Unreliable internet using TP-Link AC750 Wireless Dual Band 4G LTE Router

davidlyhuadavidlyhua Member
in Internet & Media

Hi,

Hoping someone can help me with my problem.

For my home internet I am using a TP-Link AC750 Wireless Dual Band 4G LTE Router Archer MR200, with an Optus 4G sim card inserted. I have this hooked up to a switch which allows me to connect to the router via network cables all around the house. In addition to this I have extended the range of the wifi via a wifi extender because some corners of my house cannot receive a signal without the extender.

I have maximum 15 devices connected to the home network but normally only up to about 5 active devices (downloading or uploading data) at any one time. Of the 15 devices, 4 are a wired connection with normally only 1 active at a time. The remaining are wireless connections.

The problem I am having is that the connection is very unreliable, even for the devices with the wired connections. Sometimes the connection is working fine, I can stream Netflix with no issues and web pages download quickly, etc. However, at other times it is either very slow (can't stream Netflix and web pages are very slow to load) or drops out completely, this is happening on a regular basis (roughly every 2-4 days). Rebooting the modem helps sometimes, other times the internet is still slow after a reboot

I also have an Optus 4G mobile phone. When I am experiencing these issues, the internet on my phone still works fine which leads me to believe it is not an issue with Optus 4G in my area.

Does anyone know what could be causing this problem and how I could fix it? Can I play around with the settings in the router to improve the reliability?

Comments

  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian

    Is the subscription on your phone the same as your router's SIM? It's possible you're getting traffic-shaped, which happens when towers get busier. Certain subscriptions will retain better priority depending on how your accounts are set up.

  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian

    support site: https://www.tp-link.com/in/support/download/archer-mr200/

    • You may want to update router firmware if it is out of date
    • You should look through either their app or the router's web interface for info about what is happening during the slow times and compare that to fresh after reboot (if it is fast).
    • Take a look around their support site for relevant questions like this one: https://www.tp-link.com/in/support/faq/1658/ (you can set yourself as a priority bandwidth and see if it still works well for you but worse for others, or bad for everyone, etc.
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian

    Does your connection ever drop on your wired clients or only wireless?

  • SonorousSonorous F@H Fanatic US Icrontian

    When the router becomes slow, are you able to check signal strength? Also are you able to place your phone in a similar area to check its connection strength?

  • davidlyhuadavidlyhua Member

    @AlexDeGruven said:
    Is the subscription on your phone the same as your router's SIM? It's possible you're getting traffic-shaped, which happens when towers get busier. Certain subscriptions will retain better priority depending on how your accounts are set up.

    They are different subscriptions. The sim card in the router is a data only plan. While my phone obviously has data and is used for phone calls.

  • davidlyhuadavidlyhua Member

    @Cliff_Forster said:
    Does your connection ever drop on your wired clients or only wireless?

    Drops out on both wired and wireless.

  • davidlyhuadavidlyhua Member

    Thanks Tushon and Sonorous I will try out your suggestions and let you know how I go.

  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian

    @davidlyhua said:

    @AlexDeGruven said:
    Is the subscription on your phone the same as your router's SIM? It's possible you're getting traffic-shaped, which happens when towers get busier. Certain subscriptions will retain better priority depending on how your accounts are set up.

    They are different subscriptions. The sim card in the router is a data only plan. While my phone obviously has data and is used for phone calls.

    It's also possible, then, that you have different tiers of service based on that. Depending on the provider, there is a lot of different ways they do traffic shaping based on subscriptions. If the other stuff mentioned here doesn't make a difference, it could be related.

    Additionally, you could try getting a fresh SIM for the router, I've seen lots of weirdness happen when those go wonky.

  • davidlyhuadavidlyhua Member

    @AlexDeGruven said:

    @davidlyhua said:

    @AlexDeGruven said:
    Is the subscription on your phone the same as your router's SIM? It's possible you're getting traffic-shaped, which happens when towers get busier. Certain subscriptions will retain better priority depending on how your accounts are set up.

    They are different subscriptions. The sim card in the router is a data only plan. While my phone obviously has data and is used for phone calls.

    It's also possible, then, that you have different tiers of service based on that. Depending on the provider, there is a lot of different ways they do traffic shaping based on subscriptions. If the other stuff mentioned here doesn't make a difference, it could be related.

    Additionally, you could try getting a fresh SIM for the router, I've seen lots of weirdness happen when those go wonky.

    Ok So I've updated the firmware but it has had no effect.
    I've also tried pitying the aim card in different devices and still getting slow speeds. So I think you might be right traffic shaping or the aim card. I'll call Optus and see if they can get me a new SIM and to ask about the shaping.

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