@Skeezicks,

Hmm, the cause that you stated really shouldn't cause the behavior that you stated. If it was a result of the Whatsapp connection, i would be more likely that your entire network would disconnect, not just one small portion of it.

 

Are you able to attribute the behavior to one device, or one service? If you have a 5Ghz device, you may try seeing if the behavior can be replicated when connected to the 5Ghz.

You should be able to find some indicator in your router logs of what may have happened.

 

When the disconnect happens, are your devices able to see the 5Ghz network being broadcast? What do the LED lights on the router indicate?

Is the 2.4GHz network able to recover on its own?

 

  @Riley_S 

Thanks for your reply. I've been out of town for the last several days, hence my late response to your questions. But first, I have to tell you that I've experienced no more problems with 2.4 GHz dropping out while maintaining the 5 GHz connection.

 

1. Are you able to attribute the behavior to one device, or one service? If you have a 5Ghz device, you may try seeing if the behavior can be replicated when connected to the 5Ghz.

 

Reply:

When the 2.4 GHz goes out, everything that was connected to 2.4 GHz no longer works. That includes one laptop, two Alexa speakers, one cellphone, and one tablet. I have another cellphone that stays connected to the 5 GHz service. And that cellphone also would not connect to the 2.4 GHz service.

 

2. You should be able to find some indicator in your router logs of what may have happened.

 

Reply:

I'm not sure where to look for the router logs. I've never had a need to know. Actually , I didn't know that router logs existed (!)

 

3.  When the disconnect happens, are your devices able to see the 5Ghz network being broadcast?

 

Reply:

Yes, they do see the 5 GHz service being broadcast. The first thing I did to correct the problem was to reboot my router. Then the 2.4 GHz service came back and everything connected to them and worked properly. BTW, this happened on two separate occasions during a 4-day period. Like I previously mentioned, I have another cellphone that stayed connected to the 5 GHz service while the 2.4 GHz service was out.

 

4. What do the LED lights on the router indicate?

 

Reply:

I can't recall for sure, but I think the 2.4 GHz LED on the router blinked in its usual way, just like the 5 GHz LED.

 

5. Is the 2.4GHz network able to recover on its own?

 

Reply:

No. I had to reboot the router after each occurrence to get everything to work.

 

I think it has something to do with the number of devices that were connected to the 2.4 GHz service. But, everything worked together nicely for two weeks before the problem first occurred, and for 2 weeks after I reset the after the problem occurred the second time. One of the cellphones and the tablet were "just visiting", and they are no longer in my house.

 

I am in a residential neighborhood, and although there are several other routers broadcasting in my area, only two of them show any signal strength in my location.

 

I really don't expect the problem to return and I think it must have been a glitch somewhere (but twice??). Thank you again for your reply.

 

Well, it appears that the problem has returned. This time it occurred in the wee hours of the morning. No 2.4GHz but the 5GHz works fine. I pressed but reset button on the back of the router to get the 2.4GH working again. When the problem occurred, all computers were asleep. Where can I find the router's log?

  @Skeezicks,

The logs can only be accessed from the WebUI of the router,  see the following FAQs:

 

How to View and Save a Router Log (Archer)

LED Controller Error Meaning in System Logs

 

I would recommend a few things if possible:

 

Smart Connect: Depending on your current configuration: Log Into Your Router and Try Changing the Smart Connect option to 'Disabled' which will separate out the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. You can then choose to use the same network name for a similar experience, or different network name so they will show as a separate connection.

 

Channel Width: Try changing your channel width either away from Auto or using a 20MHz width for the 2.4GHz bands.

 

You may consider performing a channel analysis around your home, to see if you can manually set a channel to one that may be less crowded(Many phone apps provide channel scanning functionality). Once a clear channel is found, try to manually set these channels for the wireless network. This will help prevent interference from crowding out your network, causing your channel to change.