Laptops dropping WiFi, all other devices fine

[DJA9-Eero]

Hi all,

I've been having an ongoing issue where all laptops in my house completely lose WiFi for 5-10 minutes at a time, while every other device (phones, TVs, Alexa, Fire Stick) continues working without a hiccup. The issue affects my personal Windows laptop (Intel AX211), my work Windows laptop, my fiancée's laptop, and even a visitor's MacBook Pro — so it's not device-specific.

I've done extensive troubleshooting on the laptop side: updated drivers, disabled power saving features (U-APSD, MIMO Power Save), set roaming aggressiveness to highest, switched to 802.11ac mode, reset the network stack, turned off IPv6 and SQM in the eero app, and WPA3 is already off.

None of this has resolved the dropouts.

I then checked Wi-Fi radio analytics in the eero app and found the issue:

- 5 GHz (high): Channel 155, control channel 149, 80 MHz bandwidth
- 5 GHz (low): Channel 42, control channel 36, 80 MHz bandwidth
- 2.4 GHz: Channel 6, 20 MHz bandwidth

Channel 155 is a DFS channel, which I believe is the root cause. I've seen several threads on this forum where @KeithFrench has identified exactly this problem and arranged for TalkTalk's Devices Team to apply a remote fix to move the eero off channel 155:

- https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Full-Fibre/Eero-6-5Ghz-not-working-on-any-device/td-p/3025197

- https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Fibre/Eero-6-Router-Wifi-Drop-Out-Issues/td-p/3042731

- https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Full-Fibre/eero-internet-wifi-drops-out-intermittently-and-wi-fi...

I tried going through TalkTalk live chat support today but the agent wasn't familiar with this issue and suggested I put a microwave near the eero or switch to bridge mode, which isn't really a fix.

My setup:
- TalkTalk Full Fibre (300-500Mbps package)
- Gateway: eero Pro 6 (Living Room, wired to BT modem)
- Extender: eero 6 (Office, wireless backhaul)
- Extender: eero (Garage, wireless backhaul)
- 15 devices online

Ethernet speeds are fine (400Mbps) and WiFi works perfectly when connected to the main eero downstairs (400Mbps). The dropouts happen across all laptops regardless of which node they're connected to.

Could the Devices Team or @KeithFrench please help get the 5GHz high band moved off channel 155? This has been resolved for other customers with the same fix and I'd really appreciate the help.

Thanks,

Noemi

[Philile-TT]

@fr8ys @KeithFrench thank you for your support. 

[KeithFrench]

HI @DJA9-Eero 

This channel is actually outside of the DFS range. The problem here is that this channel might be too high a channel number for some WiFi adapters to use. However, if this is the case, then this won't make your WiFi connection intermittent; it will not be able to use this channel at all. You will be forced to use the 2.4GHz band, at a guess.

I would think that an Intel AX211 would be able to use this channel OK. However, if it is intermittent, then I doubt that you are using that channel at all. Look in the device menus to find what channel it is using & then we might be able to address this. With a Windows PC, one of the most common reasons for the WiFi adapter itself to stop working is power management. To check this, go into Device Manager. Expand the Network Adapters & find your WiFi card. Right-click that & go to Properties. In there, under the Power Management tab, make sure that this option is unticked:-

Power Management

[fr8ys]

@DJA9-Eero 

Whilst @KeithFrench can analyse your router issue with your help, he is unable to effect the change, and support staff here do not have access to the full fibre systems.

You might be best phoning the full fibre team to get resolved.

Try phoning 03451720074
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