SBR connection drops off 15-30 mins after playing

[jet727]

All my SBR's have started dropping offline after playing 15-30 mins. I have 4 SBR's and they all behave the same way. First the sound stops and the wireless icon stays white for about 20 secs and then turns red. When you try to reconnect it says that "Can't connect to mysqeezebox.com". The only way to get it to play again is to restart the SBR and the problem soon repeats itself. I have tried different routers/wifi channels but still the same behavior. It plays flawlessly wired directly to the ethernet cable. I took one SBR to a neighbors house and it played four hours flawlessly there. It's like something in my area that is knocking the SBR offline by something else than just interfering with the wireless connection. Sometimes an error comes up that says something like can't find DHCP address.

Any help will be appreciated. I miss all my SBR's..I can only directly wire one so I would really like to resolve this problem.

Thanks

[edwin2006]

Despite the router and wifi replacement meent it still sounds like a network issue.
Could be the cables interconnecting the network hardware, could be the brand/type equipment.
When playing a local file list via lms, do you experience the same problem?

[bpa]

It does sound like a wireless related issue especially if contact with DHCP
So problem is either wifi setup or external features.

What is your network set up ?
Where is the DHCP server ?

What are the router models you tried ?
What was the router model of the neighbour ? Some users have reported issues with mesh networks (although I haven't had problem with an Orbi)

SBRs are "old" in wifi standard terms and so do not have modern features.
Some default router features such as power management, channel bonding,roaming etc may have to be turned off.

[jet727]

My network has not changed much for years other than a streaming device or two which I have removed from network for now.
I just find it really strange that the SBR's will start up and play normally for short period of time before dropping.
I actually took my router and cable setup to my neighbors house and hooked it up in place of hers and the radio played for four
plus hours there with no issues. Both of the routers that I tried are definitely "old school" units of same era as the SBR.
I had all four SBR's synced up and they don't all drop off at the same time. The DHCP error does not come up very much so not
sure about it.

I just wonder if one of my neighbors has started using some electronic device that is causing random interference
since I live in a condo unit. I had a issue lately where a fan remote would not work at night but be fine at other times. That issue just went away and am hoping that this does too as I can not think of any change that I did to cause this.

P.S edit

The playing time is longer now...don't know why...am still waiting for drop off..will be a while to trust that it's back to normal
THANKS for replies...hoping for the best now : ) : )

[toby10]

Some very basic WiFi tweaks to possibly improve signal strength and reliability. Reminder: your SB device is not N capable.

___Router Administration Basics (1-5 require admin access to your router):
1. use a unique SSID name (name of your network/router)
2a. if using a G WiFi: set WiFi to G only (turns off a & b modes)
2b. if using an N WiFi: set to G Compatibility mode (if using G devices)
3. change the broadcast channel to the least used channel near you (see *)
4. select a FIXED ch, do not use the “auto ch switching” on the router
5. choose only channels 1 or 6 or 11
___Physical (location)
6. router and WiFi antenna orientation adjustments can help signal strength
7. try to locate the router as “central” to the home as possible, keeping in mind length & width & height
8. keep router away from other electronic devices (cordless phones, ISP modem, computers)
___Simple Maintenance
9. reboot WiFi router every once in a while (once a month is usually sufficient)

* If your WiFi network card software already gives the ch numbers and the signal strength of all nearby networks, that's all you need. But there are free programs like NetStumbler if needed.

[jet727]

Toby10 thanks for your tips..

I have already tried most of them and the SBR radio playing time now seems to vary between 10-70 mins.
I am not sure anything I did has had any effect though. I noticed using a wifi analyzer app that there are some
some strong signals in nearby units but it doesn't really behave like a dropped signal to me. If I turn my router/modem off
and then turn it back on the normal behavior was that the SBR would start back playing without any input. Something strange in my area
seems to be disabling the SBR at random times that nothing will fix except a radio restart. I would like to know what exactly inside the SBR
is being affected so I can troubleshoot more.

[bpa]

If you do not have a local LMS and are only using mysqueezebox.com and internet sourced audio - could your problem be your ISP connection ?

As an example of an ISP issue, with my ISP with an ADSL connection - there is pool of 4 IP addresses which are used for my connection.
One IP address in the pool is "dodgy" and has much lower throughput. When I get assigned that address I have to disconnect the ADSL connection to get another address from the pool.

[d6jg]

This sounds like interference to me. Something as simple as a micro wave can be responsible.

Have you tried analysing your neighbours WiFi and choosing a non conflicting channel?

[bpa]

This sounds like interference to me. Something as simple as a micro wave can be responsible.

Have you tried analysing your neighbours WiFi and choosing a non conflicting channel?

Probably likely since I now notice OP said ethernet connection works OK.

There are lots of source of interference which will degrade a high strength signal.

Usual one is other users of same channel.

Since OP implies that setup used to work OK but now has problems - the OP should turn off/remove as much tech including phones, wearables, smart sockets/lightbulbls/speakers etc. and anything wireless as way of eliminating tech as a source of the issue.

Other possibilities that affect wifi - position of router or radio changed, faulty fluorescent light ballast, mirrors (cause wifi reflections), insulation/coated glass.