Hi,
I have been having issues with my 5Ghz band for a few weeks now and stumbled across this thread - was certain it wasn't the router as we have used it for a long time without issues. After exhausting other options, and reading the description here, I do now think that this is the issue we are having.
Our new work laptops seem to want to automatically join the 5GHz channel but will constantly drop connection throughout the day. The wifi settings on laptop tends to say that we are actually still connected with strong signal - but that there is no internet available. This isn't actually internet issues as we are consequently able to use other devices (presumably on 2.4GHz) to access the internet. However, the only option we have found is to then physically reset the router each time. As we are connecting via Citrix to our workplace, this then means re-authentication. A bit of a pain.
This week we have not had so many issues but I have just looked at the router settings and there are no devices connected on 5GHz and the laptops have defaulted to Wireless N so would appear to be on 2.4GHz.
Obviously we would ideally be using 5GHz for the improved speed, please could the new firmware be pushed to our router? We are currently on the following firmware: Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 | Last updated 12/03/19
What can I do to help?
We are yet to find a way to reliably replicate the problem ourselves under lab conditions, so it would be helpful if you can reply to this post answering the questions below (and providing any other detail you might think is useful!)
- Brief description of the problem, and how is masquerades itself. What are the symptoms? How frequently does it happen? See above
- Do the devices having problems appear to be connected or associated with the hub? Is the hub status indicator normal/blue when the problem occurs? The status indicator is always blue when this problem manifests
- Do you have the 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels merged (default setting) or split (different wireless network names)? If the networks are named differently, does the problem only affect the 5GHz network? I have them as one SSID as there are a few Google Nest Minis, Chromecast audios etc and wouldn't be able to cast to all of them if on different SSIDs
- Once the problem occurs is it persistent? Do you have any devices wired to the router and does the problem affect them at the same time? This one is interesting, I have been able to plug in my laptop with an ethernet cable via powerline adapters and the connection is fine, another reason why I thought it was laptop wireless card, however the 5GHZ channel issue explains it better. The issues are not persistent in that we can reset the router and we can get back to normal, however it has caused 5-10 resets a day at times.
- Are you able to reproduce the problem reliably? Do you think you have a way of triggering it? [for example waking a specific device from power save mode] No, seems entirely random - I can be working away, sometimes on Skype calls, and the connection drops. It also doesn't affect both of us at exactly the same time, tends to take a few seconds between one of us and the other. Same laptops supplied at end of August, which I think is probably when the connection issues started though. Perhaps our old equipment was happy enough on 2.4GHz
- Is the problem always resolved by rebooting the hub? If so, how long does it take before problems recur? Yes, always resolved by rebooting, however it doesn't always last very long. Sometimes minutes, sometimes hours.
- If specific devices are always impacted when problems occur, please provide details of which devices are impacted and which aren't i.e. manufacturer, model, variant and operating system version. It is always an issue with our laptops which are HP Elitebook with Intel wireless ac-9560 card.
- Have the devices experiencing problems recently received any patches that might correspond with the time the issue first occurred? We only received them recently and started noticing the problem then. Pretty sure it's because our other devices are older and work happily on 2.4GHz
- Please provide a description of your home network setup and all devices in use including whether or not you're using any additional switches, Powerline adapters or wireless access points. Router connected to Sky Q and powerline adapter by ethernet cables. OnePlus mobile phones connected via wifi, Chromecast audios, Nest Minis etc connected by wifi, desktop in office connected by ethernet on other end of powerline adapter.
