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When a windows or android device intermittently cannot connect to a wireless network, despite showing it as available; or when the device claims to be connected to the network but cannot ping the router, what further steps can I take to determine the cause of the problem?
I am currently trying to diagnose such a case. A windows 8 pc, and an android 5.1.1 phone both keep exhibiting such occasional connection problems (usually at the same time). Either the device disconnects from the network and refuses to reconnect, or the connection claims to work, but pings to the router or any other address stop returning.
Restarting the router or the device, or simply waiting 1 to 5 minutes are sufficient to alleviate the problem, until the next interruption.
In all cases the network is shown as available with sufficient strength (>-80dBm); no other networks are stronger; and no other networks use the same or a neighbouring wifi channel. (measured with the "wifi analyzer" android app and windows netsh command)
Switching the wifi-router from a provider-branded one to a tl-wdr 4300 or changing the wifi channel did not appear to solve the problem. (switching from 2.4ghz to 5ghz was not possible due to insufficient range of the 5ghz network)
How can I determine the actual reason for these random connection problems? (I am less interested in trying various fixes until something sticks, and more interested in getting to the root cause)
Is there a way to see at which step exactly the connection to the network fails; or localize the error otherwise?
Can I somehow see non-wifi interferences on the same frequency?
HugoRune
Posted 2016-01-03T01:10:26.520
Reputation: 441
Did you run the network troubleshooter on the W8 pc? May give some clues. 2.4ghz is a crowded frequency depending on where and how close you live to other people. Try 1,6,11 channels if you have not already. – Moab – 2016-01-03T01:14:27.867
yes, without any success (but then again I have literary never seen the troubleshooter actually helping). – HugoRune – 2016-01-03T01:17:13.180
Sometimes it has given me some clues. It could be a router problem, if you can try a different router. – Moab – 2016-01-03T01:19:29.427
1802.11n and newer routers are better at minimizing interference. – Moab – 2016-01-03T01:22:45.063
Switching the router and fiddling with the antenas and wifi settings did so far not appear to help, but it is very hard to tell since the problem is so random. For all I know, the frequency of the problems may have halved or doubled. That's why now I would really like to stop my blind flailing attempts and instead diagnose the actual cause of the problem. so I am looking less for further suggestions to try, and more for a general approach at debugging this. – HugoRune – 2016-01-03T01:30:31.770
See if there is a firmware update available for the router TOO!!! – Pimp Juice IT – 2016-01-03T01:42:29.027
Step 1 in troubleshooting is to start at layer-1. In your case, layer-1 is the airwaves. You don't control what happens on the airwaves, but you need to understand what is happening since it is very likely a wireless interference problem. You could hire someone who has the proper equipment to do a wireless site survey, or you could get some software and attempt it yourself. You need to have a firm grasp of what, it anything, is causing wireless interference in order to develop a solution. Your neighbor may have the same problem and be doing the same as you, and you interfere with each other. – Ron Maupin – 2016-01-03T01:52:26.427
Microwave ovens can wreak havoc with wireless 2.4 ghz. – Moab – 2016-01-03T01:56:58.393