Actiontec MI424WR dropping wireless connection intermittently; wired connection works

[wroka]

I've had this router for about two years, with no issues.

Beginning on Saturday, our two laptops and phones began losing their connection to our wireless network, dropping the signal every 30 seconds or so.  I tested the wired connection by plugging the laptops directly into the router, and both computers functioned properly - no issues connecting or staying connected.  I have my Roku hard-wired to the router, and that also has had no issue, so it'd definitely a problem with the wireless signal to my devices.

Spoke to a CS rep, who had me first check the internet signal (green, blinking sporadically, which I was told indicated no issue with the connection), then had me reset the router and unplug.  No dice. She said the internet signal seemed fine, and that "everything looked good on her end", whatever that means.  They're sending a new router which I'll receive today or tomorrow, but I have trepidation.

Has anyone else had this issue?  I saw alot of router issues on the forums, but wasn't sure if everyone was having this specific problem (just wireless connect issues).

[wallyec]

i am having exactly that problem!

[wroka]

Have you had issues prior to this?  My service had been flawless previously.  Posts about similar problems don't seem very encouraging - did you find out anything from Verizon?

[wallyec]

No - they deny that there is a problem, indicating it is a cordless phone or something in my vicinty.

Today  i noticed that before 9am it was fine then started and remained till about 12:30 when it was fine then started again - approx every 30 sec - very strange!

i disconnected phones and cannot think of anything else that would cause the problem -shutting off other devices etc.

[CaptainSTX]

Unless you have old cordless phones they won't be a problem.  DECT 6  cordless phones are designed not to interfere with WiFi.

Microwave ovens are bad particularly for lower channels 1 -6.  Baby monitors can also be a problem.

More likely one of your neighbors got a new more powerful router  and is over lapping on your routerss channel.

Run a Wifi survey using inSSIDer and see what channels are busy then by experimentation see which of the least occupied channels give you the best results.

[wroka · Accepted solution]

This turns out to be good advice. I changed the channel on my router settings to 11 (per an earlier post on a different thread), and I haven't had an issue since. Here's the original post: "01-21-2011 11:32 AM that type of problem doesn't sound like a router issue, but instead sounds like a wireless transmission issue. you may be able to resolve that fairly easily.. Try to change the wireless signal. you can do that in the router. open a browser, and go to http://192.168.1.1, user name is admin. and the password is most likely the serial number found on the service tag of your VZ router unless you changed it. Once you login successfully, go to the top and hit wireless, then on the left basic security. then go to option 3 which is channel 1, 6 and 11 and are the only channels you should try. So it will likely be set to auto, change it to 11 and put the check for keep settings even after reboot (Directly under the channel) and then hit apply., after you hit apply, test your connection out, if you notice a difference, leave it like that until the problem happens again, and if it happens again, go back into the router, and try channel 6, test it out. and then finally 1 if the first two don't work."

[wallyec]

tried all the channels with no difference - here is a pic from MAC OSX Mavericks- WIFI scanner - same in all cases with some periods where there is no cycling.  this is CH 9 with no other detectable routors on that CH

i disconnected phones, laptops, iphone, ipad, ...  MW is OFF...??

i am not aware of any perf degradation although 

[wallyec]

I may be off the mark - i finally booted up a PC and ran inSSiDer - ver 3 and could not find the same pattern - something is a amiss in Apple land!  Will report back when i understand it better!

Also cahnged to CH 1 per inSSiDer and it perf is better on PC - need more info on MACPB.

[bondra1216]

exact same problem, except now when i just got home from a weekend away, my wireless is out about 90% of the time, and every couple minutes devices will see it broadcast and then it goes away again. up until this point though, the problem was identical. same Actiontec, 1 year with 0 problems until last week, and its steadily getting worse. i have gen I model. is there a solution to this yet? I have a replacement router getting here today but i already know that has nothing to do with the problem, as others reported no improvement after swapping out routers. 

[eljefe2]

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@bondra1216 wrote:

exact same problem, except now when i just got home from a weekend away, my wireless is out about 90% of the time, and every couple minutes devices will see it broadcast and then it goes away again. up until this point though, the problem was identical. same Actiontec, 1 year with 0 problems until last week, and its steadily getting worse. i have gen I model. is there a solution to this yet? I have a replacement router getting here today but i already know that has nothing to do with the problem, as others reported no improvement after swapping out routers. 

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Have you confirmed that the problem is only when using WiFi?  That is....have you connected to your router via Ethernet cable and, if so, does the problem happen then?

If you have connected via hardwire and the problem doesn't appear, do you see the same problem if the device you're using is only a few feet away from the router?  (That would reduce or eliminate the possibility that interference is causing your issue.)