Help on Wifi home networking

[Mach3.2]

if you can't see any printing on the cable jacket, your other option is to use a cable certifier.

those aren't cheap and I'm not sure you can easily find someone who provides that kinds of service for a small residential unit.

 

[atanbh91]

Sorry to piggyback on this thread.. I have a peculiar problem.
Background: I have 5x Xiaomi C200 and 1 C300 cameras at home (4 rm BTO), all are connected to the 2.4GHz wifi which I separated from the 5GHz (i.e. smart connect setting off). Single router GT-AX6000 placed in a central location in the flat. I schedule the router to reboot at 7pm every 2 days.
Problem: Once in a while, the C200 cameras will go offline in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. Or rather, I will wake up to find that all the C200s are offline (still recording but not connected to the wifi) and only the C300 is still online. The app says that they went offline around the same time, within a minute of each other. Rebooting the router does not help, but if I switch off and on the power of the cameras they will be able to connect again. When the router does its scheduled reboot, this issue does not happen.
Any idea what might be happening here and how to narrow down a cause? Apart from staying up all night, and even then there is no pattern for which night it happens...

 

[xiaofan]

Sorry to piggyback on this thread.. I have a peculiar problem.
Background: I have 5x Xiaomi C200 and 1 C300 cameras at home (4 rm BTO), all are connected to the 2.4GHz wifi which I separated from the 5GHz (i.e. smart connect setting off). Single router GT-AX6000 placed in a central location in the flat. I schedule the router to reboot at 7pm every 2 days.
Problem: Once in a while, the C200 cameras will go offline in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. Or rather, I will wake up to find that all the C200s are offline (still recording but not connected to the wifi) and only the C300 is still online. The app says that they went offline around the same time, within a minute of each other. Rebooting the router does not help, but if I switch off and on the power of the cameras they will be able to connect again. When the router does its scheduled reboot, this issue does not happen.
Any idea what might be happening here and how to narrow down a cause? Apart from staying up all night, and even then there is no pattern for which night it happens...

Sorry no idea about Xiaomi cameras.

But why need to schedule the router to reboot at 7pm every 2 days? That is only required for old routers with poor memory size and bad firmware implementation. You do not need to do that with a good powerful router like GT-AX6000.

My RT-AX86U (weaker than GT-AX6000) is ON 24/7. The reboot is only required if I update the Merlin FW or change some settings.

 

[hwzlite]

Background: I have 5x Xiaomi C200 and 1 C300 cameras at home (4 rm BTO), all are connected to the 2.4GHz wifi which I separated from the 5GHz (i.e. smart connect setting off). Single router GT-AX6000 placed in a central location in the flat. I schedule the router to reboot at 7pm every 2 days.
Problem: Once in a while, the C200 cameras will go offline in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. Or rather, I will wake up to find that all the C200s are offline (still recording but not connected to the wifi) and only the C300 is still online. The app says that they went offline around the same time, within a minute of each other. Rebooting the router does not help, but if I switch off and on the power of the cameras they will be able to connect again. When the router does its scheduled reboot, this issue does not happen.
Any idea what might be happening here and how to narrow down a cause? Apart from staying up all night, and even then there is no pattern for which night it happens...

On the 2.4 GHz wifi, set the Channel Bandwidth to 20MHz only and see if that improves reliability.
40MHz is rarely optimal, due to interference flooding the entire crowded spectrum....

 

[Mach3.2]

On the 2.4 GHz wifi, set the Channel Bandwidth to 20MHz only and see if that improves reliability.
40MHz is rarely optimal, due to interference flooding the entire crowded spectrum....

Yep. Unless the spectrum is clear (impossible in high rise apartments), there's 0 reason to use 40MHz wide channels on the 2.4GHz spectrum.


To elaborate more, a single network using 40MHz wide channel will crowd out the entire 2.4GHz spectrum and there won't be enough free channels left to run another 20MHz wide channel without overlapping channels with the 40MHz wide network.
Edit: you're blocking 2* non-overlapping 20MHz channels if you put a 40MHz wide channel on channel 1-3, leaving chn 11 free for other people. Move it a little bit more (4-6) and you're blocking the entire spectrum, creating a havoc in the 2.4GHz band. Pls don't do it. 🫨

Base on IEEE 802.11 spec, access points can work with each other to share airtime only if they share the same channel. If the channels overlap, they will be seen as "interference" and everyone will have degraded experience.


