DWC and duet2 wifi connection issues

droftarts

@jens55 said in DWC and duet2 wifi connection issues:

I am wondering if there is a way for the Duet to report the signal level it thinks it has over wifi.

Yes, run M122 and look at the last bit of the response, which shows the WiFi signal strength. Here's mine:

- WiFi -
Network state is active
WiFi module is connected to access point 
Failed messages: pending 0, notready 0, noresp 0
WiFi firmware version 1.23
WiFi MAC address 5c:cf:7f:1a:9c:3b
WiFi Vcc 3.33, reset reason Unknown
WiFi flash size 4194304, free heap 23408
WiFi IP address 192.168.0.16
WiFi signal strength -36dBm, reconnections 0, sleep mode modem
Socket states: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

From https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/WiFi_disconnections_and_AJAX_timeout_errors#Section_Troubleshooting

Run M122 from either the web interface (if you can reconnect) or from USB. In the Network diagnostics, check the WiFi signal strength, also called RSSI. Values in the range -30 to -50 are good, -50 to -60 is OK, -60 to -70 is marginal. Anything below -70 is weak and likely be unreliable. See below for how to improve RSSI.

Ian

jens55

@tracar said in DWC and duet2 wifi connection issues:

@jens55 said in DWC and duet2 wifi connection issues:

does it print without errors when using the usb cable?

have you tried dwc on another computer?

I do not know how to print via USB,
The DWC is up and down like a jo jo independant of the computer the DWC runs on.
Two web cams and a pi3 running octoprint on a second printer which are in the same room and within a few feet of the Duet are not affected n any way.
The printer works fine working on it's internal memory ie anything that is downloaded while the DWC works prints fine even if the DWC goes down during the print.

I am starting to believe that maybe the wifi module itself is deteriorating over time. Maybe that is why we are seeing so many issues with wifi/DWC ?

jens55

@droftarts said in DWC and duet2 wifi connection issues:

@jens55 said in DWC and duet2 wifi connection issues:

I am wondering if there is a way for the Duet to report the signal level it thinks it has over wifi.

Yes, run M122 and look at the last bit of the response, which shows the WiFi signal strength. Here's mine:
- WiFi -
Network state is active
WiFi module is connected to access point 
Failed messages: pending 0, notready 0, noresp 0
WiFi firmware version 1.23
WiFi MAC address 5c:cf:7f:1a:9c:3b
WiFi Vcc 3.33, reset reason Unknown
WiFi flash size 4194304, free heap 23408
WiFi IP address 192.168.0.16
WiFi signal strength -36dBm, reconnections 0, sleep mode modem
Socket states: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
From https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/WiFi_disconnections_and_AJAX_timeout_errors#Section_Troubleshooting

Run M122 from either the web interface (if you can reconnect) or from USB. In the Network diagnostics, check the WiFi signal strength, also called RSSI. Values in the range -30 to -50 are good, -50 to -60 is OK, -60 to -70 is marginal. Anything below -70 is weak and likely be unreliable. See below for how to improve RSSI.

Ian

Thank you Ian, that is great news ! I will give that a go!

jens55

Got this report off DWC moments before the connection went down:

- WiFi -
Network state is active
WiFi module is connected to access point 
Failed messages: pending 0, notready 0, noresp 0
WiFi firmware version 1.23
WiFi MAC address b4:e6:2d:52:ef:1f
WiFi Vcc 3.43, reset reason Unknown
WiFi flash size 4194304, free heap 18744
WiFi IP address 192.168.50.160
WiFi signal strength -44dBm, reconnections 0, sleep mode modem
Socket states: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Looks perfectly reasonable as far as I can see
Here is the next diagnostic I was able to capture:

- WiFi -
Network state is active
WiFi module is connected to access point 
Failed messages: pending 0, notready 0, noresp 6
WiFi firmware version 1.23
WiFi MAC address b4:e6:2d:52:ef:1f
WiFi Vcc 3.43, reset reason Unknown
WiFi flash size 4194304, free heap 20656
WiFi IP address 192.168.50.160
WiFi signal strength -43dBm, reconnections 0, sleep mode modem
Socket states: 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0

This one shows the noresp parameter at 6 which seems odd but otherwise it also seems ok.

