MAG 250 WiFi SSID Detection Issue

[Mattd]

Hi,
I am new to this forum and also to IPTV, I recently purchased a MAG 250 box and IPTV package from a vendor in Thailand, the box came with a WiFi dongle to enable wireless connectivity, which ideally is a must so that I can watch the TV in an area remote from where the WiFi router is located.

I have no problem to go to the setup part of the WiFi in the box, however, when doing an Auto DHCP my router is rarely found, the box sees a lot of other WiFi networks in the area, just not mine!
I then add my SSID by pressing F2 on the remote and entering in the SSID, encryption and passcode, then press the OK button on the remote to save.
The box does not connect to the WiFi after rebooting it and when I go back to the settings / Auto DHCP the router is 9 times out of 10 not detected.
Occasionally it does detect it and it appears on the list of available networks, then disappears again.

All of the details are correct when I manually enter the WiFi network details in to the box, SSID, Encryption type (WPA2-PSK / AES) and passcode.
The WiFi properties were obtained from my laptop, so are correct.

The box works well when connected to the router via an ethernet cable (trouble is, then the TV is not where I need it to be, I have ordered a 10m long ethernet cable that can be used, but would much prefer the WiFi option, as using this cable requires me to wrap it all up after each use)

My laptop and telephone both connect to the WiFi network with no issues whatsoever, so there is nothing wrong with the actual WiFi side of the router and as it is a small condo room, then distance is not an issue.

Has anybody experienced this before or have any idea how to resolve the issue?

[robinzon]

Get a new router.... you are clearly too far away or are using and OLD router with poor penetration capability... better yet get a 5GHz router if your dongle has the antenna... or you may need a better dongle. What router brand are you using? what software is on it?

[Mattd]

@robinzon, thanks for the reply.

The MAG box and the router are definitely NOT too far away, in fact due to the need to plug in an ethernet cable between the MAG 250 box and the router, then they are as close as 6 inches, at first I thought that maybe they were too close, so put a little more distance between them, up to 3 feet, still nothing. The condo room is a total of 36m2, so pretty impossible for it to be distance :)
Regarding changing the router, unfortunately that is not an option, as it is supplied by the ISP as part of the package and there is not a WAN port to add a router to this one, as stated in my original post, my Samsung Note 3 phone and Dell XPS13 Laptop both can see this router and connect to it with absolutely no issues at all.
The Mag 250 box can see 11 different WiFi networks when you go to Auto DHCP, several of them are provided by the same ISP as mine is, which is True Online Thailand, I know this because the SSID is the same naming convention, i.e. true_homewifi_Axx (xx being a number), from that I would conclude that they are 95% sure to be the same model of router.

The Router is a Zyxel brand, software I have no idea, as I have no access to the firmware on the router.

Last night I activated my phone as a hot spot and the MAG 250 box can see this no problem, though the encryption on the phone was one that is not supported (pressed info on the MAG remote to see this)

It is looking like it is something peculiar to the router, I will see what True and the box vendor say.

[robinzon]

Well what you COULD do is get a WIFI network extender and plug it into a LAN port of the router. It simply creates another WIFI network without any routing so then you can test if that works and a router peculiarity. Or you can go a Power Line network option and purchase a set of Powerline adapters and simply plug into an outlet close to the MAG and run an ethernet cable through it.

Lastly try a different wifi dongle it WILL solve your problem I am sure... something that costs more then $4...

[Mattd]

I will first try to setup a LAN-LAN router, as have a spare Asus Router at home, hopefully a different router will be detected by the STB, getting another dongle here in Thailand is not quite as simple as it sounds, can be done, but most likely have to come from overseas.

[Mattd]

OK, by way of update, I eventually resolved this issue and the WiFi is working well now.
The issue ended up being in the Firewall Settings of the Router, the DoS (Denial of Service) was enabled and once I disabled this then the STB detected and connected to the WiFi with no problems at all :)