WiFi connection unstable/lost on three Radios

[seanullnet]

If you can, try to bind them to a single AP or the main router. Or, if you already have one, set up a dedicated N extender with a separate SSID, and tie all the radios to that point. If they hold to the network, then it's your wi-fi distribution scheme. If they sequentially drop off all placed 10 feet from your main router, then it's likely a router settings issue.

I'm still not sold yet on mesh wi-fi technology, as it seems more prone to drop-offs during handoffs among the nodes. Beamforming only makes it worse sometimes, as the signal pattern is constantly shifting.

It's getting better, but think a high power central router solution still a little more dependable at this point. A big AC88U will cover most residences, and their front and back yards, too.

Another note is that Asus just ran some firmware updates in the last month. Make sure yours is up-to-date.

And sometimes, a wireless router's transmitter just starts failing. The AC66U is still a nice router, bit an older one at this point. If you are playing Alexa city with it, and have a model smart home going on, you could be overwhelming it at times.

People rarely peek at their assignment tables, and suddenly realize they are carrying 25-30 clients.

Also take a look at your QOS settings. Lots of video and VOIP going on with an overworked router, and other things can start to stall down. Perhaps LMS and these old G clients can't tolerate that.

Also make sure your LMS server machine and app is staying online and remaining visible on the network. As I mentioned elsewhere, you can never go wrong with a static IP address for your server machine. KISS.

Thanks for your input! Some food for thought there. My current (test) setup is using the Asus AP (2.4GHz Legacy mode) dedicated to the three Radios only. My other clients use the mesh network, which I had partially switched off during my testing.

The tip from "ralphy" seems very promising. Only one Radio has failed during the last 4-5 hours, and that was the only one that hadn't been patched. All three Radios have been patched now. I'll keep the test running overnight before I draw any conclusions.

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Stein Erik

[Mnyb]

Thanks! My testing continues. Still keeping the three Radios on their own "Legacy" AP, but now on Auto channel (currently channel 10). My theory (wishful thinking) of one of the Radios being the culprit was not valid. One of the Radios keep playing, but the two others fail just too often. Now following the tip from "ralphy" (above). Seems promising so far...

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Stein Erik

Yes ralphy fixed the issue when radio cant use chansades above 11 .
Hopefully this works for you . I usually don’t use auto but sets my wifi to a specific channel . I’m not sure squeezeboxes like when the wifi channel changes , but if it works ....

[seanullnet]

After having spent three weeks of messing about with my four Radios, I finally gave up. I cannot get the integrated WiFi to work stable with my WLAN anymore (I have tried 4 different types of router/access point), and I have absolutely no idea how this suddenly started to be a problem. Maybe some other wireless equipment kills the Radios.

But I am (so far) very happy using one of these dongles: https://www.dx.com/s/VONETS%20VAP11G-300 . The best part is that the Radio's 18VDC power plug fits directly into the dongle, and the power cable/plug from the dongle fits into the Radio. So just cascade the original Radio power, dongle and finally the Radio. Both devices are powered from the same source, and there is no need for an additional power for the dongle, even if the dongle spec does say 5-15VDC. It works great, and it does not get hot. Happy days of radio listening again

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Stein Erik

[steffen]

Same problem here! For a couple of days, Wifi stops working after some hours. Reproducible.
Where can I edit the wifi file, mentioned by Ralphy?

ok found it. you habe to enable remote login on the radio.

[Thunder3dan3]

All of my squeezebox radios disconnected from my Asus routers and won't stay connected. What is the username to use for the remote login? Also, I'm wondering if this an Asus issue that got introduce during a recent firmware upgrade.

[reinholdk]

Also, I'm wondering if this an Asus issue that got introduce during a recent firmware upgrade.

I don't have Wifi issues with two radios connected to an Asus RT-N66U (in AP mode), currently with firmware 3.0.0.4.382_50702.

[BertdeJong]

I don't have Wifi issues with two radios connected to an Asus RT-N66U (in AP mode), currently with firmware 3.0.0.4.382_50702.

