Bluetooth interferes with WiFi

[Agusts]

I have some IT experience and know my way around a bit, so checked all the obvious things..., But recently since I started using a Bluetooth headphone with my old MXQ pro Android TV box, noticed the WiFi just crawls to standstill. Before you say use cable not WiFi, that's not available and WiFi works pretty well without headphone. Shows 50 or 60mbps on fiber without Bluetooth.

 

Now interesting thing is if I use my 4G phone as hotspot and use that as WiFi plus headphone it's much better and I can actually use the box with almost 10mbps...! 

 

I checked the frequency and my phone uses channel 11 for WiFi, so I changed the Access Point channel to 11 too, no joy...!

 

The only other thing I can think of is distance, AC is about 10 meters away, phone like 3m.O Other thing is maybe protocol of 802.1 b/g/n, maybe they are different. 

 

Any ideas to try or check...? I read this is normal as both Bluetooth and wifi use close frequencies and antennas in that tiny Android box maybe close or small - although it has a proper movable WiFi antenna sticking out of it, maybe they both use this same one.....! 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by Agusts

[RichCor]

If you have it try using 5Ghz WiFi for the Set Top Box.

 

Bluetooth is supposed to be 'frequency hopping', but the STB may be experiencing just enough signal degradation/interference to cause multiple data resends to occur on the 2.4Ghz frequencies.

 

You can also try doing some google searching for WiFi vs Bluetooth remedies

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=troubleshooting+WiFi+bluetooth+interference  

[Agusts]

No 5Ghz available on that Android box. It's something really odd, wifi starts up then slows down and just fails, can see it on speed test page of 3BB with a graph...

 

I have searched Google, the best suggestions where channel change...

 

I have a couple more tests to do - move my phone to where the Access Point is and set AP to 801.1 b/g only, it slows down a bit from not having "n" protocol, but I want to see how it behaves with Bluetooth..., I am not sure what phone hotspot (Samsung S6) uses ...

 

Not a remedy but at least tell me the reason...! 

[shdmn]

If you are talking 802.11 b/g/n (2.4Ghz).  Microwaves, some cordless phones, and other 2.4Ghz routers on the same band can cause that problem.  802.11a (5Ghz) solves most of those problems.

Edited August 21, 2020 by shdmn

[Agusts]

1 minute ago, shdmn said:

If you are talking 802.11 b/g/n (2.4Ghz).  Microwaves, cordless phones, and other 2.4Ghz routers on the same band can cause that problem.  

Sorry, I mean 802.11 ...

 

Yes, but the problem is phone's hotspot wifi on same channel works, but not AP WiFi...

 

I'm trying to see what phone's hotspot wifi uses , b or g or n protocol, or is it ac, so far no luck, it's Samsung S6...!? 

 

AP is using n, because I get 65mbps on speed test, the g can only go up to 54mbps according to 802.11 documents...

 

So I think the problem is there. We had AP on g before , well b/g, but next condo found out it was slow, and mentioned it to me, after some checks I remembered AP was set to b/g , by me, because we had some stability issue. After I set to b/g/n and speed went up...

 

But we have stability issue again now. I'm just reading on the web that n is more prone to interference in general, hence all the issues we are having..., and my headphone too...

 

[shdmn]

33 minutes ago, Agusts said:

Sorry, I mean 802.11 ...

 

Yes, but the problem is phone's hotspot wifi on same channel works, but not AP WiFi...

 

I'm trying to see what phone's hotspot wifi uses , b or g or n protocol, or is it ac, so far no luck, it's Samsung S6...!? 

 

AP is using n, because I get 65mbps on speed test, the g can only go up to 54mbps according to 802.11 documents...

 

So I think the problem is there. We had AP on g before , well b/g, but next condo found out it was slow, and mentioned it to me, after some checks I remembered AP was set to b/g , by me, because we had some stability issue. After I set to b/g/n and speed went up...

 

But we have stability issue again now. I'm just reading on the web that n is more prone to interference in general, hence all the issues we are having..., and my headphone too...

 

Location matters.  If you are 1 m away from your phone but 5m away from your router you might not see interference from a microwave on the phone hotspot.

