Network troubleshooting

[Drezha]

It’s been a while since I’ve had to do trouble shooting, so I’ve probably missed issues.

The home wifi (Three 4G deal) we’re on is awful at the minute. It seems to be slow at connecting and generally fairly slow anyhow, but then we’ll run speedtests and it’ll be no issue seen at all really! For example, the curent speedtest states the below, however, browsing the web is a lesson in paitence. Causing havoc with working at home at the minute as struggling to access O365 and our risk assessment tools which are all online.

Initial thought was that it was my Pi Hole causing issues. However, I’ve disabled the Pi Hole and nothing has improved, and the Alexa’s aren’t working nicely and they aren’t using the Pi Hole.

I’ve also tried resetting the router but no help.

It’s affecting all items – be it wifi or wired.

Any further items I could try? As I say, it’s been a while since I’ve had to do anything! 4G on our phones works fine, so it appears to be a wifi issue itself (though in fairness, neither of us are on Three – GiffGaff and Tesco, so both O2 signal).

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Dave Rice]

These issues can often be down to DNS. Change the DNS server to 8.8.8.8 and see what happens.

If you’re changing it in the routers DHCP settings, devices will need to disconnect and reconnect to pick up the new settings.

[Ed P]

The wifi router can also be a problem. On my totally carp BT ‘Smart’ Homehub the wifi Internet goes t-up every two weeks or so (no issues on wired!), and I have to restart the darned thing to get it to wifi handshake with the Internet. Then flawless for another two weeks – rinse and repeat.

[Drezha]

Dave Rice wrote:

These issues can often be down to DNS. Change the DNS server to 8.8.8.8 and see what happens.

It’s set to 8.8.8.8 on the Pi Hole as the upstream server. I can try another, such as the OpenDNS servers. I’d normally expect to see if connect quicker once it’s a site that I’ve visited already though wouldn’t I? As that doesn’t seem to be happening,

Ed P wrote:

The wifi router can also be a problem. On my totally carp BT ‘Smart’ Homehub the wifi Internet goes t-up every two weeks or so (no issues on wired!), and I have to restart the darned thing to get it to wifi handshake with the Internet. Then flawless for another two weeks – rinse and repeat.

This has been reset daily since the issues started, as that was the issues I thought would be resolved.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[PlaneMan]

Try the 3 SIM in a phone with the hotspot turned on to see if that solves the issues.

[Drezha]

It’s much better this evening, but everything still appears to be jumpy. Youtube and streaming seems to be hitting the lowest they’ll go mind.

I’ll try the SIM tomorrow, but will need to check – I believe it’s one that will allow me to split between a nano and micro SIM.

I note that the Pi Hole is set to use Google but has mainly been using OpenDNS – I’ve removed that and I’ll see what happens.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[blacklion1725]

Does the router have an ethernet port – if so can you connect your work laptop in to it and see if the problems remain? Otherwise the phone/hotspot option sounds good, and I’d agree that router hardware can be an issue. I’ve had to return a new Asus router recently and my eldest is on Three 4G and his first router was kaput (as a bonus they gave him the better model at the original price).

[Drezha]

blacklion1725 wrote:

Does the router have an ethernet port – if so can you connect your work laptop in to it and see if the problems remain? Otherwise the phone/hotspot option sounds good, and I’d agree that router hardware can be an issue. I’ve had to return a new Asus router recently and my eldest is on Three 4G and his first router was kaput (as a bonus they gave him the better model at the original price).

Router has a number of ports and effected all items plugged in to it, so I was toying with the router being the issue, but it seems to be far better today (Synology actually backed up overnight and sent me the email to confirm, which hadn’t been happening as it was so bad).

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Dave Rice]

Held the phone near the router and it got low 40’s compared to the router’s low 10’s. Hmm. Turned the router 90 degrees and a bit better.

