Internet dropouts ยท symptom
Wi-Fi keeps dropping out but a cabled device is fine
If a cabled device holds while the wireless ones drop, your nbn connection is not the problem and your provider cannot fix this for you. The good news is that this is the one category of fault that is genuinely yours to solve, and most of it is free.
Last reviewed: 15 August 2026 · by Alien IT Solutions
This is your Wi-Fi, and that is genuinely good news.
If a device plugged in with a cable keeps working while the wireless ones drop, then your nbn service is up the whole time. The connection between your router and your devices is what is failing, and that is inside your house.
The most common cause in Australian homes is congestion on the 2.4GHz band, which is shared with every neighbour's Wi-Fi, plus microwaves, cordless phones, baby monitors and Bluetooth. The second most common is distance and building materials. Foil backed insulation, double brick, concrete and mirrors are all very effective at stopping Wi-Fi.
The third is worth knowing because it looks exactly like a dropout: band steering. Many routers publish 2.4GHz and 5GHz under one name and move devices between them. If a device handles that move badly, it disconnects for a few seconds every time, which feels identical to the internet failing.
What to try yourself
- Plug a computer straight into the router with an Ethernet cable and turn that computer's Wi-Fi off. Leave it that way through the next few dropouts. If the wired machine keeps working while the wireless ones drop, the problem is your Wi-Fi and no amount of arguing with your provider will fix it. If the wired machine drops too, it is the connection, and you now have proof.
- Move the router. Out of the cupboard, off the floor, away from the TV, away from the microwave, and as central and high in the house as the cabling allows. This is free and it is usually the biggest single improvement available.
- Split the bands temporarily. Give 2.4GHz and 5GHz different names, then connect a problem device to each in turn for a day. If it is solid on one and drops on the other, you have found it, and you have ruled out band steering at the same time.
- Change the Wi-Fi channel. On 2.4GHz use 1, 6 or 11, and nothing in between, because those three are the only ones that do not overlap. If your router picks automatically and you are in a unit block, setting it manually often helps.
- Check whether it is one device or all of them. One device dropping is that device's Wi-Fi adapter or its power saving settings, not your network.
- If the house is simply too big or too solid for one router, the fix is more access points or a mesh system, not a better single router. Wi-Fi extenders that repeat wirelessly usually halve throughput and add their own dropouts.
What to tell your provider so you do not get fobbed off
Providers work from a script, and the script assumes you have not checked anything. Say this early and you skip most of it.
Be aware that this is not a provider fault, and a good provider will tell you so. If you are renting their equipment and it cannot cover your home, that is still a conversation worth having.
Say: a device on a cable does not drop, only wireless devices drop. I am not reporting a line fault, I want to know whether the router you supplied can cover a house this size, and what you offer if it cannot.
If they insist on running line tests, let them, then bring it back to the same question. The cabled test result is your proof.
Then, whatever they say:
- Ask them to raise a fault with nbn, and ask for the fault reference number. A fault that was never raised cannot be tracked, and this is where most calls quietly end.
- Ask what the line is actually doing at their end right now, and whether they can see dropouts in their own logs. They usually can.
- If they close it without fixing it, ask for the complaint to be escalated internally, and get the complaint reference in writing.
If it stays broken and they stop being useful, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman is free for you to use, and providers do respond to it. Here is how that works.
Before you touch anything
- Do not go up a ladder or onto a roof. That includes fixed wireless antennas and dishes. nbn's own fixed wireless guide tells you to contact your provider rather than touch an outdoor unit mounted more than 2 metres off the ground. There is nothing you can fix up there that is worth a fall.
- Do not open the nbn connection box, and do not touch the pit or the lead-in cable. That equipment belongs to nbn, not to you or your provider. Fibre terminations carry laser light that you cannot see and should not look into. Opening it can also end your service and leave you liable for the repair.
- Leave the backup battery alone beyond what your provider's own script tells you. If you have the optional Power Supply with Battery Backup, follow your provider's instructions for it and nothing more.
- Burning smell, scorch marks, or a modem too hot to touch: stop. Switch it off at the wall, unplug it, and do not plug it back in. Tell your provider it needs replacing. There is no troubleshooting step that comes before this.
While you are on the phone to them anyway
Most people only look hard at their telco account when something has gone wrong. Since you are already dealing with them, send the bill over. The audit is free, and we will tell you plainly where you are overpaying and what is worth challenging.
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