Need reboots to recover wifi HomeHub5

Hi,

I have BT Infinity 2 with a BT HomeHub 5.
When I do a speed test while using ethernet the download speeds are around 72 Mbps. When on wifi around 45/55.
Yet both laptops and a tablet in last couple of months keep being knocked offline. The laptops then need to go through a reboot to be able to connect again. Sometimes recently both have needed three reboots.
Also the browsing is frequently very very slow despite the recorded download speeds.

As it's happening on all devices I assume the issue is with the wifi.
Nothing has changed with our setup. Do we maybe have a faulty Hub?

Thanks for any ideas.

The homehub 5 I used would disconnect ALL devices (wifi and wired) periodically for a few minutes and then they would come back on.

Checking the logs it coincided with the router checking for updates from BT. It could do that 5 or 6 times of an evening.

In the end the fix for me was to replace the router with a Billion 7800 that I already had. It is an issue that others have seen as well.

Hi,

I don't think I have quite the same issue. When my wifi is knocked off it does not return again. I always need to reboot the system.

I've never had that. However, a handful of occasions in 9 months I've had to do a WiFi disconnect/reconnection process which, of course, is much quicker to do. It's not clear if it's a laptop issue or a hub one.

Sounds like the router has changed channel. Turn smart wireless off by selecting a channel in the settings.

Thanks. 2.4 GHz was on Smart Wireless and 5GHz was on Channel 48.
I have changed the channels of both 2.4 GHz and 5GHz wireless, though I am not sure that I need to try anything with 5 GHz as both laptops are connecting with 2.4.
I will see how that goes.

Yes, this is definitely the router changing channels. I've had this a few times and I noticed that the channel has changed each time. If you download a program that tells you which channel nearby networks are using and then choose your own, it might go away.

In reply to a post by GeoffB:

If you download a program that tells you which channel nearby networks are using and then choose your own, it might go away.

Take a look at inSSIDER Home. I have used this to 'sniff' the networks around me and then choose a channel to avoid both Co-Channel and Overlapping interference. The software will even recommend a channel for you to use, on its 'Network' tab, although this may change as nearby devices come online and then disappear.

You may also find it useful to lock your modem speed down to better match your 2.4Ghz devices. No point running at 300Mbps or 144Mbps if they will only run at 54Mbps....If you can do this with HH5 that is....

Edited by briansaab (Sun 23-Nov-14 19:50:30)

Yes, you can. A lot of users (me included) will have newer devices supporting the faster speeds alongside older ones which don't and so it might actually be better to set it at 300 if you're not sure, to see what's what. Easy to check by clicking the wireless network in the network center of each device and seeing if there's anything between 100 and 300. (Reminder to anyone accessing their HH5 interface to see this menu - change the password that came with the router if you haven't done so already!)

I have been playing about with the router and InSSIDer for a couple of days. It seems to prefer Channel 48/52 when on 5 GHz and Channel 11 on 2.4 GHz.
There seems to be at least 2 co-channels and up to 5 when on some channels. There are no overlapping channels anywhere.
My laptop connects at 5 GHz when close to the router and at the slower speed in another room.
As I had been set at 48 GHz before (not by me) I have set both speeds on Smart Wireless and will monitor if there continue to be disconnections.
Thanks all.