Wi-Fi Router acting up, dropping connections, causing buffering

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Wi-Fi Router acting up, dropping connections, causing buffering

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Wi-Fi Router acting up, dropping connections, causing buffering
Wi-Fi Router acting up, dropping connections, causing buffering
2021-04-04 02:42:44
Model: Archer C5400  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 1.2.5 Build 20190411 rel.52981

On average there's about 30 devices connected to the router. Mix of devices; smartphones, smart TVs, streaming devices (apple tv/fire tv), computers, security cams. smart bulbs. Currently SmartConnect is enabled so the router assigns a device to the best band. Lately I've noticed the router has been dropping device connections where the device has to be re-connected to the router manually by entering the wifi password vs automatically. When streaming on some of the smart TVs, the connection buffers or is sluggish, content quality drops from HD to SD. Devices on the WLAN are a mix of 802.11n and 802.11ac.

 

The only recent change was adding two additional smart bulbs bringing the total of connected devices to 30. I have DHCP enabled with a range of 50 assignable IPs. I'm running the latest available firmware version. ISP speed is 200Mbps down & 20Mbps up. This may sound weird but before our down speed was 100Mbps and we weren't having any problems. Recently our ISP raised our speed to 200Mbps. I would think the doubling of speed would be better and we shouldn't be having any buffering issues at all.

 

Could it be that the router can't handle 30 devices at once? Is there a max number of devices these routers can handle before showing speed degradation? Is it just time for a router upgrade?

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Re:Wi-Fi Router acting up, dropping connections, causing buffering
2021-04-04 11:26:54

@techie_19 

 

I have the exact same router as you and a very similar range and number of devices connected.  I have absolutely no problem getting and keeping the devices connected to wi-fi.  The difference is I am not on the latest firmware I am running the previous one (1.2.2 ) and I have disabled QoS.  

 

You can try the following and see if it helps:

 

1. Go to "Advanced" and the "QoS". Choose "Standard" for Application Priority and make sure that no devices are set to use QoS in "Device Priority".

2. In the firmware that you are using there is a setting (I think it is also in the QoS settings page) that allows you to set the download speed you get from your ISP.  Make sure it is set to 200 Mbps.

3. Reboot the modem and see if the problem is fixed.

 

If the above doesn't fix your wi-fi problem you can always download the 1.2.2 firmware from the TP-Link website and "downgrade" your firmware and apply the above changes.

 

Good luck!!

 

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Re:Wi-Fi Router acting up, dropping connections, causing buffering
2021-04-04 12:37:12

@techie_19 

 

When Xfinity upgraded my service to 200, I found that I had to power cycle the modem and router like you would to get a LAN IP address to get the faster speed. I have a slower older Archer C8 and running 30 plus devices. I get around 230 wired and close to that on 5 GHz when close to the router. As a test, you may want to bypass the router and connect a PC direct to your modem with an Ethernet cable and see what speed you get from your ISP. If you are not getting over 100, you may need to replace your Ethernet cables.

 

My router does not have Smart Connect and I would not use it even if it had it as I prefer to control which bands my devices use and because what others have reported about it. IMHO Smart Connect can do a fair job, but is not ideal for everyone's network. For example, it may put your PC and TVs on the slower band because it gets a better signal and the smart bulbs on the faster band because it gets a better signal. Others reported that moving from one band to the other when moving through the home can be problematic.  

 

I would also open up the number of assignable IP addresses. If you have a VPN, that can cause an issue. Using cloud based backups can over tax the network such as those provided by Google and Amazon. Depending on how some security cameras are set up, that can put a heavy load on the network also. 

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