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Up until around a month or so ago we had the following set up...
BT Hub router connected to an ethernet powerline adapter, which then connected to a second ethernet powerline adapter which is connected to a wireless router in the house extension. This all worked without issues for a very long time.
Now, the only hardware change is that the BT hub is now replaced with a Sagem router supplied by John Lewis Broadband.
The JL broadband is fine, in fact it’s quite a bit faster. However, we have noticed that as soon as the first ethernet power adapter is connected to the Sagem router, the Wi-Fi signal cuts out completely.
The broadband remains on and unchanged with the PC's that are connected to the Sagem router via ethernet cables, so it appears that something is interfering with the Wi-Fi signal, any ideas?
Could it be that the 2 Wi-Fi devices are conflicting with each other, signal interference?
Thanks.
Having 2 routers on 1 network can cause issues. Best to disable the router functions on the 2nd router, so it just works as an access point. Also check the IP addresses. If 2 devices have the same IP address, it won't work.
Yes , best to set both to different wifi channels, several numbers apart. eg channel 1 and 6. Otherwise they can overlap and interfere.
Agreed with Craig. Channels can be one issue but the second is DHCP: everything that connects to the routers either by wire or by wireless needs to be able to communicate with everything else on the network without conflict. To achieve this, everything needs a unique address. If it was a housing estate, the addressing would be easy as the properties are permanent. In the world of internet its dynamic because things come and go: one moment your phone could be connected and then it will disconnect when you go to work, etc. Something needs to assign and reassign the addresses. This is the DHCP server. The DHCP server assigns IP addresses and there must only be one on the local network. Most routers have the capability of being a DHCP server and the router has this, typically, turned on by default. It may be that BT hub had DHCP set to slave while the Sagem is set to master. If the router in the extension is also a master (ie. a server), you will get random conflicts as you have seen.
You need to log directly to each router and check to see how the DHCP is set. The best way to do this is to connect an ethernet cable from a PC directly into each router, access the hub and log in as admin and check it. This isn't something easily described on here so, if you have a friend nearby who can do this, best to ask them to have a play if you don't know how to do it yourself. While there you can also re-assign the transmission channels of each router so that they are using different parts of the spectrum. This is easily done by admin.