[TriLUG] Weird WiFi router behavior

Tue Jul 26 11:59:49 EDT 2016

I have a Mid 2015 MacBook Pro and have yet to have any wireless 
problems, regardless of the AP brand or speed.

At home we started noticing issues at home with the Android and Windows 
system. I ended up replacing my aging wireless AP and the issues went away.

Try rebooting your AP if possible. We found the old AP wasn't 
releasing/updating the leases when a system went offline. If that 
happens, try updating the firmware on your router, maybe that will help.

-Roy

On 7/26/16 11:47 AM, Tim Jowers via TriLUG wrote:
> I had the same sort of crap with a new MacBook (Pro Mid 2015).  It would
> only work with 1 of my wifi routers. The old macbook (2011) still requires
> reboot occasionally when it loses wifi. One can stop and start with the
> applet but often that doesn't work. Probably some unix command I could do
> but that's my wife's computer, haha.
>
> I never had one problem with Android, Windows, or Linux on these networks.
>
> I guess Apple decided it didn't need to support the standards. Or just
> didn't test thoroughly.
>
> YMMV,
> Tim
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 25, 2016 at 7:31 AM, David Both via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Sorry it took so long to reply. Backup drive failures and updates, among
>> other things, have kept me busy.
>>
>> See responses in-line.
>>
>>
>> On 07/21/2016 06:41 PM, William Sutton via TriLUG wrote:
>>
>>> I'm wondering
>>> 1. what wireless protocols your old and new APs support (A?  B? G?  N?)
>>>
>> Old: ABG
>> New: BGN
>>
>> 2. same for the devices that did and didn't work
>> The Apple devices both support B and G, while only the iPad supports N.
>> The iPhone is really old 3GS and has not had updates for a couple years at
>> least.
>> The Androids both support BGN
>>
>>> 3. any security settings (key length, whatever)
>>>
>> Standard WEP on both with a similar SSID and a fair 12-char password for
>> the non-guest access and an 8 char password for guest access. The old
>> router does not have guest access, but I only use regular access for our
>> own devices, both Apple and 'droid.
>>
>>> sounds like Apple made an update that wasn't compatible with older
>>> hardware.
>>>
>> I thought about this, but neither device had been updated in the weeks
>> before or after the connections started working. I found some comments on
>> Google about some problems Apple devices had/have with remote IMAP
>> authentication protocols and that sounds like what is happening because the
>> symptoms are very similar. My symptoms exist almost all the time with the
>> old router, but they do clear up once or twice a month and allow the IMAP
>> connection to retrieve emails. Very strange. We have had no problems at all
>> using the new router.
>>
>> Neither router has updated software.
>>
>> Thanks for any thoughts you might have. Because the new router is working
>> as expected, I am not in critical need of the information, but I am now
>> just curious.
>>
>>
>>
>>> William Sutton
>>>
>>> On Thu, 21 Jul 2016, David Both via TriLUG wrote:
>>>
>>> I have identified some very weird WiFi router behavior a couple days ago.
>>>> The good thing is that everything is working now, but here is the rest of
>>>> the story.
>>>>
>>>> <Long story warning>
>>>>
>>>> So my wife and I have different devices. She has an iPhone (very old)
>>>> and an iPad (fairly new). I have a Kindle Fire HDX and a Samsung S5. Until
>>>> a few months ago, all of these devices worked fine, including all Apps and
>>>> email access to my own server. I used a TP-Link TL-WR940N wireless router
>>>> plugged directly into my Time Warner Business Class modem/router, an Arris
>>>> that has never given me one bit of trouble. As opposed to the previous Ubee
>>>> I had before complaining, but that is another story.
>>>>
>>>> Sometime late last year, all of the apple devices started experiencing
>>>> problems. They would not update email from my server. Two local TV station
>>>> apps would not connect at all. The N&O app (no comments, please) on the
>>>> iPad would frequently crash and the occasional reboot was required to
>>>> recover. Except that once or twice a month, her email app would sync up.
>>>> Facebook and other apps all worked fine. No change regardless of distance
>>>> from the wireless router.
>>>>
