I’ve been using a separate ASUS router connected to my ISP’s modem/router combo for years. Never really had any issues until a few weeks ago when my Chromecast started randomly disconnecting from WiFi.
Sometimes it reconnects on its own, other times I have to restart the damn thing just to finish watching something.
Figured the Chromecast was getting old, so I replaced it with a Google TV Streamer. Same problem.
Then I thought maybe the router was dying and replaced that too.
Guess what. Still happening.
Every other device seems fine, and I’m honestly tired of throwing money at this.
The ISP router is still running its own WiFi, but I’ve always used the ASUS for pretty much everything. Yes, I know I have double NAT. It’s been that way for years and never caused me any noticeable issues.
Any ideas what the hell I’m missing here?
Does it actually disconnect from WiFi or does it stay connected but lose internet access? Those are two different problems. Also, have you tried connecting it directly to the ISP router instead?
@No_Chart It actually loses the WiFi connection. And yeah, forgot to mention that. Tried the ISP WiFi yesterday and it worked perfectly for the whole evening. Switched back to the ASUS this morning and it dropped twice already.
Well, that’s a pretty important detail lol. Same device, same room, different AP. I’d stop blaming the streamer for now.
Why are you running two routers in the first place? Put the ISP box in bridge mode or set the ASUS to AP mode.
@J.T.Coulman Double NAT isn’t going to make a device randomly lose its WiFi association. Sure, clean up the setup, but that’s not where I’d start.
@No_Chart Never said it was definitely the cause. Just seems like an unnecessarily messy setup.
Before you start changing random settings, I’d compare the two WiFi networks. Grab a WiFi analyzer. NetSpot is pretty decent, or whatever similar app you prefer. Check the ASUS and ISP networks from the same spot near the TV. Look at their signal levels, channels, and what other networks are around them. Might be something obvious like the ASUS sitting on a crowded channel while the ISP router is using a cleaner one.
@CodeWizard So basically check both networks and see what’s different? I assumed since they’re literally in the same room they’d have pretty much the same WiFi performance.
Nope. Different channels, transmit power, antenna placement, all that stuff. Same room doesn’t mean same RF conditions.
What channel is the ASUS using on 5 GHz? And what security mode? Some streaming devices can be picky about DFS channels or WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode.
@Frag_King_XX Security is WPA2/WPA3. Channel is set to Auto. No idea what channel it’s actually using though. Is that something I can check without messing with all the router settings?
Yep. Check the wireless settings/status page. For testing, try WPA2-AES and a fixed non-DFS 5 GHz channel. Change one thing at a time though, otherwise you won’t know what actually helped.
Also, before everyone goes all in on interference, OP said the channel is on Auto. I’d really like to know if it’s switching to DFS and whether the disconnects line up with channel changes.
@AverageJoe9274 Which is another reason to check what channel it’s actually on instead of guessing. NetSpot can show the channel and nearby WiFi networks. Router logs would be useful for checking whether a DFS event caused a channel change.