Why does my wifi access point keep cutting out every few days?

Question

We've got the following network set up in the office (I don't know all the details, but this is what I know): A SonicWall Wifi router acts as a the gateway between the network and the internet connection. This provides wifi access and is also plugged into a large gigabit switch, to which all the PCs in the building are connected to via Ethernet cables. At the other end of the office, I've got a TP-LINK TL-WA901ND Wirelss Access point that's plugged into the network via an Ethernet cable and is set up as a Wifi access point using the same SSID as the SonicWall's but on a different channel.

This setup seems to generally work well. Devices are able to connect to the TP-LINK access point with no problems and access the network normally. They're also able to connect to the SonicWall wifi when it's closer and have no problem accessing the network through that either.

The problem is that every few days, the TP-LINK access point seems to just stop working - it no longer broadcasts on Wifi and you can't connect to it via wireless. It needs a power cycle in order to bring it back up again.

The interesting thing is that the same thing used to happen with our previous Wifi access point, which was a Netgear WN802T that was set up in exactly the same way.

Any thoughts as to what could be causing this?

Answer 1

This is far from uncommon when using cheap equipment designed for home use. It is also common for client devices to refuse to switch between the AP's

Do make sure however that the SonicWall is not on auto channel.

Most likely however is that the TPlink is not releasing its clients correctly and eventually uses up all it resources and gives up. This would be very likely if the number of different clients it sees during the day/week is more than a handful.

Either move to professional devices such as the super expensive but excellent CISCO units (and actually even those need a kick from time to time to let go of some clients, typically Apple phones in our experience); add more AP's or, for the cheapest option, buy a timer switch and reboot the thing every night!