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Question

Access Point seems to take down whole network suddenly?

Sep 1, 2018 1:24PM PDT

Hi,
I'm having an issue with an Engenius ENS202Ext access point and a Netgear WNDR4300 main router. This combo worked great for a couple years, then got spotty, and now I cannot seem to do any better than to have it function poorly at first (12mbps DOWNload, as opposed to the usual 70-100), then not at all. I've reset everything, in the order suggested, many times, but the result is the same.

About two or three years ago, I added the Engenius access point so that I could have wifi in my detached garage workspace. I found that there was already Cat5 run through my attic, between an attic vent and the AV cabinet where all the Netgear is- so I put the Engenius in the attic, strapped to the vent. It worked great pretty much right away- the Engenius is made to be either an access point or a repeater, and defaults to access point mode, specifying an IP address, instead of using DHCP. While I'm right on the edge of my depth here already, I think this all makes sense- no need to have two routers racing to provide IP addresses at the same time, right? Once in a great while I would have issues connecting at all, or being extremely slow- but either these would turn out to be Spectrum issues, or would resolve upon a system reset.

I should add that I'm in Southern CA, and we've had enough week-long heatwaves, getting to 110 degrees and over, to make me consider heat-related damage to the Engenius. The Engenius manual states it's designed operating temperature is something around 150 degrees though, so I'm not sure that's relevant.

Sorry for that long preamble, I just want to get that all out there. One last important note: when the Engenius has its problems, the ENTIRE NETWORK gets super slow, then stops working. Here's what I've done in an attempt to tackle this:

1- remove the Engenius entirely, reset the modem and Netgear. This clears up the issue, every time. I'm back to around 70-125 download (depending on time of day), and around 12mbps upload.

2- Disconnected Netgear, and put Engenius in its place as the only router. Result? Engenius worked great, same speeds as Netgear. I was surprised by this, disappointed actually, as I had hoped to find that the Engenius was just damaged, and another $75 later I could be up and running again.

3- Used the Mac utility to choose optimum channels based on scans of area activity. No discernible difference in performance.

4- Switched cables, any and all of them. I have loads of virgin Cat6 around, , and one cable at a time, swapped it all out, so I think I can safely rule out a cable issue.

5- Installed a network switch between the modem and both routers. This resulted in the slow 12mbps download speeds on the Netgear, and no internet connection with the Engenius (though I could connect to the Engenius, just not get a real IP and reach the internet). Maybe the Engenius would have worked if I configured it differently (DHCP), but I didn't want to go in too many directions at once.

6- I've scanned the devices on the network, ID'd them all, and there is no known rogue DHCP going on that I can tell- no hotspots enabled on phones, nothing.

7- Switched the LAN output of the Netgear to the Engenius (and otherwise verified that the switching functionality of the Netgear appears to be intact, using various hardwire connected devices)

What does it tell me that either router performs well by itself, but when LAN'd together, after years of working great, the whole network crawls?

What additional information should I provide to help troubleshoot this?

Thanks, people of the internet, people who actually understand network protocol! Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

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