Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
emikoala
Enthusiast - Level 1

I'm putting this out here as a last-ditch effort before canceling my service. Verizon has tried really hard to solve my problem, but my last hour+ support call ended with them telling me they had exhausted all options and there was nothing further they could do for me.

Last Thursday, four devices in my house stopped being able to connect to our network, which they had all been connecting to since last August without issue. Another half dozen devices have continued working flawlessly.

Symptoms:

* Affected devices see network at half or very weak strength even when standing right next to router and right next to unaffected devices that show full strength signal. Sometimes network signal disappears entirely.

* Affected devices that try to connect get error messages like "Authentication error," "Disabled," or in the case of an Android phone networks just show "Saved" and will attempt "Connecting..." but never connect and just revert back to "Saved."

* Affected devices: Google Pixel, iPad, Chromecast, laptop (unknown make, belongs to my basement tenant). Unaffected devices: iPhone (5 Ghz), Chromebook (5 Ghz), Dell laptop (5 Ghz), Roku TV (5 Ghz), Roku stick (2.4 Ghz), Chromecast (5 Ghz). (Yes, there is one Chromecast that connects and one that won't.)

Solutions we attempted:

* Connecting to 5, 2.4, and guest networks.

* Verified that MAC address filtering is disabled.

* Tried different broadcast channels.

* Disabled all security and tried to connect to unsecured network.

* Factor reset gateway.

* Replaced gateway with new equipment.

* Changed SSIDs.

* Unplugged network extender.

* Power cycled network extender.

* Moved gateway router to other side of house and trying to connect from there.

* Looked for firmware updates (none available).

* Rolled back firmware to previous version.

None of the above worked. Everything about the symptoms suggests that this is a signal interference issue, except we can't locate the source of the interference that suddenly appeared last week.

* Two my neighbors have FIOS and I can see their network names, but on unaffected devices they show with just a bar or two while my own network shows full strength. The houses are a good distance apart and since channel switching didn't help I don't think they are interfering.

* Used WiFi analyzer app on my phone (which is one of the affected devices) and didn't see any sources of interference.

* There are no other routers in the house.

Mystery:

* When I log in to router settings and view my network, there is a device named "Chromecast" which shows its connection type as Coax. This device connected itself automatically when a brand new router was set up, as you would expect a coax connection to do. I'm not sure if this device has always been there - I never looked at the list in a huge amount of detail until there was a problem, and I have rental tenants who connect a lot of devices so I am used to not knowing all the device names. However I do think it's weird that a Chromecast would show up as a coax connection given they don't use coax. The Verizon techs all had no idea what it could be either, but part of me wonders if this device has somehow intruded on my network and caused a problem. I actually went outside the house and disconnected the coax line that carries signal to my tenants' set top box so that I could verify the device was not located in their apartment - when I disconnected the coax line their set top box disappeared from my network but the mystery Chromecast did not. I blocked the device using the router management interface, but that did not resolve my problem. This may not even be related but it seemed worth mentioning.

Any brilliant ideas we haven't tried?

Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
jonjones1
Legend

It would seem you have tried it all. Did you replace the Verizon router with your own personal router? Even though it was replaced it may be another dead Verizon router.

another thing I would look at is the ip addresses and that you are actually connecting to your network. It is possible another router in the area is overlapping your signal.

i am going to assume most if not all the devices you are having problems with are all wifi? (2.4 & 5 Ghz.) did you just try to use one signal at a time? You must know that not all radios work on all devices at the same frequency. Many factors can affect these connections. Some can blame cordless phones, microwave ovens, tv sets, household radios (stereos) even game controllers.

my advice is to remove the Verizon router and try a high end router from Netgear or even an Archer 

write back after you try that. If it doesn't work then you quit if need be. However it would not be great to get service from a cable service and have a similar or same condition.

Good Luck

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Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Are the two Chromecast the same model?

Same software verison?

Can you factory reset the one that doesn't work?

I assume you tried it in place of the one that does (verifies issue is not location dependant).

