Do I Need A New Router?
Discussion
I have Sky Broadband and router connected to BT Whole Home mesh via a switch so the WiFi is turned off at the router.
A couple of weeks ago our WiFi stopped. I re booted the router and it all came up again, about a week ago the same thing happened. Once again I re booted and it all came back to life. This evening my BT Whole Home was showing a weak signal to the first dish (the one plugged into the router), after a while the WiFi signal became so weak it was unusable. So for the third time I re booted the router and once again that solved the problem.
So do I need a new router?
A couple of weeks ago our WiFi stopped. I re booted the router and it all came up again, about a week ago the same thing happened. Once again I re booted and it all came back to life. This evening my BT Whole Home was showing a weak signal to the first dish (the one plugged into the router), after a while the WiFi signal became so weak it was unusable. So for the third time I re booted the router and once again that solved the problem.
So do I need a new router?
Im not seeing the relationship between your bt home mesh and the router ?
If your wifi is switched off on the router why is switching it off fixing your wifi problem ?
when you say your "wifi stopped" do you mean your wifi signal stopped or your internet stopped ?
if its wifi then try swapping the home mesh devices around ( assuming that they are all the same type)
Rebooting your router suggests that its either not given you dhcp .. or its not routing .. ( which is unlikely to show as a weak signal )
If your wifi is switched off on the router why is switching it off fixing your wifi problem ?
when you say your "wifi stopped" do you mean your wifi signal stopped or your internet stopped ?
if its wifi then try swapping the home mesh devices around ( assuming that they are all the same type)
Rebooting your router suggests that its either not given you dhcp .. or its not routing .. ( which is unlikely to show as a weak signal )
Chozza said:
Im not seeing the relationship between your bt home mesh and the router ?
If your wifi is switched off on the router why is switching it off fixing your wifi problem ?
when you say your "wifi stopped" do you mean your wifi signal stopped or your internet stopped ?
if its wifi then try swapping the home mesh devices around ( assuming that they are all the same type)
Rebooting your router suggests that its either not given you dhcp .. or its not routing .. ( which is unlikely to show as a weak signal )
Thanks for answering.If your wifi is switched off on the router why is switching it off fixing your wifi problem ?
when you say your "wifi stopped" do you mean your wifi signal stopped or your internet stopped ?
if its wifi then try swapping the home mesh devices around ( assuming that they are all the same type)
Rebooting your router suggests that its either not given you dhcp .. or its not routing .. ( which is unlikely to show as a weak signal )
I turned the WiFi off at the router as that’s recommend when using the BT mesh system. It’s worked well for a few years now. I don’t know why it comes back when I reboot.
Just the WiFi signal stopped, the router was still apparently working.
I tried moving the mesh devices around, it made no difference.
There’s just 2 ports with the Sky router. The first Whole Home dish is hard wired to one and a switch to the other so I can use the additional ports. There’s been no issues with the switch or anything plugged into it.
Does that all point to a problem with one port on the router?
It sounds more like your Sky router stopped receiving a broadband connection rather than your wifi stopped working. I think Chozza was trying to say is when the "wifi" went down could you still access things in the LAN, say go on the BT app & see all the connected devices or get on a NAS or something within your home network that doesn't require an internet connection. If you can then it is in fact the broadband that went.
My virgin media hub does this meaning I have to restart my Virgin hub not my mesh system and it then comes back online. I would try and run the Sky diagnostic tool https://www.sky.com/mybroadband when its next down and see if it can pick anything up. You have to remember that everyone is at home using their broadband so the already fragile network is under more strain so could just be due to the amount of traffic on it.
My virgin media hub does this meaning I have to restart my Virgin hub not my mesh system and it then comes back online. I would try and run the Sky diagnostic tool https://www.sky.com/mybroadband when its next down and see if it can pick anything up. You have to remember that everyone is at home using their broadband so the already fragile network is under more strain so could just be due to the amount of traffic on it.
richatnort said:
It sounds more like your Sky router stopped receiving a broadband connection rather than your wifi stopped working. I think Chozza was trying to say is when the "wifi" went down could you still access things in the LAN, say go on the BT app & see all the connected devices or get on a NAS or something within your home network that doesn't require an internet connection. If you can then it is in fact the broadband that went.
