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rgs200's avatar
rgs200
Tuning in
3 months ago
Solved

Seeking wifi advice - connection cutting out

Hello all

I'm hoping someone here can give me a pointer to investigate an issue with my wifi. I work in IT, so I'm generally competent and if I'm pointed to tools I'll be able to use them - but I don't know anything about wifi specifically, and I'm struggling to find a way into it just by googling!

I have a Hub 3.0.

My issue is that, in some specific rooms in my flat, the wifi on my devices will either suddenly disconnect, or will seemingly stay connected but completely stop working. In both cases, if I (disconnect and) reconnect, I'll get good download speeds for anything from a few seconds to a few minutes, and then it will happen again.

This happens on both my phone and my laptop, so I'm fairly sure it's not a problem with the device. It also never happens in the room where the hub is, so I think it's definitely to do with the wifi rather than anything on the other side of the hub.

My flat is of fairly solid construction but it isn't particularly large, and what I'm seeing feels subjectively odd - not like the behaviour I'm used to when I'm just a bit too far from an access point. So before I spend money on repeaters or similar, I'm wondering if there is something else going on. And that's where my knowledge runs out... could there be some interference from a neighbour's wifi, for example? I've no idea whether that's plausible or not.

Does anyone have any suggestions for something I could do to investigate? Or alternatively, if I'm just wrong that this feels odd and it sounds exactly like a problem that would typically be fixed by a repeater, then that would be useful to know as well.

Thanks!
Richard

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    3 months ago

    Wi-Fi drop outs occur because the Hub 3 is a slow as a snail at performing an Auto Channel change.  We fixed this with the Hub 3 settings shown below.  

    The VM Pods are to be avoided, they would compound this problem because VM Pods don't work with the settings show below.

     

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  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    3 months ago

    Wi-Fi drop outs occur because the Hub 3 is a slow as a snail at performing an Auto Channel change.  We fixed this with the Hub 3 settings shown below.  

    The VM Pods are to be avoided, they would compound this problem because VM Pods don't work with the settings show below.

     

    • rgs200's avatar
      rgs200
      Tuning in
      3 months ago

      Thank you! It's early days, but those exact settings seem to have fixed it... and it was enough of a pointer that I've now found some more detail online, so I think I understand the issue and can do a bit more analysis if there are any problems from here.

      In a small but measurable way, you have changed my life :)

      (For anyone who finds this thread in the future, note that you have to select "disable channel optimisation" at the BOTTOM of the page to unlock the settings at the TOP of the page. Fair to assume they didn't bother with any UX testing when they designed it that way.)

      • jbrennand's avatar
        jbrennand
        Very Insightful Person
        3 months ago

        Glad your connection is working better now.

        I would suggest that the long term solution would be to do what many of here do (I started doing this >20 years ago!), that is to stick any ISP provided Hub straight into modem mode and source your own router and wireless equipment.

        You would need to get either a…  (1) Mesh System, (2) Wireless router, (3) Wireless access point(s), or a combination of 2 and 3.

        £40-100 should sort it for most customers with an average property and usage. Spend more for additional advanced“features” - if required.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    3 months ago

    Also note the VM Connect app and the VP Pods will require Smart-Wi-Fi to be re-enabled and may even just go ahead and do so the detriment of  Wi-Fi stability.

    As well as the Hub 3 in Router mode we have a pair of Wi-Fi Access Points (also on fixed channels), one ISP Hub or Router does not cover our living space.