Wifi stops working.. then works again..

[slag]

I have uverse 75 mb service in my home. In the evenings, I can be watching TV on my roku and everything will just slow to a crawl. Netflix times out, Amazon Prime refuses to pull up the catalog or does it extremely slowly, and even a reboot of the roku doesn't fix anything. Wireless on my phone appears to work fine only pulling up mobile sites and I can go to a wired connection at my pc and run speed tests and load up general websites and then are all fast. Sometimes this slowdown of wireless lasts 20 minutes, sometimes I just go to bed and its fine in the morning. My kids are asleep and not using wireless either. I'm using WPA 2 AES+TKIP.

I can't tell if this is a roku problem or overall wireless problem, but I don't have a wired connection in my bedroom and can't change over to that. I do have a wifi analyzer on my phone and it can see 8 networks in the area. I've manually selected a channel that has the least amount of other visibile wireless ssids on it as to avoid signal issues there and my signal is very strong in my house. I'm just at a loss as to what is causing this wifi slowdown or how to solve it. I didn't see any noticeable errors when logging into the Uverse modem/router either.

 

[Mushkins]

Could be packet loss during peak hours on the ISP end.

About a half hour before it starts happening, open a command prompt on any of your PCs and run this command (you can copy/paste it):

ping google.com >> c:\PingResults.txt -t

This will constantly ping google.com and export the results to a text file in your root C:\ directory. Let it run until the connection issues subside and then close the command prompt window.

If you see a lot of "The request timed out" then it's time to ring up your ISP and let them know you're having packet loss during peak hours and to send a tech out to check the lines. Could be a single strength issue or damage on the lines on the street.

I end up having to do this with Comcast every 6 months or so when the weather changes and their infrastructure in my complex gets fudged by the weather.

 

[boomerang]

Could be packet loss during peak hours on the ISP end.

About a half hour before it starts happening, open a command prompt on any of your PCs and run this command (you can copy/paste it):

ping google.com >> c:\PingResults.txt -t

This will constantly ping google.com and export the results to a text file in your root C:\ directory. Let it run until the connection issues subside and then close the command prompt window.

If you see a lot of "The request timed out" then it's time to ring up your ISP and let them know you're having packet loss during peak hours and to send a tech out to check the lines. Could be a single strength issue or damage on the lines on the street.

I end up having to do this with Comcast every 6 months or so when the weather changes and their infrastructure in my complex gets fudged by the weather.

I learned something from your post but he said his wired connection is fine.

 

[boomerang]

I don't know anything about uverse. Is this a wireless router supplied by them? If not, it would be helpful to know what you have.

 

[Fardringle]

If the wired connection keeps working normally but wireless stops, and only at those times, then something in the nearby area is probably creating interference, like neighbors turning on a bunch of wireless devices, or possibly a microwave or other source of heavy EM interference close to your router and/or wireless devices.

 

[IronWing]

If the wired connection keeps working normally but wireless stops, and only at those times, then something in the nearby area is probably creating interference, like neighbors turning on a bunch of wireless devices, or possibly a microwave or other source of heavy EM interference close to your router and/or wireless devices.

^^ This. My analog wireless audio connection from PC to stereo all but knocks out my wifi. I have to carefully position the audio transmitter if I want to use the wifi at the same time.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I work! I stop! I work again!

 

[slag]

It's an att supplied modem and router combo. It's in my wife's office and can't be moved. The closest neighbor is an older couple who is in bed by 9 each night they say. It came up in convo once. Next time it happens I'll ping - t google or Microsoft and see what happens.

 

[Mushkins]

I learned something from your post but he said his wired connection is fine.

I know he did, but he also said all he's doing with it is basic web browsing and thats how he knows it's fine.

However, that doesn't *prove* it's fine. Just opening up random websites does not rule out packet loss as you're only making a handful of small, intermittent requests to view static content. If you're losing 40% of your packets the page will still load there just might be a second or two delay. So it looks fine but it's actually not.

 

[slag]

I know he did, but he also said all he's doing with it is basic web browsing and thats how he knows it's fine.

However, that doesn't *prove* it's fine. Just opening up random websites does not rule out packet loss as you're only making a handful of small, intermittent requests to view static content. If you're losing 40% of your packets the page will still load there just might be a second or two delay. So it looks fine but it's actually not.

espn.com
youtube.com and viewing content

Those are two sites I opened to see if graphical heavy sites would load fine and they did. It appears on the surface to be a purely wireless issue but next time it happens I'll check into it more.

 

[JackMDS]

I can't tell if this is a roku problem or overall wireless problem

Can you see Netflix (or something similar on your phone while the Roku acts out.

If you do then it is probably Roku problem.

BTW, entry level Wireless can not analyze Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), strong signal might be Weak sinal with a lot of noise.

Try the Roku with some portable TV/Monitor in spots closer to the Wireless Router it might be that the signal in bedroom is on the "Edge" and thus Kicks in and out.

If the above is the case you need install a second IP closer to the Bedroom.

Using Wireless Routers (or Modem/Wireless Router) as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

---------------
P.S., if you can not afford a second Wireless Router and can not lay any editorial cable to it,. it might mean that No Netflix in the Bedroom and live can go on without it.

 

[slag]

Can you see Netflix (or something similar on your phone while the Roku acts out.

If you do then it is probably Roku problem.

BTW, entry level Wireless can not analyze Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), strong signal might be Weak sinal with a lot of noise.

Try the Roku with some portable TV/Monitor in spots closer to the Wireless Router it might be that the signal in bedroom is on the "Edge" and thus Kicks in and out.

If the above is the case you need install a second IP closer to the Bedroom.

Using Wireless Routers (or Modem/Wireless Router) as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

---------------
P.S., if you can not afford a second Wireless Router and can not lay any editorial cable to it,. it might mean that No Netflix in the Bedroom and live can go on without it.

The wireless router is about 50 feet from the bedroom in my wife's office. I'm optimistic that its not the problem because it seems to work fine all other times. Our wireless signal is strong everywhere in the house except the far corner of the basement and I have a second wifi access point downstairs for that issue should it ever become a problem.

I'll load netflix on my tablet and try it next time the roku appears to flake out.

 

[gus6464]

You using the att provided uverse router? Those things are hot garbage. When I had uverse long ago I just put the thing in modem mode and connected my own router.