Wifi problems, please help!!

[ofiraltarasy]

It's been a long time since i've posted on here but i don't know what to do anymore.

So let me start with the backstory to eliminate remedies i have already tried.

For years now i have been having wifi problems at home. Devices can connect and get great signal strength however wile connected to wifi the internet barely works. Devices that are directly connected to the router/modem work perfectly.

First i had comcast/xfinity internet service at my home connected to my sisco router. I moved the router to the middle of the house so everyone could get good reception but still that did not fix the issue. Then i did some reading about wifi channels and changed the channel from auto to 11. That worked great for a couple of days then the problem started again. My ISP sent multiple technicians to my house who claim i have nothing wrong with my internet they checked the signal coming from the electrical pole directly to my modem and they said it was good and strong but still they changed it just in case. Then the technician recommended range extenders to help with wifi interference and again it worked great for a couple of days and again the problems came back.

Next after getting so fed up with the poor customer service and outrageous bill i called my ISP again and told them the problem had not been resolved. They told me "we do not guarantee wifi, only devices directly connected to our hardware" so that got me pretty upset and i canceled their service.

Now i have ATT Uverse internet with their att modem/router combo. Again my computer that is directly connected works perfectly without any issues but all my other devices that work on wifi sometimes work but usually they do not even with perfect signal strength my phone or tablet cannot even open load Facebook.

So now i am here and praying that someone has a solution to my ongoing internet problems at home.

Please help....

 

[John Connor]

First i had comcast/xfinity internet service at my home connected to my sisco router.

Are you still bridging a router to a router/modem combo unit? The router would most likely be at fault here. Always make sure its firmware is updated. If it's a rather old router buy something decent like an Asus. I have an Asus N600 and it's been pretty good and has pretty good reviews.

With AT&T is that through the phone line or the same Comcast cable line?

How long did you test the Ethernet connection? Was it as long as the WIFI connection?

Channels 1, 6, and 11 are indeed the non-overlapping channels.

 

[ofiraltarasy]

Are you still bridging a router to a router/modem combo unit?

At first it was an Arias modem and my sisco router, later comcast changed the arias modem to a newer model, but still i was having the same issues.

Currently i am using the att uverse modem with built in wifi router over phone line and netgear N300 range extender, but still i am having the same problems.

I use a lot of video streaming services, over ethernet i never had a problem with either ISP but over wifi its spotty. Sometimes it will work for hours without interruption. What bothers me the most is that FaceTime over wifi never worked at my house, watching any videos or live streams from Facebook over wifi never works and uploading to youtube over wifi forget about it thats a waist of time even for the smallest file. Updating my iPhone software over wifi at home never worked i always had to plug it in directly to my MacBook and plug that in directly to the router to get any updates. its very selective with what works and what doesn't work, but the basics like FaceTime, Facebook or instagram have never worked over wifi at my house.

 

[John Connor]

It's spelled Cisco BTW.

All devices just drop the signal, huh? If that's the case it sounds like major interference. Do you live in an apartment?

What happens if you don't use the range extender? Does the modem at least provide a stable WIFI signal?

Once again. All devices lose the signal?

 

[ofiraltarasy]

All devices just drop the signal, huh? If that's the case it sounds like major interference. Do you live in an apartment?

What happens if you don't use the range extender? Does the modem at least provide a stable WIFI signal?

Once again. All devices lose the signal?

Yes please excuse my spelling when I'm on a roll i can't stop to make changes lol.

The devices never disconnect from the wifi they remain connected but it seems as if the data packets are not being properly sent/received.

I live in a single family home single story.

If i take out the range extenders i won't get any reception in any of my other rooms. As per ATT's recommendation my wifi modem is in my Office (garage) because they said it gets the best signal. I think they were just too lazy to run the wires. So if i disconnect my range extender i won't have any wifi in the rest of the house as my home is over 3,000sqft and the garage is on the left side of my house. The bedrooms are on the complete opposite side of the house

But just to clarify again the devices do not disconnect from the wifi network when the internet drops they remain connected with great signal.

 

[John Connor]

Is the WIFI password protected and using WPA2?

I would try to narrow down the possibility of the range extender. Although, you didn't have that before with Comcast, did you? Just try to grab a signal from the modem its self for a while and see if packets still drop.

 

[13Gigatons]

Your home may be old and have plaster walls which is tough on WiFi.

Another problem is the DNS servers, the default ones can flake out try OpenDNS or Google.
OpenDNS = 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220
GoogleDNS = 8.8.8.8 , 8.8.4.4

Your WiFi card needs a driver and the driver can cause problems if you leave the WiFi on to long, enable certain features or don't do a true reboot. Sleep mode is the most common complaint I receive. Reboot and Reboot often.

 

[mxnerd]

Try Powerline Wi-Fi extenders. Which use powerline as wired ethernet. YMMV

Make sure they are not plugged in to power surge protectors. Power surge protector will affect the performance of these devices.

You also need to try different outlets in a room. The performance can be different too.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_3_15?url=search-alias=computers&field-keywords=powerline+wifi+extender&sprefix=powerline+wifi+,aps,205&crid=25EH3Q82EJCAT

 

[Ichinisan]

- For anything that supports 5GHz, get them on 5GHz. That will free up capacity on the crowded 2.4GHz band for those devices that have to use it. Never set a fixed channel on 5GHz either (it will severely limit throughput as it uses a narrower channel than necessary).

- Make sure the 2.4GHz channel is set to Auto. It doesn't matter if some analyzer tells you which channel is best. Conditions change. Your neighbors are all on Auto, so their channels will change. By the next day, that fixed channel 11 is probably no longer the best one.

- Make sure the 2.4GHz channel width is set to 20MHz and not "20/40MHz" or "40MHz." Otherwise it's practically impossible to coexist with other 2.4GHz networks and its far more difficult to select the best channel.

- I think you should also make sure all WiFi networks still have a/b/g/n/ac compatibility enabled. Even if you'll never see another a/b/g client on your own network, your network needs to cooperate with neghbors that still have b/g/n compatibility enabled. They do some kind of ready-to-send / clear-to-send thing.

- Depending on the mode of operation (WDS), range extenders can cut throughput in half. Add 2 WDS repeaters and throughput is 1/3 at best. Try running network lines to separate routers configured to behave in access point (AP) mode -- or go all out and get Ubiquiti Unifi. With multiple APs, you'll have to make sure stubborn devices switch to the correct network. With Ubiquiti Unifi, client devices all see the same WiFi network throughout the house, all on the same channel.

 

[13Gigatons]

Since your getting good signal strength but can barely surf the web that means there is some other problem such as the WiFi card itself or the way it's configured. Check and see if ipv6 is enabled, it can cause problems, I would disable it: http://help.unc.edu/help/how-do-i-disable-ipv6-on-mac-os-x/

Also I forgot that USB 3.0 can also interfere with WiFi, if anything is connected to the USB port that is 3.0 enabled it causes problems for me until I remove the device.