5GHz Network Dropping Out

5GHz Network Dropping Out

Our home router (an Asus RT-N66U) offers both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks. The 2.4GHz network is pretty reliable. But the 5GHz network drops out seemingly without cause.

One day everything is fine, the next (or even just later that same day) the network is slow, sluggish or even entirely missing from the list of available networks.

I should also add a bit of information on our broadband setup. Our service provider would have us believe that we are on fibre to the property but we all know that is not true. We are just over a mile from the green BT broadband connection box. All engineers that visit are shocked at how slow our connection is but can’t seem to do anything about it. I’ve just run a broadband speed test and, over wi-fi (not cable), we are getting 19.62 Mb/s download speed.  Any suggestions on how to get connected to a nearer green box? Answers on a postcard please… 🤣

Basic Checks

My first step was to see if we were using the same channel as a neighbouring router. So I used a nifty little piece of software called WifiInfoView to check. I ensured that we were not on a channel that was competing with a neighbour’s network.

Next step? I confirmed that the router firmware was up to date.  And did a quick reboot for good measure (yes, switch it off, wait, then switch it back on again still work sometimes! 😉)

But sadly the 5GHz network was still sluggish, slow or dropping out completely.

What to do?

A Potential Solution

Then, quite by chance, I stumbled upon a possible answer. Drum roll please…

The Sky Q box was apparently throttling the network.

ARRRRGGGGHHHH……!

I wouldn’t mind but I didn’t even want the Sky Q box to be wireless as it has a dedicated ethernet cable running directly into the router.

Sure enough in the list of available networks of my iPhone there was a Sky network listed. (Up till now I had just assumed it was a neighbours network! 🤪)

But now that I’ve discovered it is on and (possibly) causing my 5GHz network to randomly drop out, how do I turn it off?

VERY IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

I take no responsibility for any problems occuring with your SKY service should you choose to follow the instructions below. I merely state them here as an aide memoire for myself should I need to go through the same procedure again at some point in the future. Okay, heavy-weight warnings done….

Steps to turn off Sky Q Wi-Fi

The steps to follow to turn the Sky Q wi-fi off:

Step 1: Press Home button

Step 2: Scroll down to Settings (DO NOT press Select)

Step 3: Press 0 0 1

Step 4: Press Select

In the Engineers menu (again note all the dire warnings that you should only be here under instructions from Sky), go to Network and switch off both bands. Then Confirm and exit.

The need for speed

And that’s it. With immediate effect, both our 2.4GHz and 5GHz network speeds improved dramatically. The 5GHz network is far more stable. Although I will admit that I do still have to reboot the router once every couple of weeks or so just to keep things running smoothly.