Devices lose connection randomly on main WiFI

Question

I have been having problems with devices not being able to connect to my Main WiFi, as a result I sometimes connect them to the Guest wifi when multiple attempts to get them to connect to the main one fail.

My main router, RAX80 is located in the basement, I also have an EAX80 in my bedroom on another floor, and I recently added an EAX15 to help make things better. The EAX15 is in the garage because I bought a NordicTrack bike that refuses to connect to my Main WiFi.

For the Main WiFi, I have SmartConnect enabled with QoS and BEAMFORMING. MU-MIMO and AX features are disabled since they slowed down my wifi speed for some reason. I have the latest firmware for all devices, and I'm at a loss on what to do. The problem is many devices, including my cellphone seem to have a slow (lag) response when connected to the Main WiFi, sometimes I have to turn it off on my cellphone and go with 4G. On other devices I can reset the device itself such as my Samsung Q75, or reset the router if that doesn't work. Same thing happens to my NordicTrack bike, it would connect 3/10 attempts with the Main Wifi, but instantly with the Guest or Phone Hot Spot.

Location may be a reason, but having the EAX15 within sight of my bike shouldn't be a problem, I still experience lag on my cellphone playing games or watching movies. The only other thing is the SmartConnect maybe these devices don't like Netgear 5G. I'm at a loss, let me know what other information you need. Thanks.

plemans · Answer

darkjfman&nbsp;wrote:
I currently have ARRIS SURFboard SB8200 DOCSIS 3.1 as my modem.---Solid modem if its got a good signal.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
The range extenders have been setup through the nighthawk app to "extend" my Main WiFi, is there a way to determine if it's a Daisy or Star configuration?---You could try logging into the extenders to see if the other extender is connected to them or to the router.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
With the router alone, my deadspot are amplified and responsivness is decreased tremendously to the point where in my bedroom it's almost useless to use WiFi. The house is 2400 SqFt, so the RAX80 should be sufficient based on the description.---If its a standard house (sheetrock/wood, not brick, metal, plaster lathe, etc) and the router is centrally located, the RAX should cover it. If your router is in a basement (cement around it) and a utility room (tends to have metal for the hvac) it can greatly reduce its signal to block it entirely. Can you possible centrally locate your router?&nbsp;

You've got a couple things going on.&nbsp;
1. try to centrally locate the router. If you've got it in a basement room with hvac, it could be greatly blocked. even the cement walls from a basement make it hard to reach a garage. And that might mean you're going router---eax80---eax15.&nbsp;
2. if you're in a daisy chain configuration, you could have issues. The 50% thoroughput drop is from what the extenders receive. This happens because single/dual band extenders have to use the same chips to go router----extender&nbsp; and then&nbsp; extender----&gt;devices. And they can't do both at once. And if they've already got a weakened signal that causes speed drops, it decreases from that. And then you add another extender thats going to have its speeds dropped from what its getting from the 1st extender. Potentially that 3rd extender is getting pretty slow speeds.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
I usually don't recommend people setup devices based off "how the signal looks" but by speedtesting in each location (and make sure you test both 2.4ghz and 5ghz). Try to centrally locate the router if at all possible. Then add an extender to try to cover the garage. Again, try not to daisy chain. try to have the router in between the 2x extenders. Or even disable "onewifi" from one of the extenders so you can control what they connect to. Sometimes it takes a bit of playing around when using multiple extenders. I usually recommend people buy an actual mesh system like Orbi or the MK nighthawk when they're needing more than 1 extender because then there's a router controlling thy system.&nbsp;

plemans · Answer

What modem/gateway do you have?
do you have your setup running daisy chained or star configuration?&nbsp;
Daisy: Router====&gt;extender======&gt;extender
Star:&nbsp; Extender&lt;--------router--------&gt;extender
&nbsp;
Daisy can cause issues as your speed drops 50% with each hop and you have increased latency.&nbsp;
Do you have issues (other than distance) if just the router is running?
&nbsp;

darkjfman · Answer

I currently have ARRIS SURFboard SB8200 DOCSIS 3.1 as my modem.

The range extenders have been setup through the nighthawk app to "extend" my Main WiFi, is there a way to determine if it's a Daisy or Star configuration?

With the router alone, my deadspot are amplified and responsivness is decreased tremendously to the point where in my bedroom it's almost useless to use WiFi. The house is 2400 SqFt, so the RAX80 should be sufficient based on the description.

darkjfman · Answer

Took a minute the app to display all of them, it is a star configuration. The main router is sending signal to both individually.

darkjfman · Answer

The way the house is setup, the modem is in the basement and as you predicted it's about 5 feet from the concrete wall. The easiest step for me is to move it to an adjacement room in the basement, however, moving it completely out of there is hard without some major reconfiguration. The new location will move the router to about 10 feet from the wall, I'll give that a try and hope for some improvements.&nbsp;The only reason I purchased a third one was to hope to remedy the problem, if I could get away with a single extender I will resort to that. Once the router is moved, I could move the extender closer to it, would that help? What I mean, right now the router and the EAX80 are located ~12 feet apart in height and ~42 feet apart (x direction), y-direction they're ~0. I could move it closer to 24ft apart in x-direction, which is actually closer to the garage.&nbsp;Whether it's relevant or not, the router does function pretty well once rebooted then seems to deteriorate after that.&nbsp;Thank you for your help.&nbsp;

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Devices lose connection randomly on main WiFI

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