Consoles → PS3 issues

Got a nagging problem with my PS3 I thought I'd mention on here to see if anyone has had something similar happen.

As usage goes, I use my PS3 pretty much daily, not gaming mostly, but things like Crunchyroll, Netflix, etc. more than games. What I've noticed lately is my controllers suddenly can't turn the unit on with the PS button. When you manually turn the unit on, the controllers will not sync wirelessly to the unit, but if you plug in a usb cord they will work fine. Also, when I try to sign into PSN, it will fail with some network error.

Now, if I turn the unit off, the controller still won't turn the unit on, or sync without the usb cable, but it WILL connect to PSN quickly with no issues.

I would guess a software update started it, but it's been like this for quite some time. Randomly the controllers will work again with the PS Button, and work properly wireless as well, it's just completely random.

Thoughts? The most annoying thing is the need to shut it down, and turn it back on to get it to connect to PSN. It does this nearly every time.

First question. Is the controllers CHARGED? I have replaced the battery in one of my controllers already.
I ask this because you stated it works fine using the usb sync cable plugged it.

AFAIK they're both charged fine, as when it works normally, the unit will tell me and flash the lights on the controller when they need to be charged, so I doubt that's it.

Worse case is to do a factory reset. You need to back up your game data on a flash drive if you want to save it. Not sure if this would fix or not.
What version of PS3 do you have? Fat,slim,super slim?
But FIRST...
Contact Sony and see if they offer a remedy on their forums or email.

I ran into an issue like this just last night. I hit the PS button on the controller and all 4 lights just flashed for nearly 45 seconds with nothing happening to the console. It did eventually start the console and link up, but it took forever. After the initial connection I powered down and used the controller to restart everything and there was no issue after that.

Things of note:
I was using a controller that doesn't normally get used
I had accidentally reset my router, was supposed to be a 3 min unplug, ended up being 3 hours (got side tracked with the little on and ended up leaving the house)

tried the reset button the controller?