New AC3100 more problems

[mafiaboy01]

I have been having a bunch of problems with my home networking.

Previously I had an AC66u as my main router with a wired AC56u as and access point on the other side of the house.

The AC56 works perfectly and has never given me problems. The AC66 was older and was rebooting itself a few times a day, sometimes it would show the reset in the logs other times is wouldn't. I tried a bunch of firmwares etc and nothing seemed to resolve the issue so I figured it was time to replace it.

On boxing week they had a decent deal on the AC3100 so I decided to pick it up. I don't use any of the fancy features but have a lot of devices and wanted something that would work without giving me problems.

So I setup the new router and mainly my phone (Google Pixel) but sometimes my laptops, drop and have to reconnect every 10 seconds. The device will drop the connection, reconnect, drop connection over and over again.

Restarting sometimes helps for a bit but it ends up happening again. My Ac56 access point still works perfectly.

I'm thinking maybe I have a faulty unit. For the price of the router I just want something that works.

Any ideas would be great.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Check your power outlet or your power strip if you have the router's power supply plugged into one. Try a new and higher quality surge protection strip. Check the outlet to see if the plug is blackened with carbon spark buildup or physically worn out which could cause a loose plug in connection. The entire outlet might need to be replaced.

If you have a high current device plugged into your outlet or on the same breaker line that your router is plugged into... such as an electric heater or multiple high current devices.... You could have a problem that is not related to the router or the router's power supply.... but it's due to power fluctuations on that particular circuit at your location.

I have seen this before with computer equipment in an apartment that had electric ceiling heat. Every time the heat would come on or off it would reboot my main computer, the modem, wireless router and cause the TV picture to flicker on and off, etc.. The power fluctuation eventually damaged my main computer's power supply and motherboard. Out of necessity I solved this current fluctuation by putting my computer, modem and router on an APC brand battery backup and used a very high quality surge protector (Monster Power brand) for all other effected electronics that were not on the battery backup. This worked and got me by in that apartment with the ceiling electric heating until I moved a few years later.

 

[mafiaboy01]

My modem, router and switch are all plugged into a 330w Cyberpower battery backup. The battery backup plugs right into the wall. I'll try plugging in the router in on its own and test but it's only the wifi that has problems. LAN and other features seem to work fine.

My replacement is coming soon so I'll see if that works.

 

[SoCalReviews]

From your description it just sounded like a probable power related problem. If it's not that then I'd look at local Wifi interference. Bluetooth devices can also interfere with 2.4Ghz radio reliability. If you have a channel scanner app such as Wifi Analyzer for your phone or other wireless device check for open channels and you could manually configure your wireless settings for a fixed channel (turn off auto channel), choose a more narrow bandwidth (20Mhz for 2.4Ghz band, 40Mhz for 5Ghz band), etc.. in the router administration.

If that still doesn't help then there are additional settings recommendations you can find in this forum for the 3100 settings that can help make your Wifi connections more reliable with your client devices. Also try changing the location of your router. Place it as high up as possible.... above any potential obstacles that could obstruct the signal from reaching out to the rest of your coverage area.

 

[mafiaboy01]

So I ended up exchanging the unit and the new one was doing the same thing. I tried different plugs and didn't change anything.

So when I got the router I put it in a temporary location on tip of a bunch of transformers which give off quite a bit of heat.

Turns out it seems like the router was getting too hot and that was causing the wifi problems. I then wall mounted the router in a well ventilated area and it's been running great since!

 

[SoCalReviews]

Turns out it seems like the router was getting too hot and that was causing the wifi problems. I then wall mounted the router in a well ventilated area and it's been running great since!

It's good to read that you found a solution. The transformers and the potential EMF they produce could have been interfering with the router's Wifi radios and internal components. You always want to place or mount the wireless router as far away from a lot of metal mesh, metal file cabinets, tower desktop computers, power strips, cordless phones, magnetic fields or devices that emit them, etc.. The best solution is to mount the router as high as possible and far away from potential interference.

As I recommended previously in this thread... All my Asus routers are mounted high on walls with wall mounting equipment or on the top of tall wooden bookshelves/bookcases. This distances the router from possible interference, can improve it's range and performance and as you are saying helps with natural ventilation and cooling.