Forum Discussion

nomadMikZ's avatar
nomadMikZ
New Contributor
4 years ago

'Access point temporarily full' on 2.4GHz

I'm having exactly the same problem as described in this post: https://forums.cox.com/forum_home/internet_forum/f/internet-forum/27687/access-point-temporarily-full-on-2-4ghz-is-there-a-limit-of-connected-devices/108616

Unfortunately, that post has been 'locked' (what's the point of that?!) and no solution has been posted.

I have numerous smarthome devices, a good 40 of them, connected to my 2.4GHz wifi network, but there's always at least one that can't connect. When I try to connect my phone, it says 'Access point temporarily full'.

I had pretty much the same set of lights, thermostats, fans and switches at the previous place I lived, and that had no problem. Research shows that wifi networks normally support up to 256 connections at once, and I have nowhere near that number of devices. But my Cox Panoramic access point seems to have some kind of limit, and I can't find a setting to change it. I can connect my phone to the 5GHz network, but not the smart devices; they just don't do that, which is why I turned on a separate 2.4GHz network, as much as the Cox app urged me not to.

Any ideas how to fix this? Some 'advanced' setting hidden somewhere? The Cox app is generally pretty convenient, but it's frustrating the way some settings are so convoluted, probably in a misguided effort to dumb it down.

2.4 ghz
connections
smart lights
  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III
    4 years ago

    Out of 256 IP addresses, a router can issue 253 because the router needs 1, the broadcast address needs 1 and the network ID needs 1.

    However, a lot of wireless devices within close proximity...such as in a house...create lots of signal interference.  This interference can degrade the performance of a network (router) due to lots of retransmits and connection drops.  This is why some manufacturers set a limit to the max number of devices, such as 50.

    The greatest factor is the hardware of the router.  Could its CPU and RAM handle 253 devices as well as all enabled services (encryption, QoS, VPN, Parental Control, etc)?

    The Pano may have a limit...probably 3.  I don't know.

  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III
    4 years ago

    I've read this problem in a few previous posts.

    My most targeted suggestion is to buy a better router.

  • JonathanJ's avatar
    JonathanJ
    Former Moderator
    4 years ago
    @nomadMikZ

    Have you tried doing a factory reset on the modem/router?


    Jonathan J
    Cox Moderator

    • nomadMikZ's avatar
      nomadMikZ
      New Contributor
      4 years ago

      No, not yet. I'm happy to try it if you think it's likely to actually fix the problem, but if it's just a shot in the dark, I prefer to wait for a more targeted suggestion, before restoring to that—setting everything up again from scratch sounds like a lot of work. Thanks.