Why does my WiFi extender cut out at the same time every night?

Wi-Fi Hardware
1

Not sure if anyone’s seen this before, but my WiFi extender keeps dropping out at pretty much the same time every night.

At first I thought the extender was just old and dying, so I replaced it. Same problem again.

What’s weird is the main router still seems fine. It’s the extender side that goes bad. Anyone know what usually causes this?

2

I’d suspect is some kind of scheduled setting on the main router. Some routers do overnight channel scans / optimization stuff, and that can kick repeaters or clients off for a bit. Usually they reconnect pretty quickly though, so if yours stays dead for a long time, that part’s a little odd.

3

I’d also consider interference from something nearby turning on around that time. Sounds dumb, but it happens. Some device, neighbor equipment, maybe something blasting 2.4 GHz every evening. I’d try checking the air right when it drops. A WiFi analyzer like NetSpot can help with that — you can see what channels are in use and whether something nasty shows up or the channel situation suddenly gets crowded right when the extender starts acting up.

4

If it happens every night at the same time, it looks more like a “schedule” than a random glitch. Most likely, it’s one of these:

  • auto channel scanning;

  • scheduled night reboot;

  • smart optimization function;

  • Parental control or restricting Wi-Fi use by hours.

I would first check the router settings before blaming the extender again.