second later and I will not be winning any prizes for fastest finger. I have zipped the snapshot, report and images together if that isn't ok then I'll PM you the Netspot screenshots tomorrow (after 9 it switches to dark mode and that is hard on the eyes).

Frances