2.4GHz signal and speed has suddenly become weak

[nikwifi]

I have an Airtel broadband connection and Nokia G-2425G-A router which has both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Both had been working fine for 3 years. One fine day about a week ago the 2.4GHz starting showing issues where the signal became weaker (weaker in the sense that out of the 4 bands it shows in the laptop taskbar, it was only showing 2) even after being just 8 feet away. And I struggled to get the devices connected to the router and even if they did the speed was quite slow. My chromecast (which only works with 2.4GHz) also stopped connecting to my router. Amongst all this, the 5GHz and the ethernet works absolutely fine.

Any pointers on where can I look and what can I do to fix this? I called the Airtel technical who came in and upgraded the firmware. For few minutes after the upgrade the signal strength and speed had gone back to being normal but the problem resurfaced again.

 

[Deleted member 83050]

I am guessing its a thermal throttling issue. Try placing your router in a cooler place with good ventilation. This can easily happen in the summers. If you are using a router UPS, disconnect it and restart the router to see if anything changes. Switching the router's place is likely to work though. Also make sure the transmission power for 2.4Ghz is set to the highest in your router settings.
If none of this works, request a replacement for your ONT. If you want stable performance, you have to invest in a budget dual band router like TP-Link archer C6 and connect it in bridge mode.

 

[nikwifi]

Thanks for the reply @rajat_ , don't understand networking that well so have a few basic questions

Try placing your router in a cooler place with good ventilation....Switching the router's place is likely to work though
It is away from any direct light, ventilation can be a bit better maybe. Also it has been at that location for the last 3 years without this issue. Unfortunately the router has been setup at a height of about 7-8 feet with LAN cables going into every room from that location. And all the wiring is hidden behind the walls so it is not possible to move it to some other location.

If you are using a router [URL='https://t.broadband.forum/UPS']UPS[/URL], disconnect it and restart the router to see if anything changes
Interesting that you mentioned this. Does using a router UPS impact WiFi performance? I purchased one recently before this issue started happening with me. After I encountered this issue, I did remove the router UPS but with no improvement in the situation.

Also make sure the transmission power for 2.4Ghz is set to the highest in your router settings.
Yup, this is set to 100%.

If none of this works, request a replacement for your [URL='https://t.broadband.forum/ONT']ONT[/URL]
I don't know what a ONT means. Is that the device that has the small yellow (at least in my case) optic cable going in and which has another wire connecting to the router?

If you want stable performance, you have to invest in a budget dual band router like [URL='https://t.broadband.forum/tplink']TP-Link[/URL] [URL='https://t.broadband.forum/zsN']archer C6[/URL] and connect it in bridge mode.
Didn't understand this. Are you saying Nokia router maybe the cause of this and I should replace it with archer C6? Also, when you say connect it in bridge mode, do you mean connect it in bridge mode with the Nokia router or with ONT or with something else?

 

[Deleted member 83050]

ONT is your Nokia router. ask for a replacement.
Yes you should invest in a new router if this issue persists after replacement. You correctly interpreted the meaning of bridge mode.

 

[nikwifi]

Again, newbie question but why to connect the Nokia router in bridge mode to the archer C6? Can't I just use the C6 router?

 

[albonycal]

Maybe the number of access points on 2.4ghz spectrum have increased in your area and its causing interference, try using a wifi analyzer app to check the wifi channel which has least APs

 

[rohitks]

If your ont-router allows setting channel by user, try one of the three channels 1, 6 or 11.
These are the only 3 non overlapping channels in the 2.4Ghz spread.