Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing

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Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing
Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing
2022-01-06 21:58:56 - last edited 2022-01-07 16:18:56
Model: Deco S4  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 1.5.0 Build 20210607 Rel. 56436

Three Unit system bought.

On the bottom of each units it says Model: Deco S4R

In the app interface at 192.168.XX.1, it says S4(2.0)

Using a TP-Link Gigabiit switch Model TL-SG1008D to include other ethernet items and to add backhaul.

Router and S4 Access Point units are all on Ethernet backhaul, so this isn't likely about backhaul.

Latest version of the firmware. 1.5.0 Build 20210607 Rel. 56436

 

All ethernet-connected devices are trouble-free.

The one Roku WiFi device is trouble-free.

 

Two Laptops (WiFi)

Two Desktops (Ethernet)

Two Roku's (one WiFi, one Ethernet)

Several other Ethernet devices.

 

Connected directly to Motorola Surfboard Docsis 3.0 modem, model SB6121.

 

Our phones and our laptops are cycling every thrity seconds connected vs. disconnected to WiFi. This happens randomly.

 

This did not happen previously with our ASUS modem using a Tomato firmware. 


It doesn't matter whether my phone is sat right in front of the main router or one of the AP's or somewhere else. It shows the name of my SSID and "no interent".

 

And then suddenly I'll have a connection out of the blue for a while that's good for half an hour on my phone. Then it begins cycling again.

 

I originally bought this mesh system so my wife and I could talk with people on Google voice from an app on my phone regardless of what room I'm in.

Except that's being hampered by the unfortunate connect/disconnect cycle. And then sometimes it just decides there is no internet. Even though it's obviously there, it refuses to connect after continually trying. I have to manually click the disconnect/connect button on my phone to jumpstart the cycle of trying to connect again.

 

Tried disabling 5GHz. No help.

IPV6 disabled. (Spectrum doesn't use it.)

IPV4 DNS set to 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1

Tried leaving DNS unset (default) but that made no difference.

 

Phone VPN Disabled.

 

I want to be able to use WiFi consistently. Please help me fix this.

 

019e9f8a00d646a5b6ff7ddc710c2724

 

 

 

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#1
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1 Accepted Solution
Re:Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing -Solution
2022-01-07 16:15:14 - last edited 2022-01-07 16:18:56

@TP-Link 

 

Here's more information. The issue seems mostly resolved after we realized the problem was mostly with our phones. We still see some attempts when wandering from one room to another for our phones or laptops to attempt to continue to hold on to the original AP, but more often than not, the AP with the better connection does take over when it's close enough.

 

Regarding the phones:

 

The phones we bought are the UMIDID A7 Pro. February and March of 2021.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08924QPQZ

4GB RAM, 128GB Storage, Unlocked... in a pinch the cameras are okay. Video recording is useless. We bought these more for phone use and checking news online. 

This is almost completely stock Android 10, and UMIDIGI are updating the OS for these devices once or twice a year.

They even forgot to replace the "Customize Your Pixel" setting at the top of the settings interface.

 

The question becomes how they derive the "random" mac id to help keep the device more secure. The MAC ID has to be different for each SSID, yet remain the same when you hook back up to that same SSID. I suspect they take the SSID and the phone model together as a salt to create the "random" MAC ID generator, but they don't make it random enough. This could ostensibly be a security issue if someone intentiionally buys the same phone model and uses it to hack someone else's router or phone. The question becomes whether it's an UMIDIGI thing or an Android 10 thing... If it's an Android 10 thing, the possible security issue is larger than the scope of a single model or a single phone maker.

 

Anyway, in Android 10 for both phones > Settings > Network & Internet > WiFi > Add Network >  Advanced > Privacy >

Change from "Use randomized MAC (default)" to "Use device MAC".

Save.

 

c03982010f144caba76d3b01fea042a8

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#5
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Re:Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing
2022-01-07 01:31:58

@LaughterOnWater 

Thank you very much for your kind reply.

I would like to forward your case to the senior engineers directly and please check whether you have got an email from me.

At the same time, please help me check the following details :

1. Please also turn off fast roaming and beamforming on the Deco APP.

2. What are the frequently disconnected wireless devices? and May I have their model number and operating system?

---Please also go to Deco App and turn off the Mesh Technology for these devices to see whether it helped or not.