My virgin media hub does this meaning I have to restart my Virgin hub not my mesh system and it then comes back online. I would try and run the Sky diagnostic tool https://www.sky.com/mybroadband when its next down and see if it can pick anything up. You have to remember that everyone is at home using their broadband so the already fragile network is under more strain so could just be due to the amount of traffic on it.
Yes, I’ll try the diagnostic tool. When the WiFi became very weak last evening I couldn’t access the BT Whole Home app, it said I wasn’t connected to it.My virgin media hub does this meaning I have to restart my Virgin hub not my mesh system and it then comes back online. I would try and run the Sky diagnostic tool https://www.sky.com/mybroadband when its next down and see if it can pick anything up. You have to remember that everyone is at home using their broadband so the already fragile network is under more strain so could just be due to the amount of traffic on it.
There’s nobody else here using the WiFi. It was just Mrs BC and I yesterday evening trying to watch streamed tv when it went very intermittent, hence my checking the app.
bad company said:
Yes, I’ll try the diagnostic tool. When the WiFi became very weak last evening I couldn’t access the BT Whole Home app, it said I wasn’t connected to it.
There’s nobody else here using the WiFi. It was just Mrs BC and I yesterday evening trying to watch streamed tv when it went very intermittent, hence my checking the app.
Hmmmm that does sound more like the broadband but again i'm not too sure how the BT app works as i have a linksys system and if the internet it down i can access it locally over the LAN. One option could be if you have a laptop or something you can hardwire into the Sky or BT router and see if you get an internet connection then you could find out if it is indeed the sky broadband that's down or a fault on the BT mesh network.There’s nobody else here using the WiFi. It was just Mrs BC and I yesterday evening trying to watch streamed tv when it went very intermittent, hence my checking the app.
richatnort said:
Hmmmm that does sound more like the broadband but again i'm not too sure how the BT app works as i have a linksys system and if the internet it down i can access it locally over the LAN. One option could be if you have a laptop or something you can hardwire into the Sky or BT router and see if you get an internet connection then you could find out if it is indeed the sky broadband that's down or a fault on the BT mesh network.
The Sky Broadband router has just 2 ports so I hardwire the BT disc into 1 and my switch into port 2. The first time the WiFi failed I unplugged the disc and plugged it into the switch, then it worked, back into the router and it was dead. I then powered the router down and up again, plugged the disc back into the router and everything seemed fine.A few days later the same thing happened, then yesterday evening the WiFi became very weak until I powered the router down and up again.
Does that not sound like a router problem?
Edited by bad company on Tuesday 19th May 11:00
bad company said:
richatnort said:
Hmmmm that does sound more like the broadband but again i'm not too sure how the BT app works as i have a linksys system and if the internet it down i can access it locally over the LAN. One option could be if you have a laptop or something you can hardwire into the Sky or BT router and see if you get an internet connection then you could find out if it is indeed the sky broadband that's down or a fault on the BT mesh network.
The Sky Broadband router has just 2 ports so I hardwire the BT disc into 1 and my switch into port 2. The first time the WiFi failed I unplugged the disc and plugged it into the switch, then it worked, back into the router and it was dead. I then powered the router down and up again, plugged the disc back into the router and everything seemed fine.A few days later the same thing happened, then yesterday evening the WiFi became very weak until I powered the router down and up again.
Does that not sound like a router problem?
Edited by bad company on Tuesday 19th May 11:00
bad company said:
stemll said:
Try swapping the two over. Then see if the WiFi stays up and you lose the other stuff connected to the switch. If you do then it's probably the port on the router. If it was a port, not sure why rebooting would fix it though.
Thanks, will do.stemll said:
bad company said:
stemll said:
Try swapping the two over. Then see if the WiFi stays up and you lose the other stuff connected to the switch. If you do then it's probably the port on the router. If it was a port, not sure why rebooting would fix it though.
Thanks, will do.I think if it happens again I’ll buy a new router.
To clarify, when you say 'weak wifi' do the bars showing signal level change on the top of your phone/tablet/mac or bottom of you PC screen?
As others have hinted it sounds more like a problem connecting to the outside world rather than an internal connection issue, but your description makes is sould like the other way round.
How are devices performing on the switch side of the network when you have issues with the wifi side?
As a short-term test, turn the Sky Wifi back on and see what that does when the BT seems to have issues.
V.
As others have hinted it sounds more like a problem connecting to the outside world rather than an internal connection issue, but your description makes is sould like the other way round.