 

Anyways, when I had those problems it ended up being my neighbors cordless phone and my microwave.  Changing the WiFi band didn't matter 2.4Ghz cordless phones constantly frequency hops and microwaves kill all the 2.4Ghz bands.

 

You can get apps for your phone that show nearby wifi signals.  So I would take a look at that and try pick a band that nobody else nearby is using.

 

Or just get a router that supports 802.11a and just use the 5Ghz band.

Edited August 21, 2020 by shdmn

[mtls2005]

Everything worked fine before you started using these headphones?

 

Can you try different WiFi channels on the router?

 

The Android box may not have enough oomph to handle WiFi and BT at the same time?

 

Assuming your router supports 5 GHz, I'd get a new Andorid box which supports 5 GHz.

 

Does your TV support Bluetooth audio?

 

 

[RichCor]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Does your TV support Bluetooth audio?

Yes, that was going to be my next suggestion as there are too many fixed issues with the Set Top Box that can't be easily addressed. So an external solution may be needed.

 

Possibilities:

 

Offload Audio to another Bluetooth device (capable TV or other external Bluetooth module) 

Offload WiFi to an external 2.4/5 WiFi client device connected to STB via Ethernet

 

...also, I once had an issue with an android STB where proximity interference of an external USB wireless Mouse/Keyboard module was an issue, moving it to another USB port on the STB solved the issue.

[Jaggg88]

The WiFi on ADSL routers are all pretty poor. I invested in a Ubiquiti external WiFi access point and it solved all my problems. It's a bit pricey but you can take it with you. It broadcasts at 2.4 and 5GHz so IoT devices connect at 2.4 and essential devices connect to the faster 5GHz network. I connected the AP directly to the router using a CAT6 cable. For best coverage the device needs fixing to the ceiling and not the wall.

[Agusts]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I tried a few more things, increased AP power, tested g and n unique only protocol, channel HT mode 20/40Hz , increased power etc., but no joy.

 

Another small access point that can connect to TV box via CAT5 cable sounds good, can switch off wifi on it altogether....????

 

Also one other option I was thinking was a Bluetooth USB dongle, maybe that won't interfere with it's antenna etc...

 

I also have USB headphone with 3m extension cable that I can use, but that damn think also is playing around, not sure if a bad connection somewhere or cable busted , sods law, lately nothing works....! 

 

 

[brimacthai]

I had some issues with the microwave causing the WIFI to drop out when in use. Did some checking on the internet and found that placing some tin-foil near the back of the microwave would help... and it did help. No more dropouts caused by the microwave.

[mtls2005]

11 hours ago, Agusts said:

Another small access point that can connect to TV box via CAT5 cable sounds good, can switch off wifi on it altogether...

 

Yeah, but...

 

On 8/21/2020 at 8:36 PM, Agusts said:

Before you say use cable not WiFi, that's not available

 

 

I'm confused.

 

Adding a secondary router via GbE (Gigabit ethernet) is the obvious solution, but did not offer this given your original statement.

 

Which ISP do you use? I was able to get a new router from mine (AIS) (free) when I upgraded my service (1000/500 - 899 baht/mo). The new router supports 2.4 and 5 GHz. It was a huge step up from my origianl router.

 

I uplinked a TP Link WiFI router (Archer C6, 1,400 THB) via GBe. This allows extra coverage, 2.4/5 GHz, and wired ethernet connections. My TV has both WiFi and wired ethernet (although that may be 10/100?). Chromecast works well. TV has BT, which I use a lot. My primary applications are: Netflix (via mobile phone to Chromecast, works better than my TV's Netflix client), Youtube (from phone to Chromecast, works better than my TV's Youtube client) and streaming content over my LAN from my NAS (my TV has a Synology client).

 

 

 

[Agusts]

Okay, TV is old and has nothing on it, not mine, landlord's.

 

Also cable connection to main router which is 3 floors below is not possible. The router has dual band and fairly good but the Access Point in each floor don't, they are only 2.4G. All belong to landlord, I just have admin access.

 

My Android TV box also only 2.4G. But maybe I can buy another AP for myself, and put it next to my box and connect to it via cable, but that AP needs to connect to the floor AP not router, is that mode possible...!?

 

Or get USB wifi dongle for my box, it has two USB , one is now used for a remote mouse ...