That's why most people have shitty wifi experience when 2.4GHz was predominantly the standard. It's a wild jungle out there and a lot of networks have overlapping channels.

 

[cyberet]

Sorry to piggyback on this thread.. I have a peculiar problem.
Background: I have 5x Xiaomi C200 and 1 C300 cameras at home (4 rm BTO), all are connected to the 2.4GHz wifi which I separated from the 5GHz (i.e. smart connect setting off). Single router GT-AX6000 placed in a central location in the flat. I schedule the router to reboot at 7pm every 2 days.
Problem: Once in a while, the C200 cameras will go offline in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. Or rather, I will wake up to find that all the C200s are offline (still recording but not connected to the wifi) and only the C300 is still online. The app says that they went offline around the same time, within a minute of each other. Rebooting the router does not help, but if I switch off and on the power of the cameras they will be able to connect again. When the router does its scheduled reboot, this issue does not happen.
Any idea what might be happening here and how to narrow down a cause? Apart from staying up all night, and even then there is no pattern for which night it happens...

further to using 20mhz for 2.4ghz, use merlin f/w if possible. my personal experience is that merlin is more stable

 

[cyberet]

Yep. Unless the spectrum is clear (impossible in high rise apartments), there's 0 reason to use 40MHz wide channels on the 2.4GHz spectrum.


To elaborate more, a single network using 40MHz wide channel will crowd out the entire 2.4GHz spectrum and there won't be enough free channels left to run another 20MHz wide channel without overlapping channels with the 40MHz wide network.


Base on IEEE 802.11 spec, access points can work with each other to share airtime only if they share the same channel. If the channels overlap, they will be seen as "interference" and everyone will have degraded experience.


That's why most people have shitty wifi experience when 2.4GHz was predominantly the standard. It's a wild jungle out there and a lot of networks have overlapping channels.

I can easily see 30-40 overlapping/co-channels for 2.4ghz at my place. damn jialat for high rise

Somemore my neighbour's daikin aircons are broadcasting their own SSID and adding to the congestion

 

[Mach3.2]

I can easily see 30-40 overlapping/co-channels for 2.4ghz at my place. damn jialat for high rise

ya very jialat. my main network is 5GHz only.

 

[hwzlite]

ya very jialat. my main network is 5GHz only.

The next frontier for 5Ghz is spamming over 160Mhz , getting popular for those shiny 10Gbps plan bragging wireless speed test results...

 

[xiaofan]

The next frontier for 5Ghz is spamming over 160Mhz , getting popular for those shiny 10Gbps plan bragging wireless speed test results...

Actually using 160Mhz channel bandwidth on the 5GHz band is not as bad as using 40MHz channel bandwidth on the 2.4GHz band, depending on your location. I have two WiFi 6 routers at home and one is using 160MHzchannel bandwidth (5GHz only, no 2.4GHz) and the other using 80MHz channel bandwidth (5GHz, 20MHz channel bandwidth on the 2.4GHz). I go out of my door and immediate the WiFi signals drop a lot and they will not affect the neighbors (old HDB flat with thick walls).

Using 160MHz on 6GHz band (WiFi 6E/7) and using 320 MHz on the 6GHz channel (WiFi 7) will cause even less issues since the 6GHz band has less penetration power.

BTW, some of the speedtest results in the 10G thread is using 320MHz channel bandwith on the 6GHz band.

 

[hwzlite]

have two WiFi 6 routers at home and one is using 160MHzchannel bandwidth (5GHz only, no 2.4GHz) and the other using 80MHz channel bandwidth (5GHz, 20MHz channel bandwidth on the 2.4GHz). I go out of my door and immediate the WiFi signals drop a lot and they will not affect the neighbors (old HDB flat with thick walls).

It's always better to quantify channel bleeds with site survey sw such as Wifi Analyzer , especially the bane on Adjacent channel interference (ACI) is worse than Co-channel interference...

 

[xiaofan]

It's always better to quantify channel bleeds with site survey sw such as Wifi Analyzer , especially the bane on Adjacent channel interference (ACI) is worse than Co-channel interference...

