Signs of aging WiFi hardware

[Rob Q]

Hi, I've heard somewhere that WiFi chips don't usually last that long and they start to fail at a certain point in time. How long does it normally take before things start to act up?
What are some common sings that my WiFi hardware is starting to go and I should start to be on the lookout for replacing the hardware? None of my devices are dropping, yet but I'm noticing that with the wireless connection of my TV that when a compare it to a wired connection, I'm loosing about 10 Mbps with WiFi. Yeah, it's on the 5 GHz network and about 80 MHz wide and the control channel is not being used by other networks. The TV and router are in the same room and about 6' apart. I'm not having any issues with the laptop which is about 10' from the router.

 

[heysoundude]

which version are you running on your router? The wireless of the latest (v386.9 for AC-series routers) is noticably improved.
But if they're only 6' apart, why wireless? run an ethernet cable! cat5e will be plenty for the NIC in the TV - it probably connects at up to 100Mbps, cat5

 

[tgl]

Hi, I've heard somewhere that WiFi chips don't usually last that long and they start to fail at a certain point in time. How long does it normally take before things start to act up?

Don't think I believe that as a knock on WiFi hardware in particular. It could be said of cheap consumer-grade electronics in general. There are parts like capacitors that won't last that long if they're low-grade or are run at close to their design limits. But usually that sort of problem manifests as outright failure of the device, or obvious instability.

 

[Rob Q]

which version are you running on your router? The wireless of the latest (v386.9 for AC-series routers) is noticably improved.
But if they're only 6' apart, why wireless? run an ethernet cable! cat5e will be plenty for the NIC in the TV - it probably connects at up to 100Mbps, cat5

Yup! I've got the laptop and TV wired up.
Yup, I'm using v386.9

 

[Rob Q]

Don't think I believe that as a knock on WiFi hardware in particular. It could be said of cheap consumer-grade electronics in general. There are parts like capacitors that won't last that long if they're low-grade or are run at close to their design limits. But usually that sort of problem manifests as outright failure of the device, or obvious instability.

Hope it lasts awhile before stuff starts to happen. I'm sure the only reason I'll replace the hardware is if I want to move to 802.11ax.
Nothing seems to be slowing down or dropping. *knock on wood*.

 

[tgl]

Hope it lasts awhile before stuff starts to happen.

FWIW, I've got Apple Airport Extremes that are coming up on their tenth birthday. I stopped using the wireless part a couple years ago when I got better gear, but the units themselves are still in service as wired-only Time Machine backup servers. Of the four I had, the only one that's failed is one that is the Time Capsule variant, and even there I think what failed is just the inboard hard drive.

 

[sfx2000]

Hi, I've heard somewhere that WiFi chips don't usually last that long and they start to fail at a certain point in time. How long does it normally take before things start to act up?

You read wrong, chips in normal use don't generally fail.

Main issue with devices over time...

1) Power Supplies - wall adapters are the highest failure point, and one of the harder things to diagnose, as devices kind of run ok, but intermittently drop out...
2) Capacitors - depending on the vendors, caps can age out over time
3) Lack of SW updates - sooner or later, security can push one to retire devices
4) Technology - Just like N replace B/G/A, and AC replaced N, there comes a time where it's worthwhile to replace older gear.

 

[heysoundude]

my RT-N66u still works, and I'm sure my RT-AC86u will still work when I go with an AX-series, when my client devices are all (which is close) compliant...

 

[Rob Q]

You read wrong, chips in normal use don't generally fail.

Main issue with devices over time...

1) Power Supplies - wall adapters are the highest failure point, and one of the harder things to diagnose, as devices kind of run ok, but intermittently drop out...
2) Capacitors - depending on the vendors, caps can age out over time
3) Lack of SW updates - sooner or later, security can push one to retire devices
4) Technology - Just like N replace B/G/A, and AC replaced N, there comes a time where it's worthwhile to replace older gear.

I see the last two happening before the first two.

 

[Rob Q]

my RT-N66u still works, and I'm sure my RT-AC86u will still work when I go with an AX-series, when my client devices are all (which is close) compliant...

Though the older router won't be AX but I'm sure you can still use it as an switch or maybe even connect it up to your AX router with an wired connection and use the old router as an access point for non-AX devices.

 

[sfx2000]

my RT-N66u still works, and I'm sure my RT-AC86u will still work when I go with an AX-series, when my client devices are all (which is close) compliant...

N66U or AC68U would be great devices for the IoT applications - set them up as AP's and get the doorbells, cameras, sensors, etc off the main WiFi network...

 

[heysoundude]

N66U or AC68U would be great devices for the IoT applications - set them up as AP's and get the doorbells, cameras, sensors, etc off the main WiFi network...

This was my thought exactly - use the ac68 as the security system "hub"...

