Wi-Fi & connectivity

[Txtim]

I have a variety of devices in my home. Several Rokus, several IOS devices (iphones/ipads), laptops w MS operating system, etc.  Everything worked in harmony until a couple of months ago.  Then the wifi started freezing up on all devices whenever we used IOS devices and Roku devices at the same time.  I had read that IOS 14 or 15 might cause problems if you weren’t using a router with WPA3 - so I purchased a new wifi6 mesh router to replace a prior Orbi router.  But this did not solve the problem.  Any suggestions?

[cwcheese]

I see you describe a "wifi6 mesh router" to replace your Orbi and still have problems.  What device do you get your internet through, is it an ISP carrier supplied cablemodem or router? How old is that device?

I ask because my experience over the past two decades is having replaced the cablemodem/router at least four times, due to similar symptoms : wifi freezing or slowing down, or odd hiccups in connectivity. The problem I determined years ago is that the primary connecting device is running 24x7 and is experiencing the effects of overheating. After 4-5 years of constant running the chips and board are cooked and begin to fail. Attaching a new wifi6 router or Orbi merely extends the distance of a degraded signal.

This may not be your issue at all. But at least check your primary internet device to see if that is the obstacle.

[Txtim]

I forgot to mention in my original post that I have xfinity ISP and also had purchased a new Motorala cable router before replacing the Orbi with a Nighthawk Wifi6 router system.    But still haven’t been able to solve my problem.  If I use either an IOS device with no Rokus playing or visa-versa the internet behaves well.  But when I try to simultaneously use a Roku and an IOS device the internet freezes.   It doesn’t appear the radios within the routers since I can still see and connect to my wifi network.  It just behaves as if the router cannot communicate to the internet 

[BillieAnnie]

@Txtim  Why don’t you just use the xFinity panoramic gateway? They are amazing gateways. Small too. How much bandwidth are you paying for through xFinity?

[atc98092]

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@BillieAnnie wrote:

@Txtim  Why don’t you just use the xFinity panoramic gateway? They are amazing gateways. Small too. How much bandwidth are you paying for through xFinity?

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I just put my Gateway in bridge mode and installed a Linksys router. Why? Because my 6 month old Gateway stopped assigning IP addresses (the DHCP server is only working sporadically) and my entire network was crashing down. I called Comcast for support, and they promised to escalate my issue to Level 2 support and I would get a call back within 2 hours. It's now been 7 days. 

The other problem with the XFinity Gateway is that when you lease it from them (which makes unlimited data cheaper than using my own modem) is that they lock you out of many of the settings on the modem. I could not change the WiFi channel used, nor the mode setting for either radio band. Since I have multiple access points on my network, as well as well over a dozen neighborhood SSIDs in the area, I want more control over my system. Now that the Gateway is solely a bridge, I have full control again. 

[AvsGunnar]

@Txtim 

Are you using one router now, or are you using two routers like @atc98092 above. (Your ISP router and also a seperate router).

What is your current network setup.

[Txtim]

I have the Orbi router connected to a Motorola modem/router.  I have turned off the wifi radios on the Motorola router….but have not swapped from router mode to bridge mode on the upstream device as mentioned by @atc98092 Would this possibly solve my problem?   I still can’t understand why I have problems with a combination of IOS and Roku devices, but not when I use Roku and Microsoft devices at the same time.

[atc98092]

It's usually best practice to only have a single router between the Internet and your home network. If the Motorola and the Orbi are both providing network gateway functions, you end up with both doing the same thing, which can cause a performance slowdown. Also, if the Motorola is not in Bridge mode, it's still providing WiFi access, so you might still be connecting to it instead of the Orbi. Forget that, I see you turned off the radios. But you're still running NAT services on the Motorola, which might decrease your Internet speed. If the Orbi is performing all your network gateway functions (DHCP, NAT, Firewall), then put the Motorola in Bridge mode. 

I have no explanation about possible interaction between Apple and Roku devices using the same network. There's no reasonable explanation for it, and there are many, many users of both Roku and Apple devices that haven't reported any issues. My daughter's network did have issues with keeping their Mac computers connected to WiFi in the past, but that was the lousy CenturyLink DSL router/modem service. When they switched to Comcast (as I did), their Macs are now solid on the network, as are their three Roku players and two Fire TV players. Except for their media server, their entire house is wireless, as opposed to most of my devices hard wired to Gigabit Ethernet. I have three iPads and three iPhones in the house, all connected to my network on both 2.4 and 5 GHz, and close to a dozen Roku devices, some wired and most wireless. No issues with any devices on the network.

[AvsGunnar]

@Txtim 

My best guess is that you may have the DHCP servers enabled on both involved routers.  As such, there is the probability that they are just conflicting with each other (assigning the same LAN IP addresses) thus kicking each other off. (why just the Roku and IoS - you got me, MAC address confusion maybe.)  If you adjusted the allowable IP pool numbers/start and end in each of the routers so they didn't conflict with each other/overlap, would probably see this particular behavior stop regarding these two devices. (this would only be for troubleshooting and isolating issue, not a recommended way to setup the network).

As @atc98092, indicated, if you want only one network, then place one of these routers (Motorola) into Bridge mode. (normally, bridge mode will automatically disable its DHCP server so as to no longer hand out IP addresses to connected devices.  You can verify if disabled under either LAN settings or DHCP settings for the most part).

In a nutshell, enabling Bridge Mode on a modem/router will disable its routing capabilities.  It will now only act as a modem (internet connection).  The Orbi will now handle all routing (device assignments and connections) and communicate with the Motorola when you need internet access.  In a simple network, only one router should be handing out the LAN IP addresses with its DHCP server.

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Hopefully, this is your culprit.