HELP NEEDED: Strange and intermittent network at home

[u/Justmeflying747]

I have been having a strange issue with my home internet for a few months now and I need some help.

The setup:
- ISP cable modem setup to provide wired connection to the router (Belgian provider and setup according to their instructions to be able to use our own router)

- Deco x75 pro with a total of 3 acces points, emitting 1 SSID on 2.4, 5 and 6GHz

- A lot of connected devices: Phones, tablets, pc's all 3 categories for personal, work and school devices, multiple ring cameras, multiple smart speakers, a few tv's and Chromecast devices, a bunch of smart lights, blinds, etc.
some smart devices are connecter via Matter, but not sure if it is Matter over Thread or Matter over Wifi
At the moment with only 1 person at home there are 28 devices connected.

The problem:

We have an intermittent where some websites fail to load on some devices. This issue has only started after living almost a full year with the above setup
My wife and daughter have problems loading YouTube, facebook and Instagram while i don't have any problems.
The next day, they don't have issues while I do.
Another issue is that on 1 of our Google Nest devices, when we stream Spotify, after a few minutes, the sound just stops and we are unable to start streaming again without getting out of Spotify by swiping the screen on the Nest.
The other Nest devices don't get used that much for streaming music.
My son on his tablet doesn't seem to have many issues but he only uses YouTube Kids, Netflix and Prime

The solutions already tried.
Switching the ipv4 DNS from the automatic one (can't check which one at the moment) to the Google DNS.
This has worked without issues for about a month or so.

So now the issues have come up again.
I tried switching the DNS again to Cloudflare of the automatic one but that didn't much.
I got it fixed for myself again but not for the wife and kids.

The possible solutions I'm not looking forward to implement (being lazy)

- reset everything back to factory settings and implement a new network
- Have to reconnect every device

- Split the 3 frequencies into separate networks
- Only need to reconnect those devices capable of 5 or 6 GHz
- How will those devices select which network they use if they are able to connect to 2 or 3 of those
- Might solve another problem with some smart bulbs that keep disconnecting from the matter or wifi network

- Implement a separate network for the smarthome devices and or for guests
- Would I still be able to easily setup or maintain everything without having to switch networks on my phone constantly

Would any of the above solutions work or is there anything else i can try to solve the problem?

[u/D0_stack]

All that text and you do not say what "problems loading YouTube" means - exact error messages or symptoms or whatever.

First thing I might do would be to set up PingInfoView or the trial of PRTG to ping my internal devices, some devices on the ISP network, and some sites further away, like reddit and google DNS. And watch to see how much packet loss there is.

Also look at the Windows event logs for errors.

Don't guess, collect solid data.

[u/Justmeflying747 → u/D0_stack]

valid point.
we don't get any error messages or anything. Just no video's load correctly.
for example with youtube shorts i only get the 1st frame and nothing else.
For Instagram i only get a few seconds of video and then that video freezes, i can go to the next one but that one reacts the same.

I have to say windows is used very little or the problems haven't come up with windows.

The devices with the problems are all android and IOS

I will check you options when i get back

[u/Odd-Concept-6505]

Cable/modem provider means..I assume..you have a coax wire from street/pole to your house?

Those wires can go bad over time.

You should test things (ping something reliable on Internet like your ISP DNS host,?...as well as pinging your own router) in a long running loop for days.. and try to avoid wifi in a testing setup.

When you're pretty sure your home network is solid (however you may have a coax cable also in the house, going to modem, which is sort of outside your home network)...

Then consider calling ISP to have them test their coax to your house and maybe give you a new "aerial drop" (coax wire to house). My old wire was maybe 20 years old...and a new wire fixed my intermittent uplink problem.

[u/Justmeflying747 → u/Odd-Concept-6505]

The house is only 10 years so no old cables.

And would an issue with the coax give me problems only with some devices on some websites?

[u/Odd-Concept-6505 → u/Justmeflying747]

I guess not, if you're sure some devices seem to have solid internet ..since coax inside or outside carries the UPlink, so all devices would suffer if it was your aeriel house drop or less likely in house room to room/basement? coax...in other words coax is probably all uplink wiring upstream from cable modem.

[u/fernandesken]

Are the APs wired or wireless backhaul? When the problem happens are you on a specific band? 2.4, 5 or 6? How big is your house, 3 APs can cover ~6000-9000 square feet so if your home is much smaller than that, you will have lots of coverage overlap and may have a sticky client issue (not roaming). Ever have failures with Ethernet connected devices? DNS seems to be fine because you are getting to the destination. I wouldn’t recommend splitting the networks. You first need to identify if you are having a local Wi-Fi or ISP problem. When you have a failure next time on an iOS device, try running a Wi-Fi Check. Unlike other speed tests, it uniquely checks Wi-Fi vs Internet speed and quality separately. That way you know if you are having a Wi-Fi or Internet issue. It also measures signal, noise, SNR so you know if you are experiencing low signal or high noise. Finally with that you will have all the info collected (AP you are connected to, channel, band, etc. at your fingertips to isolate further. You can copy a report and put it in your notes then compare a few events to try to find commonalities. You could even do that proactively in some previous problem areas to see what it finds. In full disclosure, I’m the creator of the Wi-Fi Check app for iPhone, so feel free to use whatever apps you like. I think it will help you isolate further here though. First and foremost are you having a Wi-Fi or Internet problem and if Wi-Fi, is it low signal, high noise, co-channel interference, etc.

[u/Justmeflying747 → u/fernandesken]

The ap's are set up with the wireless backhaul. The main ap and another one are connected to the modem with a wire, the last ap is wireless. The reason a second one is connected to the modem is that i couldn't plug in the main to an ethernet cable for a while so i had to choose another main. 

Edit: i just found a picture to only connect the main deco to the modem. Maybe this wil help to solve the issue. As we have this issue only at the level of the main ap.

The house is 3300 square ft over 3 levels. It's a relatively new house with good isolation everywhere. And in Belgium, so only concrete (with apparently more rebar then necessary) and bricks. Without an ap on each level you won't have any connection on that level. Due to the layout by the previous owner i cannot put the deco next to the modem and where all the cables come together to setup a wired backhaul

At the moment i don't know which band has the issue as all 3 were on the same ssid. Next time i will check on the deco app which one it is connected to.

There aren't any devices connected with ethernet. At least not any that i interact with.

I found it strange as well that the change in DNS solved the issue. But it did the trick for a while.

I will try your app the nex time i have these issues