How are devices performing on the switch side of the network when you have issues with the wifi side?
As a short-term test, turn the Sky Wifi back on and see what that does when the BT seems to have issues.
V.
VEX said:
To clarify, when you say 'weak wifi' do the bars showing signal level change on the top of your phone/tablet/mac or bottom of you PC screen?
As others have hinted it sounds more like a problem connecting to the outside world rather than an internal connection issue, but your description makes is sould like the other way round.
How are devices performing on the switch side of the network when you have issues with the wifi side?
As a short-term test, turn the Sky Wifi back on and see what that does when the BT seems to have issues.
V.
It’s not so easy to pinpoint. On the first day 2 occasions the WiFi went off completely but everything working through the switch was ok. As I said I rebooted the router and the WiFi came back strong.As others have hinted it sounds more like a problem connecting to the outside world rather than an internal connection issue, but your description makes is sould like the other way round.
How are devices performing on the switch side of the network when you have issues with the wifi side?
As a short-term test, turn the Sky Wifi back on and see what that does when the BT seems to have issues.
V.
On the third occasion we were watching streamed tv when the signal starting breaking up but did not completely stop. It eventually fixed itself so I’d say that was probably/possibly a broadband issue?
Perhaps the events aren’t related.
I’m getting a bit out my depth technically here but I just signed into the hub and took a look round. I couldn’t see anything wrong but the activity log shows several entries on 1 January this year, then nothing until 18 May. Then many entries each day on 18, 19 and 20 May.
Does that tell us anything?
Does that tell us anything?
1st Jan - probably means nothing
When you reboot your router - it doesnt know the time .. so might default to 1st jan ( probably not even the correct year )
then once it gets a NTP ( network time protocol ) back from a server somewhere , it then sets the time correctly so the logs are then correct.
When you reboot your router - it doesnt know the time .. so might default to 1st jan ( probably not even the correct year )
then once it gets a NTP ( network time protocol ) back from a server somewhere , it then sets the time correctly so the logs are then correct.
Chozza said:
BTW - where are you getting the IP addresses from ? Are both the router and the BT disc assigning IP addresses ? Can you see when/what device gets an IP address?
Is the BT disc default route the router ?
Thanks for your help. That goes beyond my understanding. The router and BT disc have their own ip addresses, I’ve turned of the router WiFi so it doesn’t clash with the BT network.Is the BT disc default route the router ?
It’s all been stable since the weekend so I’m inclined to wait and see what happens now.
You need to pin point your issue using hardware, so if you think you have a router issue put spare one on to check.
If you don't have a spare router then buy one, it will at least be a spare even if not the issue. You can only reduce probabilities by working at home rather than describing things to a forum ....
In the old days the people who sold you the stuff might have helped rather than us
If you don't have a spare router then buy one, it will at least be a spare even if not the issue. You can only reduce probabilities by working at home rather than describing things to a forum ....
In the old days the people who sold you the stuff might have helped rather than us
Gandahar said:
You need to pin point your issue using hardware, so if you think you have a router issue put spare one on to check.
If you don't have a spare router then buy one, it will at least be a spare even if not the issue. You can only reduce probabilities by working at home rather than describing things to a forum ....
In the old days the people who sold you the stuff might have helped rather than us
You’re right. If I was near the end of my Sky contract I’m sure I could get them to send a router but I renewed in March.If you don't have a spare router then buy one, it will at least be a spare even if not the issue. You can only reduce probabilities by working at home rather than describing things to a forum ....
In the old days the people who sold you the stuff might have helped rather than us
Any recommendations for a router? Obviously I won’t be using it for WiFi.
bad company said:
Gandahar said:
You need to pin point your issue using hardware, so if you think you have a router issue put spare one on to check.
If you don't have a spare router then buy one, it will at least be a spare even if not the issue. You can only reduce probabilities by working at home rather than describing things to a forum ....
In the old days the people who sold you the stuff might have helped rather than us
You’re right. If I was near the end of my Sky contract I’m sure I could get them to send a router but I renewed in March.If you don't have a spare router then buy one, it will at least be a spare even if not the issue. You can only reduce probabilities by working at home rather than describing things to a forum ....
In the old days the people who sold you the stuff might have helped rather than us
Any recommendations for a router? Obviously I won’t be using it for WiFi.
TP-LINK TL-R470T
It's cheap for testing but as I don't know your exact setup hard to recommend something definitely.
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