Persistent poor connectivity NWA50AX devices

LanherneAdmin

Hi,

I have a very simple wifi setup, 2 NWA50AX devices each with ethernet connectivity to the router. I'm starting to see a very intermittent connectivity profile, with users complaining that the connect to a site which loads quickly and then just freezes. Speed testing has confirmed that there is huge variance in connection speed for no apparent reason. Logs don't seem to show any obviously problematic devices/configs. Any ideas as to where to start troubleshooting?

Thanks,

Ant

Zyxel_Nami

Hello Ant @LanherneAdmin,

To further assist you, we need a bit more detail:

• Please describe more details about the connection freezes, does it become slow?
• Does it impact all devices or only certain ones?
• Are the affected devices connected to a specific SSID or AP?
• Have you noticed any patterns related to the time of day, specific applications, or types of content being accessed?

Additionally, you could adjust the radio settings to fine-tune the connection at Configure > Access points > Radio settings

1. Disable "Avoid DFS Channels" to avoid the interference
   
2. Increase your WAN rate control for 2.4 GHz to 5.5Mbps while 5GHz to 12 Mbps.
   

LanherneAdmin

Thanks for the response, I will try those settings, but immediate impact appears limited (still got the issues). To answer your questions;

1. It becomes very slow, tending towards no throughput, then after a short while it will come back to life with a burst of data, then tail off again
2. Most devices are hardwired so not seeing any effects (implying router connectivity is stable) so it's mainly mobile devices. However, the effect has been seen streaming audio to a Sonos device, too, which appears as a block of sound, then a block of silence, then a block of sound etc.
3. We only have one SSID, effect has been seen on both APs
4. I haven't noticed anything because the reports are generally associated with web browsing where the service is so intermittent that people are turning off wifi to use their own connectivity.

Thanks again,

Ant

Zyxel_Nami

Hello Ant,

I've reviewed your current SSID configuration, which is set to 2.4GHz only. This setup is suitable given that most of your end devices support 802.11 b/g/n. However, I recommend creating an additional SSID exclusively for 5GHz to accommodate devices capable of operating in this frequency. This approach can improve overall network performance and reduce congestion on the 2.4GHz band.

Also, you may try to enable Smart Steering, please refer to below FAQ for more details. This function can help to monitor WiFi clients, disconnecting idle ones or those with low signals to optimize bandwidth.

https://community.zyxel.com/en/discussion/10008/nebula-how-to-configure-smart-steering-to-optimize-the-wireless-network

Besides, I noticed that your NWA50AX Ground is currently set to a fixed channel (Channel 1) and channel width (40MHz) on 2.4GHz. Considering the intermittent connectivity issues you're experiencing, I suggest enabling DCS to allow the AP to dynamically select the best channel based on real-time conditions.

Implementing these changes should help the connectivity problems you've been facing. Please keep us updated on the performance after applying these settings.

LanherneAdmin

Hi and once again thanks for your advice.

Most of those rather unusual config settings you are referring to have been done in the last day or so as I have tried everything I can think of to simplify the setup and narrow down where the issue might be, so I'm happy to revert and try as you suggest. However, I'm tempted to do a complete "factory reset" of the devices and config to default settings, is that possible/something you would recommend?

Zyxel_Nami

Hi @LanherneAdmin

We don't recommend to reset the device. A factory reset should be viewed as a last resort.

Let's focus on the adjustments suggested above. Implementing an additional SSID enabled only 5GHz band can improve the connection.

Given that the 2.4GHz spectrum has only 3 non-overlapping channels (1, 6 and 11), interference is more likely, especially if other devices in your environment also use this channel.

In your case, setting the AP to a fixed channel 1 might be causing to this interference. Configuring DCS could help mitigate this issue by allowing your AP to automatically select the least congested channel.

For the Smart Steering, please enable it and keep the advanced options as default firstly.

LanherneAdmin

Hi,

I've setup as you suggested but I'm seeing no change in the problems. I've also set up an additional SSID enabled only 5GHz band but that suffers the same issue. I have a test with only one device on that 5GHz connection a laptop that is just 3m line of sight from the access point and it exhibits the same throughput challenges.

Given the above, I beginning to think it can't be the radio aspects - could it be something affecting the uplink?

Many thanks,

Anthony

Zyxel_Nami

Hello @LanherneAdmin Anthony,

Upon reviewing your site, I noticed that during that time, only one device, APW-SurfacePro6, was connected to "Lanherne_WiFi_5GHz". Was this the device you used for the throughput test within a 3-meter range of the AP?

To investigate the issue deeper, when connecting your test laptop to WiFi, please provide us with the network's properties as shown in the screenshot below.

Furthermore, we would appreciate it if you could conduct and share the results of the following ping tests:

1. From the AP to the Gateway.
2. From the AP to 8.8.8.8 (Google's DNS server).
3. From the AP to your test laptop (please confirm if it's the APW-SurfacePro6).