Wireless Network Interferance

[augie47]

Situation: Wireless computer network in residential setting.
At times during a 24 hr. period the wireless connected computer will not "see the router". All components have been changed and problem persists. 90% of the time, the connection is fine, but 10% it's lost..only at his one location. Components work fine 24/7 away from this house.
With laptop & router in the same room, 10-20 ft apart, problem still occurs. Almost seems like an "interference" or "blocking" problem...
any suggestions ?

 

[cadpoint]

Wild guess

Wild guess

I'm going to guess its an older laptop over two years old that'd make the CPU almost 4 years old + -(IE computer years).

The CPU (lappie) is the biggest dropper not the network, not the screaming network. IMO

You could check the network setting and even change to another open port(s) on bothsides and reasign inside your network. Firewall should pick this assignment change, and proof it for you. Good Luck

 

[charlie b]

Almost seems like an "interference" or "blocking" problem...any suggestions ?

I had the same problem at my own home. The wireless connection was unreliable. I solved it by changing to a "wired" connection. Or more to the point, a "house wired" connection.

I bought two identical devices, each costing about $25, each about the size of a large orange, from a local electronics store. You plug one into a standard wall receptacle near the router. Then you plug one output (network cable) from the router into it. In the other room that has a computer, you plug the other device into a standard receptacle near the other computer. Then you run a network cable from the device to the computer's "network in" slot. The computer in the remote room gets its internet signal via the house wiring system.

I have used this method for two years, and it has always worked very well.

 

[zbang]

Any cordless phones nearby? The 2.4GHz phones do all kinds of things to wireless LAN connections. At a friend's house, his connection would drop when the (townhouse) neighbor's phone was used.

 

[mgd]

what router? 802.ll b, g, pre-n? does the router feature mimo (multiple in, mutiple out)? a wlan range extender may work. a router with stronger signal. relocating the router away from sources of interference. making sure the laptop has the latest nic (network interface card) drivers. start here first http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wifihomenetworking/qt/wifichannel.htm

 

[dereckbc]

This is quite common with unliscensed transmitters. It is more than likely co-channel interference which there is no solution for other than changing frequencies, or getting your hands on very expensive test equipment to locate the interference.

 

[Rampage_Rick]

Wireless is a pain, which is why I will run cable if feasable.

802.11b/g have 3 non-overlapping channels: 1, 6, 11
If you enable special modes (i.e. XtremeG) they aggregate all the channels, not leaving you a choice in the matter.

If you just want to make it work, and it's just surf the internet, you can dial down the bandwidth. (slower throughput = higher reliability) You don't need 54mbps if you're only connected to 1mbps DSL. If you need the bandwidth for transferring files, etc, stick with hardwired. The different bandwith settings also use different encoding methods (think AM/FM)

I'd first try changing the channel on the router. 6 is usually the default, so try 1 and then 11. (The fact that nearly all routers default to channel 6 causes interference out of the box should your neighbor have one) If that doesn't work, try turning down the bandwidth. If it's a 802.11g router, dial down the speed from 54 to 11 Mbps, and try channels 1, 6, and 11 again. Sometimes it can be a real mix 'n match game...

For the sake of completeness heres all the available speeds for 802.11g: (all of the DSSS modes up to 11 Mbps are compatible with 802.11b)
1 Mbps (DSSS), 2 Mbps(DSSS), 5.5 Mbps(DSSS), 6 Mbps(OFDM), 9 Mbps(OFDM), 11 Mbps(DSSS), 12 Mbps(OFDM), 18 Mbps(OFDM), 22 Mbps(DSSS), 24 Mbps(OFDM), 33 Mbps(DSSS), 36 Mbps(OFDM), 48 Mbps(OFDM), 54 Mbps(OFDM)

Being that 11 Mbps and 12 Mbps use different encoding methods you can often get different results, even though one might think they would perform nearly the same.

 

[Denis]

read through the router's logs and see when the computer loses and gains ip adress, etc.

 

[augie47]

if nothing else, this forum can humble one :smile:

thanks, guys. my son is the computer "guru" and the one having the problem. as an ole "wire twister" this went over my head quickly....I have forwarded your comments to him and hope to report back.

