Wifi Boards not communicating

I had my original issue wifi boards set up and working for several months.  Then they stopped  communicating with the hub  Through the Smartthings app, going to Automation/smartapps/Konnected i see the two wifi boards for my system, but when i select then to see the device status the page is blank.  I have the Smart things  hub plugged into my router in my  first floor, and my security panel is in basement straight line distance 20'.   I have the front door off my security panel where the boards are mounted.  I was not getting strong signal from wifi based on free app WI-Fi sweet spot, so i added a wifi extender and then connected boards to that.  I thought wifi boards went bad, possible lightning or some surge.  Got new wifi boards and installed, added them to network, and they showed up in the konnected smart app under device status for a short time, now device status screen is blank again and in the smartthings app under My home/things devices are not updating.  I have a wireless Smarthings water leak sensor which is farther from hub that is working.  I assume wifi boards may be loosing wifi signal and not reconnecting.   I have spent hours trying to figure this out.  need help.

  I thought the Wifi boards had or were failing.  struggled with it for awhile, then got new boards with the new firmware on them.  still did not work until i deleted the Konnected App from The smartthings app, and started over from the beginning as if new installation as far as the set up goes.  In the Enable github integration, i noticed that i did not have current files, including the service manager loaded.  I also struggled to get the boards connected to wifi.  I had added a wifi extender and was trying to connect through that.  I had the front of my old security panel (steel) and the Konnected boards mounted inside.  I made a bracket to allow me to move the boards out in front of the panel a few inches hoping to get better wifi signal and then connected directly to my router without going through the extender.  not sure which of these items helped but system is now working again after several months off line. 

in post above should have said i had front of security panel off