In any case, wifi signal seems just fine.
I think I will try to turn off all other wifi devices in the room just to test things.

jens55

Wifi channel was changed to Ch 6 as per suggestions, number of maximum AJAX retries has been changed from 2 to 4.
Here is the latest diagnostic:

=== Network ===
Slowest loop: 201.70ms; fastest: 0.09ms
Responder states: HTTP(2) HTTP(2) HTTP(0) HTTP(0) FTP(0) Telnet(0), 0 sessions
HTTP sessions: 2 of 8
- WiFi -
Network state is active
WiFi module is connected to access point 
Failed messages: pending 0, notready 0, noresp 11
WiFi firmware version 1.23
WiFi MAC address b4:e6:2d:52:ef:1f
WiFi Vcc 3.43, reset reason Unknown
WiFi flash size 4194304, free heap 24056
WiFi IP address 192.168.50.160
WiFi signal strength -45dBm, reconnections 0, sleep mode modem
Socket states: 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

No idea what the 'Socket states' numbers mean, noresp is up to 11 and 'reset reason unknown'

jens55

Can anyone shed some light on the kind of information seen in these M122 diagnostics?

The printer has been sitting powered up but not used overnight and it is a constant stream of disconnects and reconnects. When I run an M122 in a break where the DWC is connected, I show good signal strength.
I have changed channels, I have powered down two wifi devices that were in the same room with no change in the situation. The remaining device, which is a camera, has no problem with the wifi network. There are no microwaves or wireless phones in the vicinity of the printer (but there are both of these on the floor where the router lives).
The Duet is the only device that is having the issues.
I am fresh out of ideas as to what to try next!
I would also like to get an explanation of what the noresp counter counts, what the socket states field means and lastly what I could do about the 'reset reason unknown' message I see.

Phaedrux

The wifi module could be failing.

You can try reflashing the wifi server firmware.

As for the wifi report specifics I'll see if DC42 can take a look.

dc42

"Reset reason unknown" is caused by a bug in the WiFi firmware, fixed in the upcoming 1.24 release.
"noresp" is the count of message for which the Duet main processor requested a transfer from the WiFi module, but the wifi module didn't respond within 200ms.
"Socket states" are the states of the 8 TCP sockets supported by the WiFi firmware. State 0 means it is inactive and available. State 2 means it is connected. So in your report, there are two network clients.

jens55

Thank you for that information. Do you have a rough time frame on the 1.24 release?
I have been digging around and found that people reported connection issues with modern routers. I did not mention it before but I did move to an ASUS RT-AX92U router which is a Wifi6 router and about as new as it gets. My previous router was an ASUS RT-AC66U which I suspected of acting up and replaced. It had some connection issues but those were not limited to the Duet.
I have now switched off the 5 GHz modules and turned on the 2.4 GHz radio 'legacy' mode whatever that means. There seems to be no appreciable difference in the many connect/disconnect events (maybe they are happening a tad less frequently).
I am pretty sure that the Duet connected fine to the new router in the beginning.

jens55

An interesting development .... after connecting and disconnecting for all of last night until 9 am in the morning, the Duet hasn't disconnected once. It is now 4 pm.
I have not done any configuration changes at all.
If the failures happened during the day and everything was working fine at night I would suspect interference of some kind but it is odd going the other way.
I have not had extra fluorescent lights going but there is a set of LED's (120V) running in the kitchen (main floor, printer is in basement) in the evening and over night that were apparently switched off in the morning.
So, I am now running tests to see if I can correlate the issues with wifi to the LED lights in the kitchen.
It is interesting to note that the Duet is affected dramatically by whatever is happening but most other devices seemed to be fine except for the odd glitch here or there.
The previous router was replaced because of odd glitches.

Stay tuned ......

jens55

I just loooooove intermittent problems. The suspect lights have been on for 14 hours and not a single case of a disconnect. The printer is happy as a clam!
Whatever caused the issue has stopped causing issues and the problem is untraceable for now.

Phaedrux

gremlins