WIFI_PS_MAX_MODEM causing me unstable WiFi connection

[analogic]

Checklist

• Checked the issue tracker for similar issues to ensure this is not a duplicate
• Read the documentation to confirm the issue is not addressed there and your configuration is set correctly
• Tested with the latest version to ensure the issue hasn't been fixed

How often does this bug occurs?

always

Expected behavior

Working Wi-Fi

Actual behavior (suspected bug)

Not workin WiFi

Error logs or terminal output

From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=17 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=18 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=19 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=20 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=21 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=22 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=23 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=24 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=25 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=26 Destination Host Unreachable
64 bytes from 192.168.78.173: icmp_seq=27 ttl=64 time=1892 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.78.173: icmp_seq=28 ttl=64 time=868 ms
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=37 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=38 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=41 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=42 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=43 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=44 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=45 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=46 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.78.171 icmp_seq=47 Destination Host Unreachable

Steps to reproduce the behavior

?

Project release version

master

System architecture

Intel/AMD 64-bit (modern PC, older Mac)

Operating system

Linux

Operating system version

Linux

Shell

Bash

Additional context

Hello,

I have an ESP Thread Border Router v1.2 board. After flashing it, I experienced a very unstable Wi-Fi connection — roughly only every 20th ping succeeded.

I eventually found that the issue was related to the Wi-Fi modem power-saving mode. I changed this line:

https://github.com/espressif/esp-thread-br/blame/66762f2f19b102638c1e58d6f4ec61c8fc4de3a7/components/esp_ot_cli_extension/src/esp_ot_wifi_cmd.c#L187

to use WIFI_PS_NONE, and after that all the connectivity issues disappeared.

[gytxxsy]

@analogic
WIFI_PS_MAX_MODEM enables Wi-Fi power saving, and some performance degradation is expected. However, such severe packet loss does not seem normal.
Are you using our official example? Which esp-idf version are you using? Does the router have any special configuration?

[analogic]

esp-idf 735507283d5b2f9fb363a1901172dbd9e847945d (HEAD, tag: v5.5.4)
esp-thread-br 66762f2 (HEAD -> main, origin/main, origin/HEAD)
Standard Ubiquiti router with ~30 devices (couple ESPs also) working well for years, couple meters in distance...

Almost no customization which should affect wifi (I have older ESP Thread Border Router v1.2 board revision with 4MB flash) so:

• ota sectors resized to 1700K
• removed rcp_fw sector, rcp fw updated directly via usb
• using basic_thread_border_router

whole sdkconfig is attached. Through menuconfig I've configured only wifi ssid and password, enabled web autostart...

sdkconfig.txt

[gytxxsy]

@analogic
I have tested with the same branch and configuration you mentioned (using a 4MB BR board with autostart enabled), but I am unable to reproduce the issue. I think the following steps may help with debugging:

1. Please provide more detailed information, such as a complete BR log, so we can identify which Wi-Fi channel is being used and which channel the Thread network is operating on (this helps rule out channel overlap as a factor).
2. Try switching to a different Wi-Fi AP to see whether the issue can be reproduced with any AP.
3. Try running Wi-Fi only without starting Thread, to determine whether Thread is affecting Wi-Fi behavior. Since I noticed you are pinging an IPv4 address, it should be possible for another device to ping the same address with Wi-Fi alone.