The Case of the Mysterious Internet Signal Drops...Help , Please?
 

Good morning and wishing you a peaceful, restful Easter. I have a little technical problem I cannot figure and am hoping to find some “technical support” from my ffriends here on AA.

For a long time I was having problems with internet and wifi service in my house. I upgraded modem, router, access points, etc., with each step bringing a little improvement and things seemed pretty good. Then came the pandemic and working remote. I started having extended drop-outs and it seemed like I was getting interference at various times of the day and dead spots even when the interference wasn’t an issue. I put in an ASUS mesh wifi system and at the same time I ran Ethernet from my router closet to each of my (2) mesh nodes, the location of my work computers, etc. Ethernet runs to a wall jack close to my rack and TV (LG OLED 65 CX). Connected to that jace by a short Ethernet cable is one of the mesh nodes that has 3 LAN outlets— one of which is wired to the LG and one to a Bryston BDP-3 so essentially, the LG (TV) and Bryston are hardwired to the router and then cable modem. In my wife’s office, her work computer and TV- Panasonic Viera 50” plasma (and what deep blacks you have said Red Riding Hood to the tv) get their internet signal; by wifi, being located less than 20 feet from the system router. At the time I had 300 Mbps service from Xfinity cable. Our TVs get their programming by (cable) internet using Youtube TV.

So the pandemic gets really underway and my internet service acts like it has COVID and Xfinity won’t send anyone to go into our house. I thought maybe the lowere levels of service are being overwhelmed so I upgraded to 600 Mbps I asked the rep for 1000 but she said if I didn’t see a difference with 600 I wouldn’t with 1000 (but if I did with 600 and I wanted more I could always up it). That’s when I did a little self-help and ran the addition LAN wiring. I definitely helped some but still got unacceptable extended drop-outs. Finally, I got Xfinity to come out and they said there some problem causing interference in the cable somewhere between the street and my cable modem and they ran a new cable from the street to the connection at my house. That did not make any further improvement- and they said it must be the cable in my house and I needed to change it (they wouldn’t do it). I asked the them what if I go and do all that and it doesn’t work- they are just going to tell me I used the wrong cable. The tech (actually a very nice guy) said he would give me the cable- and reeled of about 350 feet of cable from his truck, snipped it, rolled it up, extended his hand with the cable in it to me and said: “don’t tell anybody I gave this to you”. BINGO (almost)- first big change. Huge change. My 600 Mbps service was giving me a consistent 690-710 Mbps. Interestingly, about two weeks ago the speed bumped to around 960-970 with me making no changes.

So what’s the problem? When I am watching TV, I get drop-outs of signal. You can see in the upper right corner of the TV screen in the photos the notification. The first one comes and then the spinning wheel of buffering, After a while I get the second notice. Sometimes they go back and forth every 2-5 min with buffering, and few minute spurt of programming, etc.

When the service was really bad and before I rewired, I put a plug-in to Google Chrome that monitors internet service to the computer and wifi/LAN connection that tells you when internet service drops and comes back on. It does likewise with the wifi/LAN system so you know when your internal network is working even if you are getting no internet (so, for example, you get use the NAS or printer but not Qobuz) and it will log the results over time. When things go off and when they are working. The computer with the monitor plug-in is one that is direct LAN connected as is the TV. Apparently, my wife’s TV (she just told me) is doing the same thing.

So to sum up: the drop in signal on my TV which is LAN connected give the messages in the photos. (Note, if I switch to WIFI, it doesn’t fix the drop-out, but the message changes to say WIFI system is disconnected (instead of the LAN). It happens on my wife’s TV which is only WIFI and likely gets its wifi signal from a different node than my TV does when I disconnect the LAN and go WIFI. The monitoring plug-in does not indicate a signal drop either from wherever Xfinity transmits from all the way to a hard-wired computer when the drop-uts are happening. Also, if I am streaming music from the Internet I also get some drop-outs but not every time the TV drops out. Have any of you ever experienced any of this? If yes, what was it and what did you do? For others, if you have any thoughts or suggestions they would be appreciated.

Thanks

I have experienced something similar with a mesh router setup. I removed the mesh routers, hardwired everything I could with multiple gigabit Ethernet switches, and used a powerful WiFi router from Netgear to cover the rest of the gear I couldn’t hardwire. Problem solved. The only things on WiFi now are our phones and tablets.

While not identical, over the last two years we struggled with similar problems. We had most of the connectors replace, cables to the street. The street switch, router, a couple old couplers in the attic had not been touched in many years had loosened up... I think trucks rumbling by for a couple decades. Our TVs work on cable and wifi. The cable is a bit more reliable. It has slowly been improving. I am not it isn’t in part Comcast getting more capacity. Anyway, it has been a struggle... not the internal mesh.. the internet up to and including the router. I may start replacing the router like was recommended once a year.

I’ve also experienced similar dropout problems with a mesh system. If the APs don’t have a separate Ethernet backhaul, that can cause problems. I’ve also had trouble if they were too many and too close together with too much signal overlap. As Tom says, hardwire everything you can. Also if it’s possible, forget about mesh and set up the access points that connect to TVs as separate Wi-Fi SSIDs. A tv doesn’t need mesh service since it’s not roaming.

The APs have Ethernet backhauls and my TV, where I noticed this first and my BDP-3 are hardwired.

I ran into the same problem. I went hard wire to everything as well, except for two laptops, updated my modem and my switches. It all runs great now.

Good luck!

Computers. They're great when they work and a nightmare when they don't. Many of us have endured problems similar to yours and I'm sorry for your anguish.

The first suspect in your system is the cable modem. If it's from Comcast/Infinity, dump it in favor of buying your own. That will save you a monthly fee and put all of your network equipment in your direct control. If a new modem doesn't resolve the problem, you have to move past the guesswork and fingerpointing and undertake a thorough, complete diagnostic evaluation. Anything less is a prescription for further issues. Based on everything you've said, the problem is likely in your ethernet wiring. Given that you apparently have 350 feet of ethernet, it could be anywhere in your network.

I'd bring in an independent third party to assess your issue. There are computer techs that provide this service and are capable of determining beyond a doubt where the fault is - a good one will be thorough and not stop until he has identified all of the issues affecting your service. This will cost a few $$$$ but it will be a pittance in the grander scheme of things.

Your tech should be able to specify the scope of necessary corrective work, and then test the system after the work is completed. If the problem is within Comcast's network (not likely, but possible), the tech should be able to ascertain that. In that event, use the tech as an intermediary between you and Comcast. Let them devise the remedy. Don't give up until the matter is resolved.

Where in the setup did you place the wifi router? Did it come before or after the gigabit switches?