Last few days smart plugs go offline in the evening

[PaulB2005]

Seen a similar story here but not sure if its the same - https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-Landline/Phones-suddenly-dropping-off-the-Wi-Fi-why/td-p/162...

We have EE 1GB fibre BB with a Smart Hub SH32B (Model: F5394-P EE) and its been great for 18 months or so.

Suddenly in the last 4-5 days we've noticed in the evening many (not all) of our TP-Link smart plugs, smart bulbs and WiFi repeater in the house, go Offline.

The only thing that fixes it is to restart the hub and everything is back online until the following evening.

From the hub

App version: 3.14.5

Firmware version: r4.26.1-R-1860948-PROD-83002

Is there a possible issue with the hub / firmware?

Edit to add - 2 x iPhones, 1 x EE TV Pro box, 1 x iPad, 3 x Amazon Alexa's, 1 x dishwasher seemingly unaffected by this. Noticed today there is a 2.4 and 5Ghz Compatible Wi-Fi setting. Would I be right in thinking that switching on the 2.4 Comp and getting the affected devices onto that might help?

[JimM11]

@PaulB2005 You are on to something with what you have posted, see the sample link below i have all my 2.4Ghz channels fixed also my 5Ghz and those are far enough away to not be crossed over by the neighbours wifi, DHCP also at 0.0.0.0 then not assigned to the unit, has that value changed when you get the time to look.

Re: 'Compatible Wifi' issues with new Smart Hub Pro and Smart Wifi Pro - The EE Community and that h...

I keep all my channels together as you will see those are all the mesh devices on the Asus, the only separate one is the Tp-Link Powerline and that has the Ring Doorbell/Cameras on them due to signal location were the mesh does not reach but all physical because off the device locations.

Keep an eye on both the CH and also the DHCP, the last is very important to assign IP's to the devices.... Think the standard DHCP lease is 24hours but you would have to look at the hub settings IpV4 and IpV6 if both in use, those will be in the Advanced section somewhere.

DHCP is fairly sticky on a home network although i had set all off mine static IP's that does not matter to much, the TP's though for me were important as i web manager ip'd to them when checking out if any issue's, have a couple mixed TP PowerLine devices that need to be looked at when problems arise. 

[Cliff_G]

I'm trying the channel hopping theory, have the 2.4 GHz Main set to Ch. 6. One phone on that (and it hopped channel all by itself) and the other still on Comp, auto channels.

But... that may not explain what we see with our phones, that when they've dropped off the wifi, if you go to Phone Settings / Comms / Wifi, the phones do not detect any signals at all from the router (my phone this morning), or the other network (Comp) when still just about hanging on to the Main (wife's). If it was channel hopping, turning the phone's wifi off & on, or rescanning or rebooting the phone would presumably work to get back on. This is not the case. Seems the router is hanging on to those devices' presence in some way and perhaps only sending a signal that the phones can't detect (5 GHz and/or WPA3). Bit of a mystery that the phones can't even see the router's wifi signals.

My son on EE is away on hols at present, and went before the firmware upgrade. Be interesting to see if he has a problem when he returns. Not sure if he's FTTC or FTTP. Either way I'll warn him as he works from home and absolutely depends on the broadband.

[JimM11]

@Cliff_G Are you using a wifi analyser to look at the output of the EE Hub signals and channels? Do not remember anything that can be looked at for active output on the EE Hub web manager software side, may be something in the EE app to look at.

Devices should always follow the Channel when it hops, wither they are successful in doing so is also always down to the device, but you are correct in stating why do you not see the ssid on the device at the time you go look...

I always look at it with two samples, on the PC with a wireless connection and then on a mobile, that gives the true picture of what is going on, and both should match 100%...

WiFi Analyzer by Matt Hafner on the PC, and Netspot by ETwok, inc on the mobile Android. Linked some pics from not that long ago, forget about the sky name, have kept that for years....

