My WiFi recently sucks

[Mike A.]

All of my WiFi has gone down hill in a big way lately. It's not been an overnight thing but say over the last several months. I thought at first it was because I'd recently changed the Asus router that I was using to AP-only duty and it was just something flaky about that but I'm seeing the same across multiple APs that I've tried. My phone constantly switches back and forth between WiFI and 5G inside the house and some indoor WiFi cams and other WiFI devices are dropping off the network all the time.

The Asus used to be great. I could get strong service anywhere in the house and extending a good way out into the yard. Now I have pitiful RSSI a couple of rooms away.

I have three outdoor APs, a pair of TP-Link CPE210 2.4 that I use for point-to-point to a shed/workshop and an oddball Netix AP.

The TP-Link is a more recent addition within the same time period and I've never been all that impressed with it. But it worked well enough for the purpose/price and I wanted switched ports in the shed for a couple of cams. It also seems to have deteriorated since I first got it. Trying to get it to work better I eventually turned on a proprietary TDMA mode that it can use and that does seem to have helped it.

I'd used the Netix previously for that purpose and general coverage outside. That thing could blast out signal that I could pick up many streets away in the direction pointed if I turned it up. So I broke it out again to see if I could use it. Now I'm doing good just to get signal from it across half of my typical suburban yard.

I also have a Ubiquiti AC Pro that I wasn't using since the Asus was much better as far as signal and I didn't need it. It was never all that great but OK. It also doesn't work worth a damn now.

I've tried various channels and assigned channels so as to avoid interference among these various devices. Only two are actually working at the same time normally, I've just been testing among these to try to see some improvement.

Seems to have affected the 2.4 side much more than 5. My 5 signal now typically is better than the 2.4 side.

Single-family home neighborhood without much interference (that I can detect) from neighbors or wider-area services. Some signals detected but all fairly minimal. Nothing strong that comes up using various signal surveying software/apps that I've tried. Everything seems to be normal background noise. (Kind of including my own WiFi. lol)

I've not added anything else to the house that I can think of that would cause interference. No radio antennas, 2.4 phone system, or anything like that.

It's not a case where it's good and then gets lousy at times and comes and goes. It's never very good and just drops to terrible often.

Any ideas? How can I better diagnose this?

 

[The Automation Guy]

Are all your wifi access points set to "automatic mode" or have you manually set everything up to ensure each device get's it's own slice of the wifi spectrum?

If everything is set to automatic (and you aren't using a controller to handle the different devices - which clearly you aren't since you have devices from different manufacturers), then I suspect they are all trying to use the same wifi channels and having more devices is actually causing the system to perform worse.

I suggest you watch this video from Lawrence Systems. He is talking about Unifi systems, but the basic ideas apply to all wifi network systems.

 

[Mike A.]

No, they're all set up on specific channels and I've separated them as much as I can from one another and other WiFi signals. As I said, I'm not running all of these at the same time - just swapped in the Netis and Unifi AP to test. Only two on as I normally have things set up - the Asus inside and the TP-Link pointed away from the house on another channel. That has been working fine and in the past with the Netis set up the same way as well. I can see using various apps/software that they are on the assigned channels. Even if I only have one on at a time, still the same. Poor signal from a single source.

 

[The Automation Guy]

It's great that you set this up "manually".

Since this is occurring on all your hardware, even if it is the only thing connected, it sure seems to point to some sort of outside interference. Does your scanner app show any outside interference (ie a neighbor that is overpowering a certain set of channels)? No new wireless home phone or other appliances?

 

[Mike A.]

I'd agree. But I'm not sure what.

All others networks shown in whatever package I use to detect them are at low levels. Mid -80s-mid -90s. Unfortunately, mine aren't much better. Best RSSI that I can get is the TP-Link at low -70s. The Netis standing outside in direct line-of-sight I get ~20-30 yards away and it's starting to fall off fast. I could have been blocks away when I had it up before. The Asus is maybe 25 feet away from me with mostly open area between and it's mid-70s to low-80s. Can't get it much at all outside the house.

Nothing new added to my house. No neighbors with radio antennas or anything like that. Houses are pretty well separated. The only thing new that I can think of in the neighborhood is that they're swapping out some of the gas meters and working on the lines over some of the same timeframe. I don't know much about it but looks like some of the frequencies used in smart meters is in the 2.4 range but that's said to be at relatively low output levels. I don't see any of that reported in WiFi analysis/survey software. And mine wasn't swapped, already had one. Maybe I'll walk over one day and see if I can find a supervisor or somebody to ask about.

