Router losing internet connection

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Router losing internet connection

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Technofreak

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#2432552 4-Mar-2020 15:58

The chances of this are unlikely, but is it possible your router is 5Ghz but the laptop can only do 2.4Ghz or only has 2.4Ghz enabled? I pretty sure most routers do dual frequencies. You can probably check that using a WiFi analyser app.

Have a look here, this might help to you determine what the laptop is capable of.
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/network-wifi/how-enable-5ghz-wi-fi-on-your-laptop-3608743/

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#2432588 4-Mar-2020 16:36

Technofreak:

sewsable:

We've tried it right next to the router; it simply can't see it at all so it's not a signal strength issue. It picks up all the neighbourhood signals, just not ours unless we put the extension on. Tis weird.

I find this most unusual. What happens if you use a WiFi analyser app close to that router?

What other electrical electronic equipment is situated close to that router? Something that may be swamping the WiFi signal.

What other equipment shares the same power plug as the router or may be on the same CB or fuse feed but on another plug?

Have you tried moving in various directions from the router to see if it will connect?

The wifi analyser shows a very strong signal when it's next to the router; big red signal right to the top of the graph. Next to it we have the ONT, our portable phone base (since that has to be plugged into the ONT) and a USB charger used for my son's phone at night and my Fitbit also at night; that has nothing plugged in during the day.

We've tried my husband's laptop in many places, right next to the router in the hall, in the lounge, garage and dining room and it can't find it at all. It can see our neighbour's set up on both sides and also a hidden network which isn't ours (we tried it for just in case, but the password is wrong)

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#2432591 4-Mar-2020 16:42

Technofreak: The chances of this are unlikely, but is it possible your router is 5Ghz but the laptop can only do 2.4Ghz or only has 2.4Ghz enabled? I pretty sure most routers do dual frequencies. You can probably check that using a WiFi analyser app.

Have a look here, this might help to you determine what the laptop is capable of.
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/network-wifi/how-enable-5ghz-wi-fi-on-your-laptop-3608743/

Our router is dual band, the analyser app can only see the 2.4Ghz, apparently my phone can't do 5Ghz. Some things pick up on the 5Ghz automatically, some see both, some only see the 2.4.

I'll see if my husband can check the 5G on his laptop when he gets home; he's limited in what he can access as he doesn't have admin rights, a sensible thing for the company to do considering how much damage you can do with it if you're not careful! Thanks for that info, fingers crossed.

Into Xbox, knitting, spinning yarn, and my family. Love my Android smartphone!

RunningMan

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#2432601 4-Mar-2020 16:54

Perhaps the laptop is set for a foreign locale and not seeing some NZ wifi channels.

cyril7

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#2432625 4-Mar-2020 17:28

What channel does the analyser see the signal on, hopefully not 12 or higher

Cyril

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#2432660 4-Mar-2020 18:12

sewsable:

The wifi analyser shows a very strong signal when it's next to the router; big red signal right to the top of the graph. Next to it we have the ONT, our portable phone base (since that has to be plugged into the ONT) and a USB charger used for my son's phone at night and my Fitbit also at night; that has nothing plugged in during the day.

I'd try unplugging the portable phone base from the power supply to turn it off and unplug the USB charger. Whether or not there is anything plugged into the USB charger it can still cause interference.

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1101

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#2432958 5-Mar-2020 09:56

sewsable:

We've tried my husband's laptop in many places, right next to the router in the hall, in the lounge, garage and dining room and it can't find it at all. It can see our neighbour's set up on both sides and also a hidden network which isn't ours (we tried it for just in case, but the password is wrong)

try changing your wifi SSID. Sometimes thats the magic fix, especially if you used the same SSID (wifi name) on all your old routers .

If you dont have admin rights to that laptop, you have limited options, so I'd tell your husbands work's IT they need to fix the problem with that laptop & home wifi so he can actually use the thing at home :-)
If work's IT locked down the laptop , its up to them to make it usable at home .

How old is that laptop, is it older or a cheapy.
It may not have 5.8Ghz compatibility at all , that may be why it can see your neighbours(2.4) and not your wifi(5.8) : a few assumptions here .
Many laptops arnt 5.8Ghz wifi compatable, your fancy new router may be only working/setup on 5.8Ghz (?)

Also, try turning off EVERYTHING else thats wireless. eg , wireless phones, printers, TV senders , security cams , remote control toys.

cyril7

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#2432968 5-Mar-2020 10:12

Good point from @1101, if the previous WAP was advertising the same SSID but using say WEP or WAP1 and TKIP (and maybe also AES but the laptop connected with TKIP) where as the new WAP is advertising the same SSID with WPA2 and AES or some other similar combo, then you often will find the device will not connect, to get around this, forget the network and rejoin.

Cyril

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#2433573 6-Mar-2020 11:12

For the moment I'm going to keep the extension turned off and see what happens. Will try the other suggestions if it happens again (so far so good) and am getting Dh to talk to work's IT guys about his problem with the laptop. We can't remove the actual wireless phone since it has to be plugged into the ONT and there's nowhere else to plug it in for power. Unfortunately we don't have integrated wiring and we don't want to ditch the landline yet; quite a few real people still ring it (as well as quite a few scam calls). Thank you to everyone for your suggestions, I appreciate it very much.

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#2434350 7-Mar-2020 20:11

Yay, work have fixed Dh's laptop so it now sees our router so I can ditch the range extender completely.

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cyril7

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#2434360 7-Mar-2020 22:08

And what was it.

Cyril

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#2434362 7-Mar-2020 22:14

cyril7: And what was it.

Cyril

It was a wi-fi driver that hadn't been updated; now it has been and it works.

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Technofreak

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#2434388 8-Mar-2020 07:45

How has the WiFi stability been for all of the devices?

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#2434444 8-Mar-2020 12:19

Technofreak:

How has the WiFi stability been for all of the devices?

So far so good, I'm not calling it fixed just yet, give it a week or so, but at this point it's looking hopeful that it was the extension rather than the router itself. I've got my fingers crossed in any case!

Into Xbox, knitting, spinning yarn, and my family. Love my Android smartphone!

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