Intermittent WiFi Issues


 
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BigDave

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I have a new 4.3 build with Pi Zero W. I have had intermittent WiFi issues in the past (maybe 25% of the time), but they seemed to fix themselves after I ran 3 test cooks with no issues. Now after running with no issues for about 9 hours, the HM appears to be having significant WiFi disconnects. It will run partially on WiFi for a few minutes then disconnect for several minutes or longer. It keeps repeating.

When the HM stays up long enough for me to check the WiFi, the signal strength seems good (75% - 57 dBm). No other devices on the network seem to be having issues.

Any ideas?
 
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Here is a screenshot of when I seem to have a partial connection. The temp is updating but the screen is locked up and the fan speed wasn't updating.

y4mutXl-LZw7tP5PXO0vxvRTp2upQbZPOElHiKwJK1i7ywrBgMCGBvzaHdxxk1O7-7d3SRtGFi2UcPLJJ5Dz6FUTohviKvLuE3lj7API-mkHHizBt4BYNEy1mc_3zw16E4ATtqo9mKoLRASteWJvMPQIhp8f2AMFLepQPAAGNFstA7IyAvDBHUuYhWGnmf48Jx_jlf-K5kWTkRH8kj8VbkArA


Also forgot to say, I eventually rebooted and that fixed the issue. I shouldn't have to reboot every so often to keep WiFi working.
 
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Anyone have any ideas what I can be looking at? I have left it running continuously after the cook finished with no issues.

You think it could be PitDroid? I was using the app to monitor the cook and change the set point.
 
Intermittent wifi issues can be tricky, as you're finding out. One thing to try and keep track of is any obvious changes to the environment when things become worse or get better. See if you can spot a trend that is making things worse or better.

Here's a few questions that would help in troubleshooting:

How far away is the HM from your wireless router or access point that it's connecting to?
How many exterior and interior walls does it have to get through?
Do you know what channel your router is on (1, 6, 11)?
Have you done a wifi scan to see how populated that channel is?
Have you tried changing to a different channel?

The mind would boggle if we could truly see all the RF passing through our immediate airspace at any given moment!
 
I've done some site surveys to troubleshoot commercial wifi systems and you are right, the amount of RF that is bouncing around is mind boggling...
 
Steve_M said:
Intermittent wifi issues can be tricky, as you're finding out. One thing to try and keep track of is any obvious changes to the environment when things become worse or get better. See if you can spot a trend that is making things worse or better.

Here's a few questions that would help in troubleshooting:

How far away is the HM from your wireless router or access point that it's connecting to?
How many exterior and interior walls does it have to get through?
Do you know what channel your router is on (1, 6, 11)?
Have you done a wifi scan to see how populated that channel is?
Have you tried changing to a different channel?

The mind would boggle if we could truly see all the RF passing through our immediate airspace at any given moment!
Click to expand...

The channels are not too bad considering I live in a typical suburban neighborhood. The HM is using Channel 6 because the channel select was on auto and they always choose a middle channel. The overall signal strength is strong and doesn't seem to fluctuate much. I can't change the channel as that function on the HM doesn't appear to work, at least not on mine.

I don't think I lost connectivity anyway. It was like the processor was spiked or something. I was still getting temp updates on the web page but not fan speed updates/changes, all the links didn't work, and the update bar (windows hour glass equivalent) was in the middle of the screen. This has happened twice in the couple of weeks I've had the HM, but I have now had it running for 3 straight days without the fan connected and had no issues.
 
Thanks Ralph. In a way you guys have answered my question. Sounds like no one has ever seen this before. I guess I will just have to monitor over my next few cooks and see if it continues and see if i can collect more data.

It could be a bad power supply but I did buy the one from the HM store to minimize the chance of that. Would there be other symptoms associated with a bad power supply?
 
The reason I mentioned the PS is because you said it had been on for a while without the fan and hasn't dropped off, made me think the power may have browned out... which could make the rPi lock up...
 
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