Re: Wifi issues - Page 3 - The EE Community

[PaulB2005]

Devices should always follow the Channel when it hops, wither they are successful in doing so is also always down to the device,

I totally agree with this but the issues i have been having did not appear before lasts Mondays FW update.

If the Hub is (now) doing something wrong with the 2.4ghz channel hops then there might be a reason why some of my devices can't follow.

[JimM11]

@PaulB2005 Correct but it is hard to just say NEW FW and now everything is trash all worked fine before get's difficult head on the chopping block, coulda/woulda/shoulda know what i mean.

[Cliff_G]

@PaulB2005 @JimM11 

Just found something else. Was sorting out a table of our MAC addresses to understand the logs and found that both phones had their MAC addresses set to randomised.  Have now set them to the phone's own MAC (public privacy be darned!) and we'll see what happens tomorrow morning. 

Asked Claude AI and it replied: "this is an increasingly common cause of mysterious Wi-Fi drop-offs, especially on modern phones and laptops where MAC randomisation is now enabled by default."  Explanation below, though I'm not sure this explains not seeing the wifi at all, and of course AI loves to give you sycophantic answers. I have seen the very last bullet point, though.

Worth checking on your problem and non-problem devices, though.

------------

[Gives reasons as:

• DHCP reservation breaks — if your router assigns a specific IP to your device based on its MAC address, a new random MAC looks like a brand new unknown device. The reservation doesn't apply, and the device may get a different IP or struggle to get one at all
• Access control lists — if the router has a MAC whitelist (only allowing known devices), a randomised MAC will be seen as an unauthorised device and blocked
• Re-authentication loops — some routers treat a new MAC as a completely new client and force it through the full association process, which can fail or time out
• Lease confusion — the router has a lease recorded against the old MAC, and the device is now presenting a new one, causing DHCP conflict or exhaustion on busy networks
• Router firmware bugs — some older or cheaper routers handle the sudden appearance of a "new" device poorly and become unstable

When randomisation changes the MAC

Depending on the OS and settings, the MAC can change:

• Every time the device reconnects to the network
• On a timed cycle (e.g. every 24 hours)
• Each time Wi-Fi is toggled off and on
• When the device wakes from sleep

That last one is particularly relevant — it explains why a device that went to sleep and woke up suddenly can't see or hold the network, which looks exactly like a random drop-off.

How to tell if this is your problem

• The issue happens on one specific device while others stay connected
• It often coincides with the device waking from sleep or Wi-Fi being toggled
• The device reconnects fine after a manual reconnect, but drops again later
• Checking your router's connected device list shows the same device appearing with different MAC addresses

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[JimM11]

@Cliff_G All very relevant, random macs cause havoc, kids love it to get past parental controls, quick check on my Android Phone Mac is selected, but it can happen as random especially when selecting a new or forget network connection.... May exhaust the DHCP if it is not dumping old after time or running out of space, usual symptom is ip changes on the device which is easy to spot especially if one is not setting the ip's as static.  

[Cliff_G]

Monday morning update:

Both problem phones OK this morning - hers on overnight and was still on the wifi and can see both main and comp signals, mine switched off overnight and found and joined the wifi straight away.

So, not confirmed until this proves to be consistent, but it looks like random MAC addresses might have been my problem. Whether it's anyone else's problem we wait to see.

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[Today's issue - find out why her laptop re-connected to wifi every 6 to 7 seconds when in use yesterday evening (first time I have noticed this) !!! ]

[JimM11]

@Cliff_G Is this your same older laptop from back in April time that you had to separate and connect on the 2.4Ghz Comp band? If you also get the chance as your phones where on the Main wifi originally for the 3 months or so throw them back on that ssid to make sure they hang in there also, kills a few birds with one stone so to speak, glad you are getting more consistent operation.... Only random mac on mine is the daughters iPhone but it's been that way for years as more off a mac thing, wifes android is fixed mac as i see it same and ip is the same always on the Asus network inspection.... 

[Cliff_G]

The very same. You have a better memory than I have, I knew there was a reason I started the Comp but forgot which device. Off topic on this thread so if I need to I'll start another topic.