Wi-Fi disc flashing red potential SOLUTION to others

[PARKERTEK]

Hi Everyone! 

I have discovered something which could well be a root cause to the dreaded flashing red led on the black Complete Wi-Fi mesh discs.

I had my mesh disc plugged into an 8-way power adaptor. In this adaptor I had my PlayStation-4, Sky Q 2TB main box, ROXi, Apple TV Box, a multi USB smart adaptor and not forgetting the BT Complete Wi-Fi black mesh disc.

So I found that when I turned on my PS4 (which can draw upto 13amps) the mesh disc began to flash blue and often go red which effectively broke the mesh connection to any discs that were connected to it, ultimately causing them also to go red.

20Amps is apparently the maximum you should ever draw in power on a double electrical socket. Over time if say you have 2x13amps devices to the same double socket, then over time you’ll get problems, such as a burnt out electrical socket, the socket cracking. It has the potential to generate a lot of heat!

I then went around all my electrical devices on that double socket to see what they were all individually drawing. I was indeed drawing too much power.

After swapping the power plugs around with devices that draw the very least amount of power together and the high power devices plugged in their own socket it appears to have solved the problem of the mesh disc going red. 

If your in a large setup house like mine, we have 2 house amalgamated and so it’s a very large area to cover with Wi-Fi.

I have 5 discs, all strategically placed, all within range of each other.

Worse signal I have is -65dBm and the best signal I have is -50dBm

I know if your signal strength is -80dBm then you will have an unstable Wi-Fi connection.

-70dBm is ok for light browsing and email sending or something similar.

-67dBm Minimum for voice and non-HD video

-60dBm Good, reliable signal

-50dBm Excellent signal

-30dBm Perfect Signal

To check the signal of your BT Complete Wi-Fi discs, log onto your Home Hub using an Android device or PC/Laptop with IP: 192.168.1.254 in your browser.

unless of course you’ve changed this in the settings to something else.

go into “Advanced Settings” then click on “Wireless”

you will be prompted for your admin password, enter this.

you will then be presented with a ‘Configuration’ screen on the Configuration tab.

click on the “My Discs” tab

then you can click on each individual disc to see stats like: Uptime, Connection Status, Connection type, Signal strength

So ultimately, make sure you don’t overload your power sockets as this can have an effect on the discs randomly cutting out when  you power on other devices.

make sure to plug in your Mesh Wi-Fi black disc into its own power outlet socket so you don’t get this problem. 

The same has to be said with the BT Smart Hub, be sure to plug it into a power outlet that’s not overloaded in anyway.

I’m hoping this is a potential solution to some of you customers out there that have a similar kind of setup, or however large your network is. 

[PARKERTEK]

Also, make sure to plug the BT Smart Hub into a power socket that also isn’t overloaded (not exceeding 13 amps on a single socket and not exceeding 20amps total on a double socket)
Both the hub and the discs appear to be sensitive to suddenly reset if they’re not drawing enough power.

[PARKERTEK]

I read somewhere on this forum that the Smart Hub 2 supports 6 complete wifi discs on the backhaul. I haven't found this to be the case at all...

I've had to turn off 2 discs and now I'm down to 3 discs which appears stable.

has anyone got a stable setup with more than 3 discs active at once?

So, after 2 broadband engineers and 2 home tech experts we're now receiving a new home hub 2 to see if it sorts the whole flashing red light issue on the discs.

[Dippu]

I read your post with interest but I would like to point out the PS4 can in no way draw up to 13A. It's maximum power rating is 165W, therefore maximum current would be 0.6875A. Also if you ever draw as much as 20A from mains that would be equivalent to a 4.8KW heater, the room would get quite warm quickly!

[PARKERTEK]

Kudos to you for your great reply. 

I wonder why that would make the disc flash red though? 

A faulty power extension maybe? I don’t know, it just didn’t make any sense. I just thought it was some form of power surge that was making the disc go off.

We have already had the sockets tested and all is ok. 

[Dippu]

@PARKERTEK Sorry, I don't have the disks so can't really give you an informed answer, but I just wanted to point out that the theory about PS4 and the power from the mains did not add up to your actual power usage and it was not the likely cause of your problem because there would not be a power surge from the devices you mentioned. Usually consumer electronics such as TVs, Set top boxes etc are not power hungry, in fact the items you listed in your original post probably don't add up to more than 2Amps but you can check in their specifications.

Having said that, I do know that sometimes a faulty Switch Mode Power Supply can cause problems with noise, also  mains extension lead/ block with neon indicators can also produce noise and cause problems.

[PARKERTEK]

Awesome, thank you. Now that I’m down to 3 black Complete WiFi discs well spaced out, I haven’t had the problem of the flashing red LED. 

 Neither myself or the BT Engineers are sure whether the smart hub has any part in this fault or whether it’s just something localised. 

when you say noise though, do you mean noise through the physical electrical wiring? I’m assuming you mean that.  I’ve since taken that particular disc away from the setup, as it was one that I purchased separately, thinking I’d need it with our house being quite large. 

And of course…. because everyone’s setups seem so different from each other it’s quite hard to simulate the same environment without a super detailed description.

[Dippu]

Yes, a faulty Switch Mode Power Supply and dodgy neon lamps are known to produce noise in your mains electrical circuit.

[PARKERTEK]

I don’t have any neon lamps, so that rules that one out. I’ll change the 8-way adaptor I think 

[PARKERTEK]

So today I've received a new Smart Hub 2. Set everything up. Everything ok so far.

I have noticed that the firmware is older than my last router at version: v0.21.03.07094-BT (11-Oct-2020)

so realistically yet to encounter problems with the discs with the new firmware update for this year (April/May) whenever they decide to push the update to it.

I've also noticed on this firmware thats installed that it doesn't show the Hybrid Connect tile on the home screen of the router page. So I can't view the status of the Hybrid. 

I'm hoping they'll update the hub soon.