WIFI link dropping out

[Grumpy_Geoff]

Sink a couple at the Colonial for me

Nice place that. I bought home a carton of Porter.
I wouldn't have known to go there without you posting, so thanks

[Rob VDN]

Hi everyone,

I have tried a couple of things since I last logged in.
I used my Iphone as a hot spot and set up the WLAN. It seemed to go well for about 5-6 hours and then the WiFi dropped out. The attached logs with the suffix 4 reflect this change.
In the morning, Installed beta version 19.3 and things were looking very promising. ICE TV had a couple of hiccups but was OK after the next download. This version lasted about 12 hours and then failed. In fact the Beyonwiz locked up and had to be turned off at the power switch to get going again.
When the system fails, I conduct a WLAN scan and nothing shows up at all. Once I reboot, I get the three main wireless networks near me with the strongest signal. The logs with the suffix 5 are the ones after the 19.3 version failure.
I hope you manage to find something useful in these logs.
Kind regards,
Rob

[Grumpy_Geoff]

In messages4 log file the wireless connection appears to drop out and not re-connect about 9 mins after its initial connection (I didn't see it lasting 5-6 hours).

In messages5 log file the wireless connection appears to drop out and not re-connect about 29 mins after its initial connection.

Sometimes, using a wireless connection on the Wiz requires one to master the "black arts", visit with the local Witch Doctors, and ensure enough goats and chickens have been sacrificed.
On some days, one can get this right, on others one only has to look sideways at the Wiz and its all over red rover.
I think it's time for you to move on to a wireless-to-ethernet bridge (or powerline adapters).

[Rob VDN]

Thanks Grumpy_Geoff. I appreciate the time you have taken to look at the logs I sent.

In terms of the times I quoted in the previous post, I was going by the ICE TV connection which, although wasn't perfect, did suggest the WiFi was still up and running.

I am inclined to agree with you regarding the wireless-to-ethernet bridge. My Netgear MR1100 mobile router has an ethernet slot and I think I can use "Offloading" to set this up. I need to do a bit more study but I think this will no longer provide wireless access for my other devices. In that case, your earlier suggestion of purchasing a TP-Link in client mode may be the way to go.

I do have a few of questions though before I go down that track.

Is it still the general consensus that the WiFi drivers are not as robust as the earlier firmware when I had no problems for about 2 or so years and this is the reason for the current issue? If so, is it likely that a new firmware release will reverse this in the near future? As mentioned previously, the blue Wifi light on my Beyonwiz USB adapter, used to blink virtually all the time. Now it is on but does not blink.

Do you think that the operating temperature of the Beyonwiz may be an issue? The unit is inside a cabinet and feels quite warm but not hot. I recall in an earlier post from MrQuade that he uses a fan on his unit.

Once again, kind regards,
Rob

[MrQuade]

Is it still the general consensus that the WiFi drivers are not as robust as the earlier firmware when I had no problems for about 2 or so years and this is the reason for the current issue? If so, is it likely that a new firmware release will reverse this in the near future? As mentioned previously, the blue Wifi light on my Beyonwiz USB adapter, used to blink virtually all the time. Now it is on but does not blink.

I think the current drivers are less reliable than they once were.
It *may* be possible to improve that if we can identify which drivers are broken, and work out a way to reproduce the error. Then it is possible to get it looked into. I say "possible" and "might" because it does ultimately come down to how much time the volunteers have to work on the issue, and then what ability they have to work with drivers that come from manufacturers (which may have proprietary bits in them). It's unfortunately not as easy as simply rolling back to older drivers, as sometimes these will not be compatible with the other software on the T2.

Do you think that the operating temperature of the Beyonwiz may be an issue? The unit is inside a cabinet and feels quite warm but not hot. I recall in an earlier post from MrQuade that he uses a fan on his unit.

No fans in the T2. You might have been thinking of someone else. The only fans I have are in the T3, T4, and U4. I know there are some users who get concerned over heat and either re-orient the fans or add extra fans to their STBs though.

Having the T2 get warm to the touch is fine. Sometimes the tuner connectors can get hot enough to make it uncomfortable to hold your finger on them, but that's pretty normal.

[Rob VDN]

Grumpy_Geoff, Thank you. I appreciate the information.

It clarifies that you are volunteers and the roll back to previous drivers is not a simple exercise.

Kind regards,
Rob

[Grumpy_Geoff]

The rtl8192cu chip is no Speedy Gonzales that's for sure, and we know it lost up to 40% of its speed in the 17.5.20180417 firmware transition.
As I previously stated, I haven't had any connection issues with it and it's still being used in our T4. With a timed file transfer I tested yesterday, I averaged ~22 Mbit/s.
Previously, on a T2 I achieved an average of ~30 Mbit/s and on a T4 ~26 Mbits/s on 20180417, whilst on 16.1.20170310 on a T2 I got ~51 Mbit/s.
This is with a single stream adapter (EDIMAX EW-7722UTn) connecting to a 20 MHz wireless channel.

