WUMC710 bridge disconnects from EA6500 router daily

Question

This HAS been asked before, but the threads are long, and I have yet to glean an answer. All firmware has been updated. It bridges my entertainment system to the router. It had worked great for a very long time, no hiccups. It worked flawlessly. A few months ago it began disconnecting daily. So about a week ago I checked and updated firmware on both boxes. Yet still it disconnects daily. I have to power off the WUMC710 and I'm good for an evenings use. The wireless indicator light above the button on the WUMC710 is off the next day, and so I know I have to repower the unit once again. How can I possibly get back to where I was with such flawless operation?

Answer 1

My WRT1900AC (version 1) will not maintain viable connection to the WUMC710 unless I make the following two 5 GHz band option changes:
1. Channel: - from “Auto” to “1” (5.805 GHz)
2. Channel Width: - from “Auto” to “40 MHz” Since it didn’t seem to matter which Channel or Channel Width setting was selected, I suspect the “Auto” setting of each option may be culprit here.  You see I’m an old, retired telecom network engineer.  Back in the day, the use of “Auto” for any equipment option “setting” simply could not be trusted!  Actually, back then “Auto” settings were more for convenience, which is probably not the intention of product design today.  Anyway, the router’s “Auto” setting just may not be working well enough to suite the WUMC710. By the way, I’m also using the current versions of firmware for both the WRT1900AC and WUMC710 (which is comforting). Speaking of firmware, the firmware used in the EA6500 and WRT1900AC is similar.  The “Channel:” you use may be different.  Also, you may want to make sure the Network Mode: is set for “Mixed”. Please note: Network Mode: “Mixed”, and Channel: “Auto”, are said to be required for 802.11ac operation in both the EA6500 and WRT1900AC (ver.1).  So here’s the caveat, this solution, if it works for you, only addresses the WUMC710 “disconnecting” problem.  I do not have the means now to test if true 802.11ac transmission is available.  However, in my network, it’s handling at least 70 Mb/s of very clean through-put with no problems. I’ve tested this using both “speedtest.net”, "pingtest.net" and the WRT1900AC’s built-in Speed Test app (all Ookla). I ordered two WUMC710s a couple of years ago from Cisco/Linksys, on sale for $35 each.  When they arrived, I set each one up to verify it worked, then put both away against the day I felt the need to “stream mass quantities of data”.  Two weeks ago, I pulled one unit out of mothballs to extend my home WiFi network and ran smack into the “disconnecting” problem.  If I ever need really big bandwidth again, I’ll check out one of the newer Belkin/Linksys access point models. This time I’ll test thoroughly and promptly return if there’s a problem. I hope this works for you. Good Luck