99% of these errors are due to mismatched clocks between two devices. In our case our Wifi transceiver and microprocessor. These errors are corrected typically in the interface. If bad data is sent it is typically resent or in some cases even assumed.

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Maybe there's environmental interference. Maybe a power supply issue is reducing output power, and signal range as a result

True, but you are mixing "transistor" erorrs and RF interference.

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Maybe a transistor has been affected physically by heat, no longer operates to spec, and occasionally holds the wrong or an undefined value. Or maybe a particular transistor has failed altogether, but it is only ever accessed at a certain level of system load so the problem is intermittent.

You are severely underestimating how modern microprocessors work. Unless a huge block of flash goes corrupted, this is a non issue.

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In any case, errors are detected, packets are dropped and resent, and hardware problems can manifest as degraded performance rather than outright failure.

True, the backbone of all network communications.

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OP's router might even run like new if he just gets a new wall wart.

Extremely unlikely, wall warts usually work or they don't. If they can output enough power, most modern electronics are not that sensitive on the input. When a wall wart fails it typically can not provide sufficient power and causes the device in question to reset or not power at all. ESD is a much bigger cause of concern.

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The router still works, in fact I'm still using it. I hooked up an Ubiquiti AP to it for wifi, and the router is perfectly fine handling all the same routing duties it's been doing. It just sucks at wifi now.

In your case it is most likely the connectors or the frame that hold the antenna are cracked. These failures are usually caused by cheap plastic.

Look you obviously have some pretty decent understanding of how most of this stuff works at a high level. And once again I am not denying that these consumer routers fail routinely. I am just disagreeing on your basis of what causes the performance degradation.

This post was edited on 4/20/19 at 5:50 pm

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Posted by Korkstand

Member since Nov 2003

28712 posts

Posted on 4/20/19 at 10:06 pm to UltimaParadox

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Also true, but I think you might be confusing interface communications and a transistor storing a value...

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True, but you are mixing "transistor" erorrs and RF interference.

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Literally nanoseconds, ever troubleshooted digital signals using an oscilloscope? These are jarring transitions from gound to VCC, it is not a ramp.

I'm not confusing or mixing anything, I went on (too long) about transistors as an example of how digital systems have to work in an analog world. Nothing is perfect.

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Not sure what you mean here. There is a distinct difference between a digital and an analog signal. We are talking about purely digital signals here.

I know, I'm just trying to get at the fact that digital data and signals still must rely on analog systems, and analog is messy.

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99% of these errors are due to mismatched clocks between two devices. In our case our Wifi transceiver and microprocessor.

And what causes clocks to get out of sync?

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These errors are corrected typically in the interface. If bad data is sent it is typically resent or in some cases even assumed.

And if a noticeable amount of data must be resent, how does that impact transmission rates / performance?

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True, the backbone of all network communications.

Are you now agreeing that hardware malfunctions can result in degraded performance and not necessarily immediate outright failure?

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Extremely unlikely, wall warts usually work or they don't.

Or they can put out enough power to boot a device but not enough to operate it under heavy load. And the way a device behaves when it is starved of power depends on the design of the device.

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In your case it is most likely the connectors or the frame that hold the antenna are cracked. These failures are usually caused by cheap plastic.

I don't think that's the case, but if so that's yet another way a hardware failure can degrade performance.

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I am just disagreeing on your basis of what causes the performance degradation.

I know I'm not the most experienced hardware guy, but I've been through my fair share of routers, and friends and family's routers, and employers' routers. I've flashed manufacturer firmware, DD-WRT, OpenWRT, tomato, merlin. I've seen plenty of routers reach total failure, but I can't recall any that went directly from working perfectly to not working at all. In pretty much every case there has been some indication that the router is on its last legs.

Yeah, a lot of times software is to blame. But a lot of times you can flash 3rd party firmware and still drop packets or drop the signal entirely from time to time. Software can be pretty shitty, but it can also be pretty good at hiding and correcting hardware problems until it can't anymore.

I have a drawer with 3 or 4 routers that I simply cannot get the wifi to function anymore. They all boot up and work perfectly fine with wired connections, though.

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