Unreliable connection for the last few weeks - recent firmware update to blame? (v0.26.03.01286-BT)

[pabulous]

Hi, for the last few weeks my internet connection has seemed more unreliable - my Chromecast connection keeps vanishing, requiring a reboot of the router, and it's a 50-50 chance as to whether that works or not. (Sometimes the router sees the Chromecast, but none of my devices can connect to it). My PS4 has also been having struggles with the media player app. Furthermore, the Wi-fi on another TV in the house stopped working and had to be reconfigured.

I realised today that a firmware update was issued on April 5th (on a Smart Hub 2) and that seems to line up with when I started having problems.

Some of these problems go away if I switch to the 5ghz band but that's not an option on every device. I'm not certain, but to me it feels like this firmware update has messed up something in the way that 2.4ghz devices interact with 5ghz devices.

Is there anything that can be done? Sadly downgrading the firmware doesn't seem to be an option.

[apc1]

if you have Norton antivirus along with a BT router and an Apple device it will have connectivity problems . You will be able to connect to the hub but you will not be online.

First of all, you need to delete Norton. If this alone does not solve then separate the bands and you should be fine.

I have had this problem a couple of years ago and recently.'

Why it is happening I don't know.

What annoyed me was the customer service guy insisted that if I could connect to the router I had to able to get online. This was complete nonsense. I do not understand how he was not aware of the problem when so many have had or are having it!

[imjolly]

@apc1   you  cannot split the WiFi networks in a SH2

@pabulous 

There has been  a couple of similar posts to yours but I and others had the firmware update without lasting problems

Have you tried a factory reset by pressing recessed button on back and holding 20/30 seconds until lights flash

Remember to turn of smart setup after hub restarts

Have you tried selecting the  channels manually instead of auto select  I would suggest you use a WiFi analyser on your mobile to find best channels for you 

[pabulous]

@apc1 I don't use Norton, but thank you for your help.

I tried disabling the 5ghz band through the router settings and everything worked perfectly immediately. This is obviously not a long-term solution as it means I cannot reach the full speed on many devices.

I then re-enabled the 5ghz band and all the problems started back up again. This strongly suggests that the problem lies with how 2.4ghz devices interact with 5ghz devices. My phone (which I use as the Chromecast remote) also regularly hops between the two bands which explains the weird intermittent nature of this issue. Regardless of the cause, this was not a problem before 3 weeks ago, which leads me to conclude that the firmware update is responsible.

After this, I kept 5ghz enabled and manually selected a channel as @imjolly suggested, and things are still working properly. However, I will refrain from saying it's fixed because this problem can come and go, sometimes after several days, and I might've just lucked out after the last router reboot (it can randomly work when I do this).

[pabulous]

Excuse the double post, but I thought this was interesting:

https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/bt-smart-hub-2-connection-issues-april-2021-68...

Same bug affecting Sonos speakers. They say that BT are aware of the problem and working on it. That's a relief - glad to know it wasn't just me!