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Two machines randomly dropping off AP7 WiFi

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Zach
Hey forum, looking for some tips or debugging help for two machines on my AP7 network that keep having cases where they lose internet access for a couple seconds and then reconnect. This is quite bothersome for ongoing video calls/streams, as you can imagine. I can see from the app the point where all network activity drops and then spikes back up when it seems to reconnect. I’m not sure how to dig in further. The two machines are Win11/10 and the app says their connectivity strength fluctuates between -64dBm and -80. I have two AP7 and have tried using the optimize feature, but it doesn’t seem to have helped. Thanks!
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    Firewalla

    Can you look at what channel these two devices are connecting to? Check this link https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/35673830268691-Firewalla-Access-Point-7-Troubleshooting-Guide#h_01JKC8SK7QBEC2159W59PMXDFC and scroll down a bit to "DFS and 5ghz" section

     

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    Zach

    Machine 1(stream) is on channel 64. Machine 2(game) is on 128.

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    Firewalla CM

    @Zach, channel 64 and 128 are both DFS channels. Some devices may not support DFS channels. Can you try manually selecting a non-DFS channel for the 5GHz band for your AP7s and see if that works?

    For reference, these are the non-DFS channels: 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165

    Go to Wi-Fi > Access Points tab > select an AP7 > scroll down to 5 GHz band > tap Channel > Manual > select any channel that is non-DFS. (see here for more info)

    Or, if you are in 1.64.1 beta, you can disable the DFS channels automatically in the Wi-Fi settings. (see here)

    Let me know if this works.

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    Zach

    Ok I have set one AP to 161 and the other to 153. I should note one of the two disconnecting devices(stream) is using 6 GHz band. Unless there’s some way we could track, we can only tell if the network interruption happens while actively using it, like on a call. I guess I could try having it netcat connect to the Firewalla every second can record when it fails. It would also be interesting to see a history of which AP it is connected to, I suspect it might be switching APs.

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    Support Team
    • Edited

    What are these devices having connectivity issue?

    Is the AP using wireless backhaul or wired backhaul?

    For wireless backhaul, if the RSSI between the two APs is low (e.g. < -70 dBm), the satellite AP may trigger backhaul scan to find a better uplink to connect, which may cause intermittent connectivity issue. In this case, all devices connected to this wireless backhaul AP may have the issue.

     

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    Zach

    Both are Windows desktop computers , one is windows 10, the other on windows 11. Both APs are on wired backhaul

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    Firewalla CM
    • Edited

    Hi @Zach,

    How far are the computers from the AP7? 

    Have you experienced any improvements in connectivity since switching to non-DFS channels?

    Edit: I have created a ticket for you and we will follow up through there.

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    tapethis

    I have a similar issue. I have 2 AP7 Ceilling units connected to a Ubiquiti POE switch that is connected to a firewalla gold. Devices drop every 30 minutes, and DFS is turned OFF. The AP channel is set to automatic, but they are already on non DFS channels.

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    Larry

    Still happens to me randomly as well; it used to be primarily our phones, but this week I started having the issue with laptops.  When I get in this weird dropped cycling state eventually the ipv4 DHCP data shows everything self assigned so nothing works.

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    Firewalla

    @tapethis, I've created a ticket for you.

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    Firewalla

    @Larry I have created a ticket for you as well. 

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