Yes I use WiFi Analyzers. And yes I understand different people may have different preferences. I myself switch between 80MHz and 160MHz channel bandwith occassionally just to see if there are any negative effects but I find it okay for my case.

My two Asus wireless broadcasters --
1) Asus RT-AX86U (SSID is AsusRTAX82U), 2.4GHz band disabled
CH 60, 160 MHz or 80 MHz
2) Asus RT-AX82U (5GHz and 2.4GHz), bandsteering on (SSID is Linkssy12030)
CH 149, 80 MHz;
2.4GHz band auto, 20MHz

Windows -- Homedale
https://the-sz.com/products/homedale/

Android -- Ubiquiti WiFiman App (Xiaomi Poco X4 GT)

As mentioned, each household is different. I am a bit lucky that I do not see much interferences on the 5GHz band from the neighbours.

The following are tests done this morning, using WiFiman app. No 6GHz wireless signal here.

1. 9:33 am, 6-April-2024, Saturday, suprisingly clean 5GHz band, in the common toilet (kitchen area).

2. 10:22 am, 6-April-2024, Saturday, more 5GHz interferences but not too bad, in the living room

3. 10:47 am, 6-April-2024, Saturday, more 5GHz interferences and drop to 80MHz channel bandwidth, in the living room.

12:13pm, Windows laptop, living room. Main interferences come from two neighbours (Singtel-UE26 and Linksys07848) but not too bad.

 

[cyberet]

I used to run 160mhz on my 5ghz, but I noticed the latency is slightly higher and more unstable.

after dropping to 80mhz, its better, but at the sacrifice of outright throughput, which I'm alright since I don't do large downloads often and can still achieve at worst 500mbps

 

[xiaofan]

I used to run 160mhz on my 5ghz, but I noticed the latency is slightly higher and more unstable.

after dropping to 80mhz, its better, but at the sacrifice of outright throughput, which I'm alright since I don't do large downloads often and can still achieve at worst 500mbps

Indeed. I live in an older HDB flat (1998) with thick walls, and I am kind of in a corner unit (not the bigger 5-room and EA flats in the two ends of the corridor, but the two bigger 4-room flats at the 90 degree corner, 106 sqm). But I am also monitoring the situation and I will also change to 80MHz channel bandwidth if the interference is getting worse.

Down the road, I think 6GHz with 160MHz or 320MHz channel bandwidth will be possible since the penetration power is less than 5GHz.

 

[atanbh91]

Thanks all for your replies! Gone ahead to change the 2.4GHz to 20MHz.

 

[xiaofan]

Thanks all for your replies! Gone ahead to change the 2.4GHz to 20MHz.

Does it help?

I actually do not think this is the issue even though it is a good practice to set 20MHz channel bandwidth for the 2.4GHz band.

I tend to think the Xiaomi Camera is the issue as it may not work well your scheduled shutdown of the router. So I think not to carry out the scheduled shutdown is the workaround.

But I may be wrong. Let's see how it goes.

 

[hwzlite]

Thanks all for your replies! Gone ahead to change the 2.4GHz to 20MHz.

++ tips on Disable 802.11b / g WiFi on your router to improve wireless speed as well.

 

[atanbh91]

Does it help?

I actually do not think this is the issue even though it is a good practice to set 20MHz channel bandwidth for the 2.4GHz band.

I tend to think the Xiaomi Camera is the issue as it may not work well your scheduled shutdown of the router. So I think not to carry out the scheduled shutdown is the workaround.

But I may be wrong. Let's see how it goes.

Honestly I could not say if it helps, as I have not been able to establish any pattern for the disconnections. 2 days so far no d/c though.

I've been using the router and cameras since Feb 2023 and have always had the regular reboot schedule. Also the scheduled reboot is at 7pm whereas the cameras always disconnect later in the night. Last year I was staying in a 90's flat before moving to my BTO in Dec. I do recall that there were such disconnections but not so frequent as after moving to my BTO. So I personally think that the scheduled reboot isn't the cause, but I could be wrong.

My personal suspicion is something to do with signal interference, but I'm not sure how to pinpoint the source.

 

[atanbh91]

++ tips on Disable 802.11b / g WiFi on your router to improve wireless speed as well.

Did this already a few months ago, unfortunately the issue still re-occured.