Though the older router won't be AX but I'm sure you can still use it as an switch or maybe even connect it up to your AX router with an wired connection and use the old router as an access point for non-AX devices.

bullseye - I'm already using the n66 as a switch (radios off)

 

[Easy Rhino]

Hi, I've heard somewhere that WiFi chips don't usually last that long and they start to fail at a certain point in time. How long does it normally take before things start to act up?
What are some common sings that my WiFi hardware is starting to go and I should start to be on the lookout for replacing the hardware? None of my devices are dropping, yet but I'm noticing that with the wireless connection of my TV that when a compare it to a wired connection, I'm loosing about 10 Mbps with WiFi. Yeah, it's on the 5 GHz network and about 80 MHz wide and the control channel is not being used by other networks. The TV and router are in the same room and about 6' apart. I'm not having any issues with the laptop which is about 10' from the router.

when you say wifi is 10mbps slower... what are the raw speeds you're getting wired and wireless?

dropping from 500mbps to 490mbps would be believable.

dropping from 12mbps to 2mbps would be worse.

 

[ddaenen1]

I noticed yesterday that the wifi speed of my WAP571 AP's has dropped significantly for some time now (i don't do speed tests every week) and for which i have no plausible explanation. I was hitting up to 500mbps with my Macbook Air and now i am only getting to 250mbps. Same with my iphone12. It must be the AP's since i do consistently reach 930mbps via my wired office PC. The thing is that i didn't really change any of the radio settings on the AP's. I only configured an additional VLAN and added a seperate VAP with its own SSID for the guest network. I would imagine that adding an SSID and a VLAN would have any impact on the wifi speed, would it?

 

[degrub]

not in my opinion. But aging power delivery can. Could be cable connector oxidation or fault. Try removing and inserting the ethernet cable at both ends if using POE or unplug the power adapter and reseat it. Check for excessively hot power wall cubes if using them. You can also verify POE issue by using wall cube for testing.

 

[ddaenen1]

not in my opinion. But aging power delivery can. Could be cable connector oxidation or fault. Try removing and inserting the ethernet cable at both ends if using POE or unplug the power adapter and reseat it. Check for excessively hot power wall cubes if using them. You can also verify POE issue by using wall cube for testing.

Well, the WAP571 reports it is connected at 1000mbps and it has recognized that is powered by POE+. Also, if the supplied power is too low, it deactivates the 5GHz radio automatically and both radios are up. Also, the one i tested was connected via a POE+ injector until yesterday but since i had one UTP wall socket freed up due to my new STB not needing a direct connection to the ISP router, i decided to connect the AP directly to the switch with POE+

 

[tgl]

I noticed yesterday that the wifi speed of my WAP571 AP's has dropped significantly for some time now (i don't do speed tests every week) and for which i have no plausible explanation. I was hitting up to 500mbps with my Macbook Air and now i am only getting to 250mbps. Same with my iphone12.

Hmm, any system updates on the Apple gear since you last checked speed? I've filed multiple bugs with Apple about wifi performance problems in macOS Ventura.

I've not really paid attention to iPhone speed, and it does require a bit of a stretch to assume they introduced the same issues in iOS. But the Ventura problems kind of feel like overaggressive power-saving (that is, shutting down the radio too often) so maybe they did that in iOS too. It would make real sense there, whereas I'm having a hard time grasping the need to do this in a laptop that's on power ... to say nothing of a Mac mini that hasn't even got a battery.

 

[ddaenen1]

Hmm, any system updates on the Apple gear since you last checked speed? I've filed multiple bugs with Apple about wifi performance problems in macOS Ventura.

I've not really paid attention to iPhone speed, and it does require a bit of a stretch to assume they introduced the same issues in iOS. But the Ventura problems kind of feel like overaggressive power-saving (that is, shutting down the radio too often) so maybe they did that in iOS too. It would make real sense there, whereas I'm having a hard time grasping the need to do this in a laptop that's on power ... to say nothing of a Mac mini that hasn't even got a battery.

I am not on Ventura. My Macbook Air is from 2015 and cannot update past Monterey.

 

[jasonreg]

I noticed yesterday that the wifi speed of my WAP571 AP's has dropped significantly for some time now (i don't do speed tests every week) and for which i have no plausible explanation. I was hitting up to 500mbps with my Macbook Air and now i am only getting to 250mbps. Same with my iphone12. It must be the AP's since i do consistently reach 930mbps via my wired office PC. The thing is that i didn't really change any of the radio settings on the AP's. I only configured an additional VLAN and added a seperate VAP with its own SSID for the guest network. I would imagine that adding an SSID and a VLAN would have any impact on the wifi speed, would it?

OK - So I am not dreaming. Yesterday all of a sudden we had iPads and iPhones dropping connections and experiencing reduced speeds. We have 3 WAP-571s in a cluster and powered directly via POE+ Switch. What was strange though was everything else on the Network was working perfectly.....Is this an Apple thing or a 571 thing? I rebooted everything and so far so good ...... the true test will be when everyone gets home from school/work.

 

[ddaenen1]

OK - So I am not dreaming. Yesterday all of a sudden we had iPads and iPhones dropping connections and experiencing reduced speeds. We have 3 WAP-571s in a cluster and powered directly via POE+ Switch. What was strange though was everything else on the Network was working perfectly.....Is this an Apple thing or a 571 thing? I rebooted everything and so far so good ...... the true test will be when everyone gets home from school/work.

A very similar setup as at my place. 3 x WAP571 powered by POE+ directly from my switch. I don't have any other wireless devices i could try. it is either ipad, iphone or macbook air.