I am using the same router, but not in AP mode, it is my DHCP server. I connect using a TP-Link UAP330. I have a SSID assigned to the radio's and only they can connect to this AP (MAC filtering). btw I am on firmware 380.70 (Asuswrt-Merlin), I am in Europe. And I am having problems, see my post. I connot get two radio's to stay connected at the same time. The Annoying fact is that it hat worked for years on the same hardware.

Has it always worked for you or did you have to change anything?

[reinholdk]

Has it always worked for you or did you have to change anything?

Always worked. Had to change channels two or three times throughout the years due to neighbour's Wifi.
Actually I have two RT-N66U routers in AP mode to have a better coverage in the house. They have the same SSID. And there are 3 Radios connected wireless, two of them to the same (nearer) router.

[BertdeJong]

Always worked. Had to change channels two or three times throughout the years due to neighbour's Wifi.
Actually I have two RT-N66U routers in AP mode to have a better coverage in the house. They have the same SSID. And there are 3 Radios connected wireless, two of them to the same (nearer) router.

Well, this setup hasn't worked for me, I use the ASUS as a router, maybe that is part of the problem. Only a hardware solution seems to work

[BertdeJong]

I have three Squeezebox Radios (HW version 5), all on WiFi. Since a few weeks ago, they all have the same problem: After some time (minutes-hours) they lose connection with my WiFi access point(s). The WiFi symbol is red. "Repair Network" usually resolves the problem temporarily, but sometimes a reboot is required. But no permanent cure.

I did a major update of my entire home network infrastructure (combined Ethernet and WiFi) and software/firmware before this problem started, so many things could potentially have caused this. My LMS runs on a QNAP TS-569 Pro NAS. My (new) ordinary WiFi consists of three TP-Link Deco M9 Plus configured as Access Points (mesh network) with Ethernet backhaul to an Asus RT-N66U router. It makes no difference whether I'm using DHCP or static IP on my Radios. After spending two days investigating, I believe I have narrowed it down to the WiFi link between the Radios and my access point(s). I have replaced the TP-Link mesh network with my old Asus RT-AC66U router (configured as AP). The AP's "Wireless log" shows that the radios drop out, one after the other. This is the wireless log when all three radios are playing:

Stations List
----------------------------------------
idx MAC Associated Authorized RSSI PSM Tx rate Rx rate Connect Time
00:04:20:26:C0:0D Yes Yes -47dBm No 18M 54M 00:39:58
00:04:20:2A:2E:B7 Yes Yes -45dBm No 36M 54M 00:39:58
00:04:20:28:44:5E Yes Yes -63dBm No 2M 54M 00:39:58

5 GHz radio is disabled.

The Radios report a signal strength of 75-100%.

Since this is my old and trusty AP, which has been working flawlessly for years, AND that the problem also exists when using my mesh network, I have only one "suspect" left: The Radio firmware was recently updated to v7.7.3 r16676, as part of an upgrade to QLogitechMediaServer v2.03.01. Unfortunately, LMS is no longer supported "out of the box" from QNAP, but I have been using their official LMS until recently. I don't known with version of the Radio firmware that was bundled with the QNAP LMS that I used until recently, but I noticed that the LMS update triggered a firmware update to 7.7.3 r16676 (dated February 14. 2014).

To cut a long story short:
1. Has anyone experienced and fixed a similar WiFi connection issue? I saw that another user changed his WiFi channel to 1 to try and fix this. I have just tried to set a fixed channel on my AP, so fingers crossed...
2. If I were to revert to an older version of the Radio firmware (v7.7.2?), would it be compatible with the current community LMS? On the other hand, I would seem very strange if this is a firmware problem, given the fact that the firmware is almost five years old and used by thousands.

Thank you very much!

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Stein Erik

I have the exact same problem, also with an ASUS N66U as a router. I have used both the Merlin and Asus firmware, both don't work. The only solution that works is to add a wifi dongle that transfers to ethernet. I saw you came tot the same conclusion.