Ended up wedging the router in the rafters with it’s back roughly towards where the mast is:

That’ll do me for now, better than the DSL line. I’ll get more picky when the final solution goes in. Next step is to make it the default internet connection for the house. I want to change the internal IP addressing so it’s time to start planning.

[Bob Williams]

I am moving into Louth town by 30/03/2020, to a ground floor apartment in a gated, secure complex, by a happy outcome, directly beneath my senior grandson’s apartment. My speeds are as shown below and Plusnet have informed me that they will transfer my account over exactly ‘as is’, retaining my phone number and all settings because it is the same exchange and STD. grandson is also on Plusnet and his speeds are almost the same as mine here. Tried a speedtest on my phone there and got the same as the desktop. This led me to thinking: could I run all devices via WiFi? There are restrictions to running Ethernet or other cables around and I would really like to set it up in WiFi. Devices: desktop, laptop, 2x Sony Xperia phones, 2x tablets (8″, a Lenovo and a Hudl). I know I need a network card for the desktop, the laptop works fine all around the bungalow, and I tested both phones in every corner of grandson’s place: no drop in speeds or signal.

I might also change both phones from EE to Pusnet and get a good discount. What does the team think? All advice appreciated and considered, ty guys.

Those figures are for the bungalow here in the village, but are within 1Mbps +/- of grandson’s in his apartment.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Richard]

When my daughter moved into her assisted accommodation I bought one of these, AC 1200 2.4GHz + 5.8 GHz from Amazon for about £15. There was a short hiatus a while back and I quickly ordered a spare as a replacement, only to hear moments later that she had accidentally unplugged a vital bit of the set up and that with that all was fine once more. Other than that mishap her Wi-Fi has been flawless. It is getting a constant workout these days as she is about halfway through her foundation course, which means she is not only studying but also looking at Universities. She has had offers from several and invites the to open days from 3, we were impressed by the first one we visited only 60 miles away, but she thinks she is more impressed by another about 250 miles away and out in the countryside. So, she might also be about to undergo a change of location in the not to distant future.

Good luck with you move, rather you than me at the moment. I am not pushing that as a solution to adding wireless to your PC, but it does work and was easy to set up.

[Dave Rice]

My general rule of thumb is if you can connect it by wire do so. the only place this now applies is my workshop, however I do run an Ethernet cable from there to the loft where the AP is mounted. That cable and the Gigabit switch it connects to are the backbone of my network.

I agree with Richard, now we have AC WiFi it’s fast enough for me to shovel huge files between my laptop and the servers without feeling it’s too slow (although of course it’s slower than wired). That doesn’t mean you should rush out and buy an AC AP. If all you’re doing is access the internet your ISP will be the bottleneck and 300N will do you just as well. If you only have a handful of concurrent devices then the ISP’s router will probably do the job.

Having said that, Plusnet’s are usually dreadful and BT’s Hubs are buggy. I used a £35 TD-W9970 VDSL 300N at my cousins B&B. It’s been faultless and the secure guest WiFi covers the 3 storey Victorian house no problem.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks Richard and Dave.

I would really like to Ethernet wire the desktop, but it is just not possible. The apartment is ‘open plan’  in that kitchen, diner and lounge are all in one. SWMBO is adamant that she wants the main computer in the second bedroom, which is fine by me as I hate the TV blaring away whilst I’m on the desktop*. Good news is that the router will be in the lounge area, which shares a wall with the second bedroom. I have had no problems with the Plusnet Hub at all in the bungalow, getting good WiFi reception from two rooms and a hall away from the Hub. However, I have had a TP-Link W9980 sitting in my bitsa box for a good while and will probably set that up, it’s VDSL so will work fine. I also have a TP-Link TG-3468 Network adapter, but that’s Ethernet too. So I will look for an alternative. There is no way I can route an Ethernet cable around the place.

*Unless it’s the Win TV blaring away on the desktop and I’m watching sport or anything SWMBO doesn’t like.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

That sounds like a job for a fast homeplug.

[Author]

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