>>>> None of my Android devices experienced any of these problems and neither
>>>> did my laptop. In fact, I added my wife's email account to my laptop and my
>>>> Kindle so she could access email while we were away from home. Or
>>>> downstairs and away from the computers.
>>>>
>>>> All of these symptoms remained unchanged no matter where we were or what
>>>> WiFi routers we were connected to or what local providers.
>>>>
>>>> We went to the Apple store and the same symptoms were experienced there.
>>>> Identical for both sets of devices. Apple failed, Android worked. They
>>>> wanted to replace her iPad (for a fee) but their devices experienced the
>>>> same problems.
>>>>
>>>> So after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I added SquirrelMail to my
>>>> server so that my wife could access her email via web interface without
>>>> having to use my Kindle.
>>>>
>>>> Two days ago, I installed a TP-Link AC 1900 Gigabit WiFi router
>>>> downstairs since the signal from the existing router was fairly weak down
>>>> there, and I also wanted the 5GHz and Guest capabilities that the AC1900
>>>> provides. Not to mention the touchscreen setup. I connected the WAN port of
>>>> the new router to one of the 4 Ethernet ports on the old router since there
>>>> were not any ports left on the TWBC modem/router.
>>>>
>>>> After configuring my wife's Apple devices to use the new wireless
>>>> router, all of the problems have disappeared. Everything works normally and
>>>> as expected now. All of the strange symptoms no longer occur. I still need
>>>> to test her iPad on other wireless routers and ISPs, but I suspect it will
>>>> work fine there, too.
>>>>
>>>> So the questions I have are: why? How could something like this occur?
>>>> Anyone else have a similar experience?
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *********************************************************
>>>> David P. Both, RHCE
>>>> Millennium Technology Consulting LLC
>>>> Raleigh, NC, USA
>>>> 919-389-8678
>>>>
>>>> dboth at millennium-technology.com
>>>>
>>>> www.millennium-technology.com
>>>> www.databook.bz - Home of the DataBook for Linux
>>>> DataBook is a Registered Trademark of David Both
>>>> *********************************************************
>>>> This communication may be unlawfully collected and stored by the National
>>>> Security Agency (NSA) in secret. The parties to this email do not
>>>> consent to the
>>>> retrieving or storing of this communication and any related metadata, as
>>>> well as
>>>> printing, copying, re-transmitting, disseminating, or otherwise using
>>>> it. If you
>>>> believe you have received this communication in error, please delete it
>>>> immediately.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> This message was sent to: William <william at trilug.org>
>>>> To unsubscribe, send a blank message to trilug-leave at trilug.org from
>>>> that address.
>>>> TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
>>>> Unsubscribe or edit options on the web    :
>>>> http://www.trilug.org/mailman/options/trilug/william%40trilug.org
>>>> Welcome to TriLUG: http://trilug.org/welcome
>>>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> *********************************************************
>> David P. Both, RHCE
>> Millennium Technology Consulting LLC
>> Raleigh, NC, USA
>> 919-389-8678
>>
>> dboth at millennium-technology.com
>>
>> www.millennium-technology.com
>> www.databook.bz - Home of the DataBook for Linux
>> DataBook is a Registered Trademark of David Both
>> *********************************************************
>> This communication may be unlawfully collected and stored by the National
>> Security Agency (NSA) in secret. The parties to this email do not consent
>> to the
>> retrieving or storing of this communication and any related metadata, as
>> well as
>> printing, copying, re-transmitting, disseminating, or otherwise using it.
>> If you
>> believe you have received this communication in error, please delete it
>> immediately.
>>
>> --
>> This message was sent to: timjowers <timjowers at gmail.com>
>> To unsubscribe, send a blank message to trilug-leave at trilug.org from that
>> address.
>> TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
>> Unsubscribe or edit options on the web  :
>> http://www.trilug.org/mailman/options/trilug/timjowers%40gmail.com
>> Welcome to TriLUG: http://trilug.org/welcome
>>