I don't leave our T4 running overnight, so the adapter will obviously connect when the T4 is booted.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

I am inclined to agree with you regarding the wireless-to-ethernet bridge. My Netgear MR1100 mobile router has an ethernet slot and I think I can use "Offloading" to set this up. I need to do a bit more study but I think this will no longer provide wireless access for my other devices. In that case, your earlier suggestion of purchasing a TP-Link in client mode may be the way to go.

Yes, try that ethernet port if you can locate the router close enough to the T2 to connect with an ethernet cable.
I don't undestand this bit -
• LAN/WAN port.
You can connect an Ethernet-compatible device to this port. Your mobile router can send data received from your service provider’s mobile broadband network through this port, but cannot send data received on this port out over the broadband network. Devices connected to the mobile router over WiFi and devices connected to this port can send and receive information to each other. The Ethernet connection speed is about 500 Mbps.
Page 10 - https://www.netgear.com/images/datashee ... _UM_EN.pdf

[MrQuade]

Your mobile router can send data received from your service provider’s mobile broadband network through this port, but cannot send data received on this port out over the broadband network.

I suspect that is their over-simplified way of saying that you can't run a server behind the router.
Misleading, but good enough to stop nanna from clutching her pearls.

[Rob VDN]

Hi folks,

I have been quiet for a few days trying to convince the boss to spend some more money trying to resolve this issue. She has been very reluctant since we bought a new Beyonwiz WiFi adapter when we didn't need to. Coupled with that, there is the potential NBN arrival in the next 2-6 months (it keeps getting later and later).

So the next steps are to try Port Forwarding on the Netgear Mobile Router which will require purchase of some ethernet cable, Then, depending of the success of the port forwarding, I will purchase a WiFi bridge. I am just wondering how confident you are with this second option, Although it will be ethernet into the Beyonwiz, won't it still rely on WiFi drivers in the Beyonwiz to work or at least on the strength of the signal from the WiFi Router to the Bridge?

Looking forward to your advice.

Kind regards,
Rob

[Paul_oz53]

Hi folks,

I have been quiet for a few days trying to convince the boss to spend some more money trying to resolve this issue. She has been very reluctant since we bought a new Beyonwiz WiFi adapter when we didn't need to. Coupled with that, there is the potential NBN arrival in the next 2-6 months (it keeps getting later and later).

So the next steps are to try Port Forwarding on the Netgear Mobile Router which will require purchase of some ethernet cable, Then, depending of the success of the port forwarding, I will purchase a WiFi bridge. I am just wondering how confident you are with this second option, Although it will be ethernet into the Beyonwiz, won't it still rely on WiFi drivers in the Beyonwiz to work or at least on the strength of the signal from the WiFi Router to the Bridge?

Looking forward to your advice.

Kind regards,
Rob

Rob,
You seem to be conflating some things together.

If you can just connect an ethernet cable from the router to the Wiz, the drivers are not related to WiFi at all. You will need to enable the Ethernet adapter in the Network Adapter Interface menu. IIRC it will detect the cable and ask to disable wifi - answer yes. It should just work.

Not immediately apparent why you need to port forward. The standard settings work fine for me on a cable connection. If you can't direct connect then you need the wifi bridge and the ethernet cable. I don't have a bridge so I'll leave it to others to help with setting it up.

[Rob VDN]

Thanks Paul,
Sounds simple enough but I'm not sure where to find the Network Adapter Interface menu on the MR1100. I gather you are saying that the router will no longer operate as a WiFi for my other devices if I answer 'yes' to disabling the WiFi.

Regards,
Rob

[Paul_oz53]

Hi Rob,

You shouldn't need to do anything on the MR600 to use ethernet by cable beyond plugging the cable into an empty port on the back of the router. It will work with both wifi and ethernet. WiFi to other devices should not be affected if you use a cable.

The setting I referred to is on the Wiz. Menu > Setup > Network > Network adapter selection > Network settings. Even that may not need to be changed if you get the popup query I mentioned before. The default settings include DHCP is ON. This is the only other setting you need for a basic ethernet connection. There is a network test in the same menu.

[Rob VDN]

Thanks Paul.

Sorry. What was I thinking?

Regards,
Rob

[Rob VDN]

To all wizards,

Thank you for all your help and wisdom. I have now connected the Beyonwiz via Ethernet to the Netgear mobile router and everything seems to be working well.

As has been mentioned in earlier posts, the latest firmware seems to have degraded the WiFi drivers and this looks to be the cause of my issue. I now have two perfectly "useless" Beyonwiz USB WiFi adapters. I am not sure what clout you have with Beyonwiz, but the company should really look to restoring the WiFi drivers to their previous strength. Ethically, Beyonwiz should pull the adapters off the market until they are again fit for purpose.

I know there have been may contributors to resolving my problem but I would like to highlight Grumpy_Geoff, MrQuade and Paul_oz53 for the time they have put in. Job well done.

Kind regards,
Rob