Strange 2.4Ghz wi-fi problem

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Dratsab

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#2090641 14-Sep-2018 13:13

Seems like a different way of doing things. When I had multiple HG659b's providing coverage across my property I set them all with an identical SSID for both frequencies (i.e.2.4GHz = MyNetwork_2.4 and 5.0GHz= MyNetwork_5.0), same password too. Worked quite nicely.

Dratsab

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#2090642 14-Sep-2018 13:17

Quick thought. Is DHCP on or off in the router you're having issues with?

woodson

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#2090643 14-Sep-2018 13:18

Ah, interesting you should mention that - that's what we used to have, but then found that with one device (iPad) there was one spot just outside the back door, where we have an outdoor seating spot - in this area, the iPad would always have a wi-fi blip, as if it was trying to get the best signal, switching from one router to the other (even though all on the same SSID). That's the reason we changed to two different SSIDs, which mostly seemed to fix that little issue (even though you'd think that the iPad would be trying to switch between the 2 SSIDs and cause grief - it mostly didn't).

I've probably gone cack handed about this whole issue - maybe I should just invest in an AP and leave it at that in an attempt to cover the whole house?

woodson

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#2090647 14-Sep-2018 13:27

Dratsab: Quick thought. Is DHCP on or off in the router you're having issues with?

It's off.

woodson

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#2090648 14-Sep-2018 13:32

qwerty123:

BSSID is a unique 48-bit identifier similar to MAC address by its purpose. If you have single network on a radio it usually equals to MAC address of that radio. In case of multiple networks configured on the same radio some "random" BSSIDs are used, how random they are depends on router's management software.

Symptoms you describing are quite similar to the duplicated BSSID problem I ran into in the past. But you have no more than one network per radio, right? So you should not have this issue even hypothetically. You can get BSSIDs of your 2.4G networks using some wifi scanner and compare them just to eliminate it as a possible cause.

Downloaded an app for my phone (wifi analyser), but as I'm unable to access one of the 2.4, I can't see the BSSID. Hmmmm

sbiddle

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#2090652 14-Sep-2018 13:35

Using old routers as APs to extend wireless always leads to tears in the end. It's not a solution I'd ever recommend for anything other than a very temporary fix.

I don't think I've ever seen a situation where a password error wasn't a result of a WPA error. Are you sure you don't have other devices that may be broadcasting the same SSID?

woodson

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#2090656 14-Sep-2018 13:46

sbiddle:

Using old routers as APs to extend wireless always leads to tears in the end. It's not a solution I'd ever recommend for anything other than a very temporary fix.

I don't think I've ever seen a situation where a password error wasn't a result of a WPA error. Are you sure you don't have other devices that may be broadcasting the same SSID?

No, nothing else broadcasting the same SSID - just two routers, 2 SSIDs, the only connection issue is on router 2's 2.4Ghz frequency, that's what I find so odd. Router 2's 5Ghz frequency is not a problem

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yitz

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#2090662 14-Sep-2018 14:04

Is it a single device or multiple devices that are having issues connecting?

qwerty123

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#2090664 14-Sep-2018 14:07

woodson:

Downloaded an app for my phone (wifi analyser), but as I'm unable to access one of the 2.4, I can't see the BSSID. Hmmmm

You don't need to authenticate/join network to see its SSID, BSSID, channel, signal, etc. In Wifi analyzer output BSSID should look like MAC address next to SSID if we're are talking about the same app

woodson

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#2090667 14-Sep-2018 14:14

yitz: Is it a single device or multiple devices that are having issues connecting?

Two different devices (iPhone, Android phone)

woodson

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#2090669 14-Sep-2018 14:15

qwerty123:

woodson:

Downloaded an app for my phone (wifi analyser), but as I'm unable to access one of the 2.4, I can't see the BSSID. Hmmmm

You don't need to authenticate/join network to see its SSID, BSSID, channel, signal, etc. In Wifi analyzer output BSSID should look like MAC address next to SSID if we're are talking about the same app

I got Net Analyser (Lite) for IOS

woodson

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#2090673 14-Sep-2018 14:18

woodson:

qwerty123:

woodson:

Downloaded an app for my phone (wifi analyser), but as I'm unable to access one of the 2.4, I can't see the BSSID. Hmmmm

You don't need to authenticate/join network to see its SSID, BSSID, channel, signal, etc. In Wifi analyzer output BSSID should look like MAC address next to SSID if we're are talking about the same app

I got Net Analyser (Lite) for IOS

I'll look at installing Wifi Analyzer for Windows later

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