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Totally baffling WiFi issue

efelstead — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 12:18:31 GMT

Hi everybody

I have a totally baffling wifi issue

Briefly I have a BT HUB 5 and an Apple iPhone 8

If I place ny iPhonw within a few feet of the Hub in clear sight I CANNOT get a connection

However If i take my phone into another room several feet away with a wall between the phone and the router I get a stable connection.

This is intensley annoying as my router is in the lounge but to use the phone I have to go into the other room which is the kitchen where the phone is behind a wall and has NO clear sightt of the router

This seems to break all the rules of router placement and clear line of sight to connect devices

PLease any theories as to the cause of this totally baffling issue

Thank you

Regards

Edward

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

Les-Gibson — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 12:51:30 GMT

First a reminder that you did ask for theories, to that end Sky Q comes to mind

If you have Sky Q in close proximity to your hub and your hub is using channel 36 then it could be that there is a beat frequency between the two of them which is interfering with your iphone when it is in close proximity to them both and this becomes less of a problem as you move your iphone further away.

The solution, if this was the case, would be to change the 5GHz channel that your hub is using to any other

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

efelstead — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 14:05:18 GMT

Hi Les

Thank you for your theory

I dont have Sky Q but I can see where your coming from

I have downloade a WiFi scanning app and am shocked by what I found

There are numerous WiFi sources picked up including of course my own router but what has really surprised me is that there are several VERY strong signals notably listed as BT WiFI or BT WIFI X

I have also picked up rxternal BT Hub5 and BT HUB6 and external Sky TV sources

In fact a real mish mash of external sources.

Do you think these external sources could be the source of my issue and if so is there any thing I can try to block them?

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 14:16:11 GMT

You can't block WiFi but your WiFi analyser should be telling you which channels the other networks are using, so switch your router to manual & select channels with least congestion. For 2.4GHz it's best to stick with one of the primary channels 1, 6 or 11. As @Les-Gibson said, avoid channel 36 for the 5GHz & anything else with a strong signal.

Ignore the BT WiFi, that's just the public network broadcast by your router.

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

Les-Gibson — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 14:55:46 GMT

@efelstead

It could be that these very strong signals are causing interference or it could be that there is a problem with your phones selectivity (in a nutshell the tuned circuits which accept one channel and rejects others).

The best way to test would be to try another phone (preferably a different make and model) and check if that suffers the same problem.

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 14:58:24 GMT

If you haven't already, it may be worth splitting the WiFi bands on your Hub.

https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/fix-a-problem/broadband-and-wi-fi/i-want-to-improve-my-wi-fi/how-do-i-split-my-bt-hub-s-ssid--wireless-network-name--

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

licquorice — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 14:59:18 GMT

Either the hub or the phone could have a problem with the 5Ghz wifi, which the phone will use when close to the hub, but ok on 2.4Ghz which is probably being used in the other room.

Have you tried changing channels?

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

efelstead — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 17:01:11 GMT

Thank you all for the posts - very much appreciated

More information to add and a furtther request for opinions

First my WiFi scanner reports my Hub is using Channel 1 at 2.4Ghz

There is no signal at 5GHZ

I am not conversant with channel splitting so will have to study the links provided (Thank you)

I am seeking opinions about switching from

WiFi to an Ethernet connection to my phone as I have a spare connection to the hub and can easily get the

necessary connectors

If I do this what functionality of the phone could I potentiality lose?

Thanks again for your help and I look forward to your opinions about using an Ethernet connection in place of the rather flaky and unstable WiFi

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

efelstead — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 17:08:10 GMT

Thanks for the post

Your comments about 5ghz do seem relevant as the Wifi scanner I am using does not pick up a signal at 5GHZ

I will look at that again maybe I have'nt set up the scanner correctly

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

licquorice — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 17:17:26 GMT

That seems to confirm there is a problem with your hub's 5Ghz signal. If you give the 2 bands different SSIDs (network name) then you can choose which band your phone connects to.

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 17:19:03 GMT

What are you running the WiFi scanner on, if an older device it may not have 5GHz capability.

Make sure 5GHz i actually turned on in the HH5, but it does have a bit of a reputation for the 5GHz failing. If you split the SSIDs you will then be able to see if it's actually being broadcast.

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

efelstead — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:28:46 GMT

Hi I am running the Scanner on a Windows 7 Laptop

The laptop is several years old

The scanner is an app called NETSTOP and has a good few features

It is a free version of a much bigger and feature packed scanner which unfortunately commanda a fee

It has separate tabs for selecting 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:40:02 GMT

I would think there's a good chance that something that old simply doesn't 5gHz. Look up the wireless adapter in Device Manage & then Google its specs.

An app on your phone may be a better bet.

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

efelstead — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:59:17 GMT

I just looked the spec of the laptop

The Network adapter is a BROADCOM 802.11a -

The description includes refs to both the 2.4Ghz and the 5GHz bands

I assume this means it can function on/detect a 5GHZ signal (?)

Re: Totally baffling WiFi issue

Les-Gibson — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:04:45 GMT

@efelsteadwrote:
Hi
I just looked the spec of the laptop
The Network adapter is a BROADCOM 802.11a -
The description includes refs to both the 2.4Ghz and the 5GHz bands
I assume this means it can function on/detect a 5GHZ signal (?)

No not necessarily.

It depends on how the manufacturers have implemented the chipset, you would be better off checking the specification of your make and model of the laptop, it should tell you on there what bands it supports