WiModem shows NO WIFI now

[jdryyz]

Not sure what change could have brought this on but I do not recall it happening prior to 6.41 firmware.

Checking the manual, I may be experiencing the "too close" to my router problem? My WiFi6 router is a relatively new addition to my home network (purchased nearly a year ago) but the WiModem didn't have a problem with it before. I have a few C64s on my test bench which is 8 feet away from my router. Entering at*n does show all the available wi-fi access points. It just won't connect from this location it would seem.

I connected the WiModem to my C128 which is farther away but still pretty close (it is an adjacent room) and it seems to have no trouble finding and connecting to the router.

So how close is "too close"? More importantly, could something else have changed to cause this failure to connect?

[admin]

1 foot away is too close. I have my setup about 2 1/2 feet away and it is fine.

Check to see if your router has a firewall, and make sure you have 2.4GHz devices enabled. Some routers can auto-update, so this could be a new firmware/setting change that occurred without you knowing it.

[jdryyz]

No firewall and I can use 2.4GHz devices. I also already disabled auto firmware updates.

WiModem connects fine if a few more feet away, though. But since that is also happening on a different computer, I need to see if there is something common about the others I have tested. Guess I should start with my UII+ cart.

[Resse]

Not sure what change could have brought this on but I do not recall it happening prior to 6.41 firmware.

Checking the manual, I may be experiencing the "too close" to my router problem? My WiFi6 router is a relatively new addition to my home network (purchased nearly a year ago) but the WiModem didn't have a problem with it before. I have a few C64s on my test bench which is 8 feet away from my router. Entering at*n does show all the available wi-fi access points. It just won't connect from this location it would seem.

I connected the WiModem to my C128 which is farther away but still pretty close (it is an adjacent room) and it seems to have no trouble finding and connecting to the router.

So how close is "too close"? More importantly, could something else have changed to cause this failure to connect?

I’ve noticed something similar after updating to 6.41. It might actually be the “too close to the router” issue — modern WiFi6 routers can sometimes cause connection problems when a device is too close, due to signal overload or interference.
What’s odd is that it worked fine before, so the firmware update might’ve changed how the WiModem handles connections. I’d suggest moving the setup a few more feet away or switching your router to a 2.4GHz band if possible — that helped in my case.
Would be interesting to hear if others see the same thing after 6.41.

[admin]

No firmware update has ever changed how the physical WiFi connection occurs. I have no control over that.

[jdryyz]

Not sure what change could have brought this on but I do not recall it happening prior to 6.41 firmware.

Checking the manual, I may be experiencing the "too close" to my router problem? My WiFi6 router is a relatively new addition to my home network (purchased nearly a year ago) but the WiModem didn't have a problem with it before. I have a few C64s on my test bench which is 8 feet away from my router. Entering at*n does show all the available wi-fi access points. It just won't connect from this location it would seem.

I connected the WiModem to my C128 which is farther away but still pretty close (it is an adjacent room) and it seems to have no trouble finding and connecting to the router.

So how close is "too close"? More importantly, could something else have changed to cause this failure to connect?

I’ve noticed something similar after updating to 6.41. It might actually be the “too close to the router” issue — modern WiFi6 routers can sometimes cause connection problems when a device is too close, due to signal overload or interference.
What’s odd is that it worked fine before, so the firmware update might’ve changed how the WiModem handles connections. I’d suggest moving the setup a few more feet away or switching your router to a 2.4GHz band if possible — that helped in my case.
Would be interesting to hear if others see the same thing after 6.41.

Yes, I have already confirmed that when the WiModem is moved a bit further away (adjacent room), it connects fine. Like you, I believe something changed with the 6.41 update because I'm 99% sure I was able to connect before when it was in the same location.

As for the 2.4GHz band suggestion, my Asus Router has a "Smart Connect" feature where it manages the dual bands on its own. I can only manually switch bands when this feature is disabled. To be honest, I would prefer to keep it as-is since I want my native WiFi6 devices to utilize the 5GHz band for faster speed, while still allowing 2.4GHz devices to connect.

I have the advantage of having another wireless modem nearby to compare the WiModem to. My original WiModem232 (FW 6.50) is even closer (but still not "too close" according to the thread) than my WiModem. It too is having trouble finding my router now, and I do not recall the last time I tried using it. This would seem to support both devices not liking my router's proximity. 

So for testing purposes, I forced my router into 2.4GHz mode (changing no other settings). Sure enough, both wireless modems are now able to connect to the router. Knowing that this should make my laptop (farthest device from the router) connect at a slower rate, I fired it up and was shocked to see that the opposite happened! The laptop says it is connected at 1.7Gbps! I was only getting 700Mbps - 1Gbps max before this change. 

This discovery flies in the face of logic since the 5GHz band promises faster connection rates. While on my laptop, I fired up NetSpot (wifi inspector) and it still shows that my 5Ghz band is active! Huh??  

I am both pleased and dumbfounded by this router change. We'll have to see how it does when other devices are brought online since another promise of the 5Ghz band is that it manages congestion better.

[admin]

Again, there is nothing I can do via the firmware to change the attributes of how the RF module communicates with the router.

2.4GHz has better range than 5.8GHz, and has a potentially lower bandwidth. 5.8GHz is much easier to saturate, so it could be depending on the number of surrounding 5.8GHz routers that your 5.8GHz could be substantially slower with higher 5.8GHz traffic.

Routers have firmware changes, ISP's have modem firmware changes, etc. All of these play a part in connectivity. Make sure you have enough DHCP addresses available for new 2.4GHz devices. Often times multi-band routers will limit the 2.4GHz connections to try to force everything on the typically faster 5.8GHz frequency.

[jdryyz]

Just to clarify, I wasn't asking for you to solve anything via firmware. I'm already satisfied that my problem is solved with the router change I made.

It just came about in a way I wasn't expecting and changes my understanding of how I thought my wireless network behaved.

Thank you for the advice on DHCP addresses. Fortunately, the max wireless devices I could have connected at the same time will be four. Even then, two of those four won't be online for very long.

[admin]

Huh? You can have dozens of devices connected simultaneously! Where do you see a limit of 4? In my house I have a router which has 17 WiFi devices connected on the 2.4GHz band, and a handful on 5.8GHz. Routers have different ways to limit bandwidth, with some limiting the number of addresses that are available, while others might limit the actual bandwidth per device. I have my router set to allow up to 250 devices and no limitation on any device.

[jdryyz]

Sorry for the confusion-- I am saying the max number of wireless devices I HAVE that will be connected at the same time is four, not saying what the router's limit is.