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I have some weird problems occurring on a small dormitory (30 rooms total) LAN that I manage.

Here is the current network layout of the dorm:

image

Please note that I already did some experiments last week (for the entire week), here are the data/conclusions:

  1. Wireless Router A is always in good condition. Any device connected to Router A wirelessly is always able to connect to the internet, while other devices that connect to Router B, C, or D might have problems when connecting to the internet.
  2. I did some experiments on Wireless Router D, since this is where the most complaints (problems) occur. As you can see in the picture, Router D connects to a PC via ethernet and to other devices wirelessly. Sometimes the PC (connected via ethernet) has internet connectivity while mobile devices (connected wirelessly) do not. Some other times the wireless mobile devices have an internet connection while the PC does not, but most of the time both the ethernet PC and the wireless mobile devices cannot access the internet.
  3. The problem occurs only when all the residents are in the dorm, due to the fact that they have all their mobile devices (laptops and phones) and sometimes they use their mobile devices to share (tethering) their internet connection to other devices.
  4. During most working hours when residents are not in the dorm, the whole network works like charm (including all devices connected to Router D).
  5. Sometimes restarting/rebooting (not resetting) Router A solves the problem for like (literally) 2 minutes, before router D goes to no internet connection again.

Questions:

  1. What are the possible causes of the problems?
  2. How can I fix this?

Router Information:

Router A : FiberHome AN5506-04-F2

  • setuprouter.com/router/fiberhome/an5506-04-f2/login.htm

Router B : Movistar ASL 26555

  • adslinspain.com/modems/movistar-homestation-amper-asl-26555/

Router C : TP Link TD-W8101G

  • tp-link.com/en/download/TD-W8101G.html

Router D : TP Link TD-W8961N

  • tp-link.com/en/download/TD-W8961N.html
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  • Are all these devices using the same SSID? By "hub" you mean switch, correct (there is a very big technical difference)? BTW, my real concern here is you are just overloading the system(s)... this type of situation is typical of home environment where there are less than 10 users, not 30, and although it technically works, this is not the intent or design of this hardware.
    – acejavelin
    Apr 24, 2016 at 14:47
  • no, different SSID for each router, i already mentioned in picture it is not a swich just hub, small hub. Do you think overload? or IP conflict? 30 is number of rooms, each resident can have multiple devices (1 laptop, 1 phone, 1 tablet, etc)
    – xcode
    Apr 24, 2016 at 15:54
  • If each router has a unique ID, and wired clients work fine from D, I suspect overload or interference... Having 4 APs in close proximity does not allow for sufficient channel separation either (1, 6, 11). So under peak load you are talking 90-120 devices connected across this network? Then I would segregate network segment and seriously beef up your APs... Most inexpensive residential AP/routers are only designed to handles 15-20 simultaneous connections by WiFi, a quality (meaning high end) residential router can handle this load.
    – acejavelin
    Apr 24, 2016 at 16:41
  • And the hub is a bottleneck... I would suggest getting a cheap 100M or gig switch
    – acejavelin
    Apr 24, 2016 at 16:42

1 Answer 1

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The way u have the hub connected it is doing nothing. if the inet connection you have only has 1 external IP address (no DHCP) I think I would have set it up this way: a router (where A is) with 5 (or more) ports connected to the internet. You could use a one port to a 4 or 5 port hub. All other routers connected to the main router or hub. Router A must be the fastest router otherwise it will bottleneck in the evening (which is happening now). each router has a different sub address and is running wifi on the best channel separation and physical separation. Regardless, you may still have interference which may cause speed reduction. If the inet connection has a DHCP, the you could just connect it to a 5 port hub with all routers connected to the hub.

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