 

[tech_junkie]

All of my WiFi has gone down hill in a big way lately. It's not been an overnight thing but say over the last several months. I thought at first it was because I'd recently changed the Asus router that I was using to AP-only duty and it was just something flaky about that but I'm seeing the same across multiple APs that I've tried. My phone constantly switches back and forth between WiFI and 5G inside the house and some indoor WiFi cams and other WiFI devices are dropping off the network all the time.

The Asus used to be great. I could get strong service anywhere in the house and extending a good way out into the yard. Now I have pitiful RSSI a couple of rooms away.

I have three outdoor APs, a pair of TP-Link CPE210 2.4 that I use for point-to-point to a shed/workshop and an oddball Netix AP.

The TP-Link is a more recent addition within the same time period and I've never been all that impressed with it. But it worked well enough for the purpose/price and I wanted switched ports in the shed for a couple of cams. It also seems to have deteriorated since I first got it. Trying to get it to work better I eventually turned on a proprietary TDMA mode that it can use and that does seem to have helped it.

I'd used the Netix previously for that purpose and general coverage outside. That thing could blast out signal that I could pick up many streets away in the direction pointed if I turned it up. So I broke it out again to see if I could use it. Now I'm doing good just to get signal from it across half of my typical suburban yard.

I also have a Ubiquiti AC Pro that I wasn't using since the Asus was much better as far as signal and I didn't need it. It was never all that great but OK. It also doesn't work worth a damn now.

I've tried various channels and assigned channels so as to avoid interference among these various devices. Only two are actually working at the same time normally, I've just been testing among these to try to see some improvement.

Seems to have affected the 2.4 side much more than 5. My 5 signal now typically is better than the 2.4 side.

Single-family home neighborhood without much interference (that I can detect) from neighbors or wider-area services. Some signals detected but all fairly minimal. Nothing strong that comes up using various signal surveying software/apps that I've tried. Everything seems to be normal background noise. (Kind of including my own WiFi. lol)

I've not added anything else to the house that I can think of that would cause interference. No radio antennas, 2.4 phone system, or anything like that.

It's not a case where it's good and then gets lousy at times and comes and goes. It's never very good and just drops to terrible often.

Any ideas? How can I better diagnose this?

If you were my client, I would first use this to look at the RF situation: Wi-Fi Hound™ 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz RF Spectrum Analyzer: See and Isolate Radio Interference, 2MP Camera, Android 7.0 OS- (WFHOUND)
Because I would like to see all of the RF hash, organized and unorganized signal activity.

How old is your stuff? These consumer wifi do degrade as the amp gain in them go down over time.

I never dealt with the TP-Link CPE210, but it looks like it would be an OK wifi access point. But just like all wifi devices in bridge mode the integrity of the transmission is touch and go. The amateur RF IP equipment is really designed for this application. operating in either RF IP amateur bands (5Ghz and 60 Ghz)
Ubiquiti airMAX Gigabeam is my current one I would recommend for use in this application.

2.4Ghz band is tied up too much with non networking devices like bluetooth. Much less the other wireless jammers and signal boosters produced in that frequency range that would interfere or reduce a wifi.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Maybe having things set-up manually is coming 'round and biting you.

Consider backing up the current settings of each device to easily return things to how they currently are. Put them all to 'automatic' and let them each decide the best channel/power to operate on. The thought being, if there are bursts/waves of high traffic or channel encroachment from surrounding equipment, your devices will most likely respond accordingly 'on the fly' when allowed to do so on their own.

 

[Mike A.]

Yeah, wish I had one of the spectrum analyzers. The WiFi ones that run on a laptop or as an app only report WiFI so I don't see anything else.

The Asus is older and that was my initial thought - that it was on its way out or something flaky about switching it over to be just an AP. But it's no better switched back to router mode and other devices that are newer are affected as well.

The TP-Link is not too bad now since I turned on their TDMA mode. Not as good as I'd expected but better. I got the 2.4 version so that it also could serve as a general AP for other things out there that don't run 5. Otherwise If it were intended only for dedicated point-to-point then I would have gone with their 5 version or Ubiquity. It's about the only thing that's working reasonably well but needs to be in that direction.

I've tried in auto modes also. Just shuffles things around from time to time with not much if any improvement that I've seen.

Also have a bunch of Zigbee stuff that runs in the same range but that's all real low powered and has been in place for a long time. I'd expect it to get stepped on vs the other way.

Really not sure what to look at now.