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BT Whole home - intermittent disconnections

glynnder — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:24:30 GMT

Hi,

We've had a 3-disk whole home setup since early 2018, and added a fourth disk a month or so ago.

The network map is pretty typical:

disk 1 connected via a TalkTalk router (with wifi disabled) over ethernet, disks 2 & 3 meshing with that and disk 4 daisy-chaining to disk 2.

There are also a couple of other devices connected to the router over ethernet.

The router is handling DHCP

Recently we've been getting temporary disconnections to all devices connected via the whole home WIFI. Sometimes they just last for a minute, sometimes >10min until I give up and reset the disks.

Devices connected to the router via ethernet continue working.

Info/Observations that may be of help:

I've tried disconnecting the 4th disk, doesn't make a difference.

Firmware & app all up-to-date

I tried connecting a laptop via Wifi and Ethernet simultaneously, and it didn't seem to work at all. I'm sure this usually works, so wonder if there are some weird routing settings.

Added a Vodafone SureSignal last month - this is a femtocell type repeater device connected to the router over ethernet, with a cat5 passthrough. This SureSignal seems less stable than others I have used and sometimes stops working for a day or so, but its presence doesn't seem to alter the disk behaviour (and its instability is possibly as Vodafone are phasing them out this year...)

The 4th disk when connected seemed to be on a different subnet to the others (i.e. 192.168.2.x) and didn't show up in the routers list of connected devices but did on the whole home app.

My instinct is if not a hardware or firmware issue that it's some sort of DHCP clash

This is a new issue - and it's obviously really problematic with multiple people wfh during lockdown! Would appreciate any help.

Huge thanks!

Re: BT Whole home - intermittent disconnections

Keith_Beddoe — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:33:42 GMT

@glynnder

You would be best to contact the WHW product helpdesk as they are best placed to help you.

You can call them on 0808 100 6116 (Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.30pm and Saturday 9.00am to 2.00pm) or drop them an email: btconnectedhome@bt.com

You could also ask on the TalkTalk forum The TalkTalk Members Forums to see if anyone else is using the same system, as its intended for use with all ISPs.

Re: BT Whole home - intermittent disconnections

glynnder — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:38:24 GMT

@Keith_Beddoe

Thank you.

I gave them a call and their advice was to try swapping the master disk (good idea and haven't tried it yet) and then to request a replacement as I've done their troubleshooting steps already.

But - I think I might be a week or two past the end of warranty and can't imagine the whole thing needs replacing.

EDIT: I'll try asking on TalkTalk forum too!