 

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Re:Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing
2022-01-07 03:21:34

650029

TP-Link wrote

@LaughterOnWater 

Thank you very much for your kind reply.

I would like to forward your case to the senior engineers directly and please check whether you have got an email from me.

At the same time, please help me check the following details :

1. Please also turn off fast roaming and beamforming on the Deco APP.

2. What are the frequently disconnected wireless devices? and May I have their model number and operating system?

---Please also go to Deco App and turn off the Mesh Technology for these devices to see whether it helped or not.

 

@TP-Link 

 

Thanks for your reply. Email received.

 

This may have been resolved... Please stand by...

It looks like I've found the problem. My wife and I have identical phones. Up until now, both phones have been using the default methodology on Android 10 of using a "random" MAC ID that ironically turns out to be the same "random" MAC ID for both phones. So much for random. Both phones were registering as the same IPV4 address. To fix the problem, I made both phones forget the current connection, created a new WiFi connection and in the "advanced" section for each new connection, I told each connection to use the phone's actual MAC ID instead of a pseudo-random ID. Now each phone has its own unique IPV4 address.  I've also gone into the advanced section on the app and reserved IP's for each MAC ID of all our devices so they don't flip around on us during reboot. This can be pretty helpful for VoIP and Printer setups.

 

Note: I also renamed each phone for unique discovery on the Deco S4 intra net, yet both phones are still recognized by the Deco S4 as the name of the phone model (A7) rather than the new name assigned for WiFi discovery. All other devices are recognized by their assigned discovery names. Since they have different MAC's and IP's, this doesn't seem to matter much, but it would be nice if they came up as our actual assigned phone names.

 

This may have solved the worst of the problems. Please stand by as we test the system through tomorrow.

 

Chris

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#3
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Re:Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing
2022-01-07 03:44:35

@LaughterOnWater 

Yes, I would.

I think this case is very valuable for us and Could you mind telling me the model number of your smartphones?

It would be highly appreciated if you could share some links for me.

Thank you very much.

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#4
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Re:Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing -Solution
2022-01-07 16:15:14 - last edited 2022-01-07 16:18:56

@TP-Link 

 

Here's more information. The issue seems mostly resolved after we realized the problem was mostly with our phones. We still see some attempts when wandering from one room to another for our phones or laptops to attempt to continue to hold on to the original AP, but more often than not, the AP with the better connection does take over when it's close enough.

 

Regarding the phones:

 

The phones we bought are the UMIDID A7 Pro. February and March of 2021.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08924QPQZ

4GB RAM, 128GB Storage, Unlocked... in a pinch the cameras are okay. Video recording is useless. We bought these more for phone use and checking news online. 

This is almost completely stock Android 10, and UMIDIGI are updating the OS for these devices once or twice a year.

They even forgot to replace the "Customize Your Pixel" setting at the top of the settings interface.

 

The question becomes how they derive the "random" mac id to help keep the device more secure. The MAC ID has to be different for each SSID, yet remain the same when you hook back up to that same SSID. I suspect they take the SSID and the phone model together as a salt to create the "random" MAC ID generator, but they don't make it random enough. This could ostensibly be a security issue if someone intentiionally buys the same phone model and uses it to hack someone else's router or phone. The question becomes whether it's an UMIDIGI thing or an Android 10 thing... If it's an Android 10 thing, the possible security issue is larger than the scope of a single model or a single phone maker.

 

Anyway, in Android 10 for both phones > Settings > Network & Internet > WiFi > Add Network >  Advanced > Privacy >

Change from "Use randomized MAC (default)" to "Use device MAC".

Save.

 

c03982010f144caba76d3b01fea042a8

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#5
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Re:Deco S4 - Some WiFi devices are cycling every thirty seconds or so between seeing
2022-01-08 20:39:39

@TP-Link 

 

After a couple more days, it looks like this issue is mostly resolved. Only occasionally do we find the previous AP tried to hold its grasp on the wifi device when going between AP's. I've done a couple Network Optimizations from the Deco App in several different locations in the house to help determine best WiFi configuration. That seems to have managed the worst of it.

 

Thanks!

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#6
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