Securifi Community Forum

Securifi Products => Almond and Almond A1A => Topic started by: davidh304 on January 16, 2014, 05:07:37 pm

Title: Devices not staying connected to Almond/Range Extender same SSID
Post by: davidh304 on January 16, 2014, 05:07:37 pm

I've found that after using my Almond as a range extender (and only when using the same SSID as my main wireless router) my devices stay connected to my wifi network but stop actually working or pulling data after about 2 minutes.  I suspect that the devices (most notably an Iphone 5) are trying to connect to my main wireless router / cable modem (a motorola surfboard I believe).

If I keep the Almond's SSID the default "SSIDName_almond" they stay connected without a problem.

Any ideas on what is causing this or how to fix it? 

Thanks!

Title: Re: Devices not staying connected to Almond/Range Extender same SSID
Post by: Patrick Wilson on January 16, 2014, 08:56:13 pm

Quote from: davidh304 on January 16, 2014, 05:07:37 pm

I've found that after using my Almond as a range extender (and only when using the same SSID as my main wireless router) my devices stay connected to my wifi network but stop actually working or pulling data after about 2 minutes.  I suspect that the devices (most notably an Iphone 5) are trying to connect to my main wireless router / cable modem (a motorola surfboard I believe).

If I keep the Almond's SSID the default "SSIDName_almond" they stay connected without a problem.

Any ideas on what is causing this or how to fix it? 

Thanks!

Hi David.  Sorry to hear you are having challenges. 

It sounds like you have put in some pretty thorough troubleshooting already,  but there is one thing you may not have done yet. 

Please make a note of the Wireless MAC address of both your Almond and your SurfBoard.  This should help you troubleshoot which Wi-Fi AP/RE your devices are actually attempting to connect to.

I'm afraid my iOS skills are severely lacking.  (I haven't owned an Apple device of any description since the 1970's). 

When I need to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity issues here in my network,  I  usually use Metageek's InSSIDer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.metageek) or Farproc's WiFi Analyzer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer) on my Android devices to check this type of thing.   Similar Apps used to be available on the Apple App Store. 

Unfortunately Apple seems more determined than ever to boost Android sales,  this time by further restricting the Apps available on the Apple App Store,  in this case Wi-Fi Scanner Apps.   :o   Check out TechHive's article: Apple Abolishes Wi-Fi Scanners From App Store (http://www.techhive.com/article/190789/wifi_scanners_banned.html).   This article is 4 years old now,  but the ban still seems to be in place.

If you have any Android devices available you might want to try these tools to help you troubleshoot this further.  Checking your Surfboard and Almond by Wi-Fi MAC rather than SSID,  will probably help you complete your troubleshooting efforts.  How far apart are the Almond and the SurfBoard?   If it is physically possible to wire the Surfboard and the Almond together via Ethernet,  you might have better luck using Almond's "Access Point" mode instead of "Range Extender" mode. 

You have done a better job at troubleshooting than I originally thought.  Unfortunately "different" SSID's is a requirement with Surfboard Wi-Fi gateways.  (This is actually why the Almond defaults to adding the "_almond" part.   You have already implemented the recommended solution).