Mysterious WIFI router problem.

[TheForce]

The router is a Linksys WRT 1900AC

The WiFi portion has both the 5Ghz and 2.4 Ghz. The 5 Ghz is working fine and I use it as my backup but not every device I have on the network works on the 5 Ghz band.

The 2.4 Ghz began to have the following problem about 2 months ago, it just stops recognizing it's PW when devices try to log on, all of them. The 5 Ghz continues to work.

Now if I log in to the router and access the PW reset section for the 2.4Ghz and change the PW will work for about a day or two then fail. I can also just change the PW back to the original one that stopped right away and it works again for a day. In other words, Go in and change to a different PW, apply it, then go in immediately and change it back to the one that stopped and I'm once again good to go. That saves me the trouble of going around to the 2.4 Ghz devices and updating their PWs.

Any idea what is causing this failure after a day or two of working each time?

Thought I would try here first and then contact Linksys tech support. The router, otherwise is working great and gives me really good coverage throughout my property.

 

[Magic Static]

Is it a Router Date/Time issue?

 

[navychop]

I think it's cursed by witches. The same ones that cursed my AirPort Extreme and possibly a DLink too.

 

[TheForce]

Is it a Router Date/Time issue?

Not sure what you mean. Is that the wifi "off" scheduler? I don't have anything set there. It is on 24-7

 

[Magic Static]

Not sure what you mean. Is that the wifi "off" scheduler? I don't have anything set there. It is on 24-7

Some devices won't "handshake" if they don't agree on the date and time.

 

[harshness]

If you have encryption set up and the clock/calendar isn't right, there can be issues with invalid certs.

Have you updated the router's firmware since Heck was a pup? The most recent update for both revisions was late June 2015.

 

[KE4EST]

I have that same router and have never ran into that problem. I was thinking the same though about the date/time issue.
Is it several devices on 2.4 or just one device that keeps failing to connect.

 

[EarDemon]

Could be a date/time thing as others have said. And check to make sure all devices have the correct time and are set for the same time zone. I get so many calls at work from our people in the field who leave the time zone on their devices the same, but change the time.when they travel. If you travel from NY to LA and you just back up the clock by three hours, but keep it set for EST, you will experience problems, as your system time is three hours off.

I will say what Linksys tech support will say to do. Update the firmware, and then do a full factory reset and start over. At work, I don't bother to troubleshoot wifi issues. I just do the pinhole reset, and set everything up from scratch. We don't run anything fancy, just 12 Cisco WAPs, scattered around the building, so I don't even bother to keep backups of the configuration. Set up SSID, security, change default GUI UN & PW, assign static IP, enter in DNS and gateway info and all set. Takes less than 5 minutes. My own router and wireless AP at home, I do full factory reset every other firmware update.

 

[Hall]

What security are you using ? Same on both frequencies ?

 

[TheForce]

I checked the date / time and it shows the exact time and date to the minute. Remember this only happens with one of the channels, the 2.4Ghz, not the 5 Ghz. Same security on both frequencies too. When 2.4 fails to see the PW, It will happen on all the devices at the same time. Then, those that have both like my iphones and ipads, will just keep going but switch over to the 5 Ghz. The problem is I have a couple devices that only work on 2.4Ghz and these will not work until I reset the PW in the router right back to the same one. Then I seem to be good for a day or two.

The firmware has never been updated. This router is about 10 months old. I used the check for firmware updates and it said I have the latest already. If all else fails I will screen capture all my setup screens and then do a factory reset to see if that fixes the problem. Anyway to store the setup in a file for auto reconfigure? There should be a way to do that for lazy people like me.

 

[Hall]

Last thing you want to do if you wipe it is to auto-restore the settings. You can just bring back the 'issue'. It's best to start with a clean slate.

 

[Magic Static]

I have had several routers with wi-fi. All of them were Linksys and all gave me intermittent issues with wi-fi connections. So I turned off the wi-fi and use a separate access point for wi-fi now. No more issues

 

[TheForce]

Hall- Thanks for that tip. It makes sense. WILCO.

 

[. Raine]

If your SSID is set to 'don't broadcast SSID' , try changing it to broadcast SSID for a few days and see if the problem goes away.

 

[TheForce]

If your SSID is set to 'don't broadcast SSID' , try changing it to broadcast SSID for a few days and see if the problem goes away.

I don't understand why that would impact but FWIW- I am broadcasting the SSID, both the 2.4 and the 5.

We are now 48 hours and counting since last PW reset, the 2.4 is still working fine, recognizing the PW

 

[Tampa8]

If the SSID is not different for each make one different. Did you add a wireless security camera that uses 2.4 around the time of the problem starting?

 

[harshness]

Having the same SSID wouldn't have any impact on devices that can't see the 5GHz beacon. It is a good idea to make them different, but I doubt it is the gremlin here.

 

[TheForce]

If the SSID is not different for each make one different. Did you add a wireless security camera that uses 2.4 around the time of the problem starting?

They are different. Always have been different. The 5Hhz has that in the name so I know which is which.

The connection has worked up until midnight and it just quit. I reset the PW on the 2.4Ghz and it's now working again. I am resetting to the exact same PW, typing the same one over top of what is there.

 

[Tampa8]

The firmware has never been updated. This router is about 10 months old. I used the check for firmware updates and it said I have the latest already.

Doing some research I do see you said you have had it for ten months and have never updated. There is an update dated four months ago or one month ago depending on your particular Version number. (1 or 2)

http://www.linksys.com/gb/support-article?articleNum=165487

 

[TheForce]

That's what I'm afraid of. I guess if I just give the router the proper name and PW it should repopulate all the connections, right? I don't have any other custom stuff such as IP assignments as my stuff is automatically assigned. Only wifi are two printers and the iphones and ipads. Everything else is hardwired ethernet