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Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
Helpful1
Newbie

So, recently had the same problem. We purchased SMART TVs  that we were connecting.  We are on the 75/75 mbps plan. Depending on the package you have, there is a limited number of devices that can be on the network at the same time.  On the 75 plan recommended devices are 5 -7.   So several of our computers were being disabled or not recognizing the network anymore. You need to go on to the app and you can choose which devices are recognized  or enabled by the network.   The support team should be able to help with that.  The 150/150 plan is for 8 or more devices which is what we will have to transfer to.  Just like you we've had Verizon for years with at least  10 devices and did not have this problem before this month.

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Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
jonjones1
Legend

@Helpful wrote:

So, recently had the same problem. We purchased SMART TVs  that we were connecting.  We are on the 75/75 mbps plan. Depending on the package you have, there is a limited number of devices that can be on the network at the same time.  On the 75 plan recommended devices are 5 -7.   So several of our computers were being disabled or not recognizing the network anymore. You need to go on to the app and you can choose which devices are recognized  or enabled by the network.   The support team should be able to help with that.  The 150/150 plan is for 8 or more devices which is what we will have to transfer to.  Just like you we've had Verizon for years with at least  10 devices and did not have this problem before this month.


Which in the case of device connections is not really accurate. 

My wife and I had cable internet at 15/1 for many years. We never had any devices not functioning. 5 laptops, 1 windows desktop, 1 iMac, 3 cell phones, 3 tablets, an Apple Watch, three smart tv's and a apple tv device, and 2 roku devices, 2 blue ray players and I am sure there were more. Oh a Nintendo game machine, and a hand held Nintendo device. The ip assignment can assign hundreds of devices in a stable condition. 

The situation is not all devices are used at one time so there should be no loss from the ip directory list.

i never seen any loss of connections at that 15/1 speed, nor on 150/150 and now with gigabyte speeds so when a device shuts down or is in idle it is not the doing of the internet connection.

if a person buys high end equipment for broadband internet the odds are loss of connection issues will not occur.

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Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Recommendation is for parallel usage.

The rotuer does not limit the number of devices that can connect to WiFi based on plan.

Only access that I know of being enabled is remote access to DVR.

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Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
Trinni1313
Enthusiast - Level 1

I'm having the same issue with all of my Chromecast devices (4 total). This is a total deal breaker for me. I bought their router to ensure optimal network efficiency. Do you know if Verizon will refund all monies and not charge early cancellation fees?

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Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
jonjones1
Legend

@Trinni1313 wrote:

I'm having the same issue with all of my Chromecast devices (4 total). This is a total deal breaker for me. I bought their router to ensure optimal network efficiency. Do you know if Verizon will refund all monies and not charge early cancellation fees?


Doubtful Verizon is stumped. Your chromcast devices use 2.4 Ghz for connections and if you sign in to your HOME WIFI NETWORK it is that assignment that determines the stability and speeds. Like my Roku devices I login to my network and presto it is stable and runs perfectly. My Apple TV’s connect either via ethernet or WiFi again no stability issues. You might have a bad router in which case you can call 1-800-VERIZON and they will replace it.

Fios comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee so return everything within that time frame and get a receipt (go to a local Verizon Corporate store and not a reseller) and you are done.

You may also purchase a router not of their branding (I use a Netgear Nighthawk R8500 which works perfect)

however the decision is yours.

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Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
jjandnatty
Newbie

I am having the same issue. It seems to be something with the router. I have had this exact setup for the past 2 years and all of the sudden in December devices cannot stay connected to the WIFI. IF I reset the router, I get about 2 days of no issues. After about 2 days, the issues start happening again. I would love some suggestions. Another oddity is that my 2 year contract just expired back in November. I don't that has anything to do with it, but it is an interesting correlation. I will be on the phone with Verizon soon.

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Re: Some devices can no longer connect to Gateway. Verizon stumped.
jonjones1
Legend

There is another thread here talking about the 5 ghz band losing connection and there are a few work around like you are doing by turning the router off and on for a reset.

try connecting at the 2.4 ghz band instead like I stated below.

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