AirPort Extreme losing internet in bathroom?

[Carnagerover]

So I have a AirPort Extreme and it been working great 17+ days uptime but in my Bathroom I lose internet on my iPad?

I have two or 3 bars in my bathroom and when it works I get my full internet speed when testing my iPad Air 2 on the speed test app, however 8-10 times when I go upstairs into the bathroom with the iPad I lose the Internet.

If I go into the AirPlay app I see the orange lights that something is wrong, sometimes on the Internet only or both the Internet and then Extreme.

Am I actually losing connection even though it is showing bars? If I turn the wifi off and on, on the iPad it comes back?

 

[System Error Message]

This sounds too weird. Still i wouldnt take my phone/tablet/laptop to the bathroom lol.

When you lose connection do you lose wifi? Some mobile apps are badly made and because of the mobile device's architecture good or badly coded apps really show.

 

[Carnagerover]

This sounds too weird. Still i wouldnt take my phone/tablet/laptop to the bathroom lol.

When you lose connection do you lose wifi? Some mobile apps are badly made and because of the mobile device's architecture good or badly coded apps really show.

Hi,

There is nothing like watching your favourite program in the bath

I keep wifi, 2-3 bars but lose Internet, although only on the iPad everywhere else is fine.

If I move from bedroom to bathroom it appears to be ok, downstairs to bathroom causes the issue. Looking at the Airport now here are the current connection stats for the iPadIn the bathroom;

Data data - 351Mbps
RSSI - -66dBm
Mode 802.11 a/n/ac

 

[System Error Message]

The problem is with your ipad2 since it doesnt have a high enough transmit power compared to the airport extreme or the airport extreme doesnt amplify incoming signals enough.

 

[azazel1024]

Do you have more than one router/access point?

 

[Carnagerover]

Do you have more than one router/access point?

No just the one extreme in the house, what seems strange is this happens in any sort of nook and cranny in the house. I should have said in the first post that this is on the 5Ghz wifi.

You would think if it's going to drop connection that it would lose all bars and not work but it keeps two or three but the Internet is down.

As you can see from the 351Mbps rate in the bathroom there is enough bandwidth reaching the iPad in there.

 

[azazel1024]

Could simply be misreading it/poor Tx from the iPad. That'll be especially an issue on the 5GHz band.

I can sit in my kid's main level playroom and my laptop will show 1 or 2 out of 5 bars, around -80 to -82dBm RSSI, from my basement router, but I'll get effectively no connection as I can't transfer files, pages pretty much refuse to load. I can ping websites, but I'll get about 2 in 6 time outs and the rest are up in the 50-100ms latency range. 2.4GHz is fine, all though slow-ish (only about 2.5-3MB/sec).

Bridging my access point, which sits about 5ft from where I was testing with my laptop, down to my basement router (disconnecting the Ethernet cable to the access point) and I can get a nice steady 5GHz bridge going on...but then again, it is packing 7dBi antennas and a much stronger radio compared to my laptop. Still not particularly fast, but I can get about 6MB/sec going on the 11ac 5GHz bridge.

But again, I've probably got a good 9-12dB stronger signal on the access point between probably 5-6dB higher gain on the antennas and probably an extra 4-6dB on the radio power.

 

[L&LD]

Try simply 'forgetting' the connection on the device and then re-associate it to the router again.

 

[stevech]

tile wall in the direct path to router from inside bathroom? Ceramics are much more RF lossy than drywall.

 

[Carnagerover]

Thanks for the replies,

Do you think somewhere on the journey up I am losing connection then? On other router I have had you would lose the wifi symbol unlike with this extreme. If I press the wifi off on on when I'm up there it seems to fix the issue.

There are some tiles in there that could be causing the issue yes, weird.

 

[htismaqe]

You may be losing connection while walking up the stairs. Stairs are generally solid, made from fairly thick wood.

 

[stevech]

You may be losing connection while walking up the stairs. Stairs are generally solid, made from fairly thick wood.

agree. Much more lossy than wallboard/drywall.

 

[Carnagerover]

Hi,

Once I'm in the bathroom if I do a quick wifi off/on with the iPad it comes back straight away. I still find it weird how I don't lose connection all together, I'm not sure what the process is and how it still shows 2 bars even though it does not work.

 

[L&LD]

Or, you could be

Hi,

Once I'm in the bathroom if I do a quick wifi off/on with the iPad it comes back straight away. I still find it weird how I don't lose connection all together, I'm not sure what the process is and how it still shows 2 bars even though it does not work.

The indicators are not real-time on a device unless it is an analyzer. You probably go through a dead spot going to that room and the device just doesn't report that quick enough (and why it doesn't try to re-associate itself too).

 

[mzaur8]

No just the one extreme in the house, what seems strange is this happens in any sort of nook and cranny in the house. I should have said in the first post that this is on the 5Ghz wifi.

You would think if it's going to drop connection that it would lose all bars and not work but it keeps two or three but the Internet is down.

As you can see from the 351Mbps rate in the bathroom there is enough bandwidth reaching the iPad in there.

Have you tried using 2.4ghz? Are you using same SSID so that the iPad automatically switches? I also have an Airport Extreme and using one SSID but thinking of switching to 2 SSIDs. Devices really aren't that smart about switching bands

 

[sfx2000]

Just as an FYI - Airport Utility has a WiFi scanner built into it - if not installed, go to the App Store and download it -- Then go to settings, scroll down to Airport Utility, and you'll see an option to enable Wi-Fi Scanner... flip it to on

Then open Airport Utility, and you'll see up in the upper right hand corner, "WiFi Scan" and tinker about there...

Just don't forget to turn it off when you're done - as it will impact performance and battery life.