I am very grateful as I stand here in awe of how much some of you know..makes an old inspector know his place.:smile:

 

[got_nailed]

I had 3 issues with the wireless setup.

1 was using a non wireless router as the primary router and using the wireless as a switch. This will work but will have to reset the wireless a lot.

2 the whole MAC address thing to keep other?s off my connection.

3 was having 2 routers and both were using the same IP range to do there work. One has to be on a different.
192.169.1.1 and 192.169.2.1

 

[petersonra]

i have a wireless router that works fine as long as only one device is talking wirelessly. it just will not work with multiple simultaneous wireless users.

 

[tallgirl]

Consider moving the router UP. This will get it above anything that might be interfering, which is just about everything in a house that uses electricity.

My 802.11g router is about 7' above the floor and works fine. I have wireless phones, a house full of CFLs, all the things that are supposed to cause problems, and nary a problem with the WiFi.

As regards same channel interference, unless you are in a condo, apartment or townhouse, you're too far away for that.

 

[tallgirl]

I had 3 issues with the wireless setup.

1 was using a non wireless router as the primary router and using the wireless as a switch. This will work but will have to reset the wireless a lot.

2 the whole MAC address thing to keep other?s off my connection.

3 was having 2 routers and both were using the same IP range to do there work. One has to be on a different.
192.169.1.1 and 192.169.2.1

First, kudos on the MAC filtering. Just be sure you write down which MAC addresses belong to which devices. That way you don't wind up like me with a WAP full of MAC addresses for wireless NICs I no longer own

The only difference between a router and a switch is that a router spans two or more IP networks. If you have a typical wireless router that has a WAN port and 1 or more LAN ports, plus the WiFi, you can use a single network address range (CIDR block) for the entire network, without having to segment your address range for each wireless access point (WAP). ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) will take care of finding out where the device is. You just ignore the WAN port and use the WAP as an ethernet switch. The wireless devices will act as though they are plugged into the switch as well.

 

[augie47]

solved

solved

thanks for all the input guys...
here's the report from the problem site:
Client has been out of town and unavailable since last report. She says SO has been having problems with the wireless while she was away. This morning I was slow and she called and said it was down so off I went...
Upon arrival I found the laptop reporting no wireless networks in range.
Moved laptop to same desk with router. Placed router less than six inches from laptop and still no wireless networks in range. Tried SO's laptop with same result. Tried my laptop and another customers laptop that I had with me. Same result.
Replaced router. Same result
Changed to Chnl1 - Same result
Changed to Chnl11 - Same result
Client and I started pulling plugs on everything we could find in the house.
Turns out SO had a wireless camera in the bedroom that they failed to mention (I didn't ask why though I am still wondering). Pulled plug on wireless camera and all four laptops could see router at full strength. I also found that the township has a wireless network that is full strength everywhere in her house once the camera was pulled so I changed her router to Chnl1 to hopefully avoid interference from that. So it looks like we had a hipower city network and a "camera gone mad" that were killing the signal
from her router.

 

[got_nailed]

Tallgirl
I know what you?re talking about. We have 2 routers. One wireless and one wired.

At the start we were using the wired off the as the primary and using the wireless as a switch. We were not using the wireless WAN port on the wireless. This led to problems.

We then moved everything around and were using the wireless as the primary and the wired as a switch (not using the WAN) and still had problems.

We then switched it back once we realized that they were both on the 192.169.1. . Once we changed on of them to 192.169.2. We did not have any problems.

The reason were using a wireless and a wired router is because the wired is all the cables go to in the cabinet and the wireless got to much interference.

The wired router is a 16 port and the wireless is an 8 port. We currently have 11 network wired devices and 5 wireless devices. In my understanding for a router to be a router you must us the WAN; if the WAN is not in use it is a switch. But with my setup there is a 50 50 chance of the wired devices coming off the wired router getting its IP, so it is working as a router. It has been to long since I had the networking classes so some where my thinking is way off. I do not assign IP?s to computer but I do to printers and network storage.

So my new understanding is that a router that spans 2 IP ranges is a router and it has nothing to do with the use of a WAN port. The more I type and think about this the more I agree. Not to sound off the wall but thank you for making feel stupid, I think everyone needs it ever once in a wile. ;-)