WRVS4400N wireless signal keeps dropping

[mattburke]

I have installed a WRVS4400N router in a client's office.  When laptops are plugged into the router everything works fine.  When they are attached via the wireless signal it drops frequently.  WPA personal is being used to encrypt.  I have also installed the latest firmware and am having the same results.  What can be done to eliminate the drops? 

[mpyhala]

Hi Matt,

Thank you for posting. Try changing the wireless channel to Auto and see if you get better results. Sometimes with a fixed channel you will get interference depending on the environment. On Auto the router will try to find a channel that is not in use.

[mattburke]

I have set the wireless channel to Auto and I am achieving the same results.  Dropped connection on both Windows and Mac laptops.  What is the next step to resolve this?

[jasbryan]

Matt,

Generally when you have all wireless clients dropping; it does seem to point to some sort of interference or possible hardwire problem. Now Interference can cause all sorts of problems, below is a good link to read about 20 myths of Wi-Fi. Now you need to verify that the router isn’t near a High Voltage lines which puts out EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) Microwave are a big source of interference and are common when customer complain about their WI-FI dropping every day around lunch time. Generally when a customer explains this we have the move their router into a different location furthest away from a break room. Now in your post we don’t’ see detail enough information to really give an assessment on. Since all computers are losing connectivity at what time in the day and how often?

Is there a pattern?

What does your network topology looks like?

What is your wireless environment?

Have you run inSSIDer to sniff other Wi-Fi signals? What does our wireless environment look like?

Where is placement of Router compared to, microwaves, cordless phone dock, electrical box,etc?

When you get dropped what happens? Do you lose wireless SSID? Are you able to reconnect? (if so when).

What does logs inside router show? You can enable syslog output by setting up syslog server on a local pc and point routers syslog output to your local pc?

Have you tried changing any settings on the router?

What trouble shooting steps have been taken?

Please provide further details so we can assess your problem.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/ps9391/ps9393/ps9394/prod_white_paper0900aecd807395a9_ns736_Networking_Solutions_White_Paper.html

Hope this helps,

Jasbryan

[mattburke]

Since all computers are losing connectivity at what time in the day and how often?

   The signal drops all day long off and on everyday.

Is there a pattern?

   Only that it happens everyday.  It doesn't happen at the same time everyday.

What does your network topology looks like?

   It is flat.  The WRVS4400N managed everything. 

What is your wireless environment?

   The wireless key is WPA personal and the SSID is broadcast.  There are other SSID's being broadcast that do not belong to this office.

Have you run inSSIDer to sniff other Wi-Fi signals?

   I have not.  I intend to later this week when I go back.

Where is placement of Router compared to, microwaves, cordless phone dock, electrical box,etc?

   There is a microwave in the next room on the far wall.  A cordless phone dock is close by.  It will be move to another room today.  All electrical boxes are in the basement of the building.

When you get dropped what happens? Do you lose wireless SSID? Are you able to reconnect?

   When the signal drops the SSID reappears.  We are able to disconnect then reconnect to the signal

What does logs inside router show? You can enable syslog output by setting up syslog server on a local pc and point routers syslog output to your local pc?

  The router logs don't show much.  I will enable a syslog server later this week.

Have you tried changing any settings on the router?

   I have changed channels from 6 to 11 to 9 to 5 and now it is set to auto.  I have also removed all security from the wireless network to see if that made a difference.  It did not.

What trouble shooting steps have been taken?

   Along with everything mentioned above, I have swapped out the router and even tried a different manufacturer

[mattburke]

The cordless phone has been removed. and the problem continues.

I have run inSSIDer.  I see the SSID of my client is strong.  I also see other SSID's being broadcast.

At this point my client is quite frustrated.  Is the next step to move the wireless router to a different location?

What is the recommended course of action?

[chchapma]

Moving the router to another location within the office, away from the microwave, might be a good next step.  Can you tell me what type of wireless clients are being used?   Are the drivers up to date on the wireless adapters?  Change the wireless channel to either 1, 6, or 11.

[Dean Thompson]

I am having the same issues on multiple devices.  I have also done the same things as the op, but I have no  microwaves nor do I have wireless phones nearby. 

The nearest SSID is about 1 bar strong so I do not think it is the problem.  I feel it is a setting on the router, as this happened before and I fixed it until a recent reload.  Now I do not know what I did to fix it.

I am thinking of removing the router and installing another brand also.

[Eric Moyers]

Hi, My name is Eric Moyers. I am a Network Support Engineer in the Cisco Small Business Support Center. Thank you for using the Cisco Community Post Forums.

I am sorry your having an issue with the router. Wireless can sometimes be a headache to troubleshoot. Have you tried calling in and letting one of our Engineers walk through the troubleshooting with you? When doing troubleshooting I find it is a lot quicker to work through it while actually talking to the customer.

If you have already tried that please let me know the case number and I will go over that to make sure everything was covered.

Please call 1-866-606-1866 and let one of us help.

Thanks

Eric Moyers

Cisco Network Support Engineer

SBSC Wireless and Surveillance SME

CCNA, CCNA-Wireless

1-866-606-1866

[Dean Thompson]

This issue on my part was resolved with a replacement under Cisco Warrenty.  The unit was defective and has been replaced.

[dondersconsulting]

Probably to late to help the original poster, but maybe this will help others.  I have installed one of these routers and the sibling access point model in two different environments and both had problems with wireless reliability on all firmwares.  The access point is still in service but always gets complaints - rebooting the device (frequently) seems to "resolve" the issue for awhile.

Only legitimate reason I can think of is do you have too many devices attempting to connect.  Most of these discount routers/APs have about a 10-client effective limit, some may have an actual defined limit.  If you have a bunch of laptops and smartphones connecting to it, you might just be getting dropped to make room for another device.