My Wireless SUCKS.

By fintechfooty
in Smart Home, Network & Security

 Share

Recommended Posts

Experienced

fintechfooty

Posted
Posted

Alright, so I don't live in a mansion, but don't live in a townhouse I live in a normal house. 4 bedrooms 4 bathrooms a garage yeah.

I have been experiencing the worst WiFi experience in my house since I was a kid. When I go upstairs, my Wifi connection drops to 2 bars on Windows or sometimes doesn't work at all. Then randomly it will go back to 5 and work like a charm for half an hour, and stop again. People have explained that changing channel frequency will work, so I tried that...didn't work. Then I tried buying a Wireless N adapter to connect and still the same thing happens! I've had a Microsoft router, Linksys and Shaw, and all three, be it on Wireless B/G/N show similar connection issues.

Does anyone have an idea as to what might be blocking the signal? A friend suggested maybe my phone was running on the same frequency and they were cancelling out? But again I've tried almost every single channel.

Do I really have to go out and buy a $200, 60 antenna router?! I mean I don't mind but I don't like spending more money than I REALLY have too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

+BudMan MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

And what house phone do you have? If it runs on 2.4 then yes it can be a problem - does not matter what wireless channel you run on your still in the 2.4 band.

You mention N, did you try running it on 5Ghz?

Buying some wireless usb adapter prob not going to help you much - normally the antennas on those blow.

Fireup say inssider or a wifi analyzer on your mobile phone or laptop and look to see what channels are in use - you just moving channels around does nothing if you don't know what channels are in use. There are 3 channels that do not overlap, 1, 6 and 11 -- moving to say 5 or 10 is not going to get you anything.

Where is your wireless router located? Is it the center of the house? What kind of construction is your house, is it just drywall and wood like here in the US or is freaking bombshelter type brick and steel in the walls?

if you have bad coverage areas in the house vs going out and buying some extreme router - can you put better antennas on your current model? You may need to run a few more AP vs trying to cover your whole house 1 one (your router) -- Run a wire from your current router to low coverage areas in the house and connect another wireless router (setup as AP) or true AP. Going out and spending $300 on some top shelf router doesn't mean your going to get better coverage.

Understand the interference you have, and where the weak coverage areas are and placing a AP to cover that area is a better solution than trying to cover the whole space with just 1 AP. Grab http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/ and walk around your place and document what signal strength you get around your house - and then post this and we can work out the best solution for you. Since it seems your router supports N, and you have N client -- can you run 5 or just 2.4? If you can run 5ghz --- do the same test for both freqs.

  • fintechfooty
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Enthusiast

mr_sock_00

Posted
Posted

Alright, so I don't live in a mansion, but don't live in a townhouse I live in a normal house. 4 bedrooms 4 bathrooms a garage yeah.

I have been experiencing the worst WiFi experience in my house since I was a kid. When I go upstairs, my Wifi connection drops to 2 bars on Windows or sometimes doesn't work at all. Then randomly it will go back to 5 and work like a charm for half an hour, and stop again. People have explained that changing channel frequency will work, so I tried that...didn't work. Then I tried buying a Wireless N adapter to connect and still the same thing happens! I've had a Microsoft router, Linksys and Shaw, and all three, be it on Wireless B/G/N show similar connection issues.

Does anyone have an idea as to what might be blocking the signal? A friend suggested maybe my phone was running on the same frequency and they were cancelling out? But again I've tried almost every single channel.

Do I really have to go out and buy a $200, 60 antenna router?! I mean I don't mind but I don't like spending more money than I REALLY have too.

In this case, try to hook up your internet using Powerline. There's many brands to choose from (linksys, belkin, netgear etc). I use it and it's great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

Posted
Posted

I would first try unplugging your phone(s). That should be a simple way to rule those out.

Also, as was also suggested, run the router in the 5Ghz spectrum. Honestly that should solve most interference/range problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Proficient

srbeen

Posted
Posted

I had this scenario where wifi appeared to work fine then crapped out. I reset my router to factory settings and reconfigured it and it worked fine. From what I could tell it 'got full'. Firmware upgrade usually does the same thing. After doing this every week, I got frustrated.

As for the router, do some research if you are buying one. I highly recommend any that run DD-WRT with a good amount of RAM onboard, or the netgear 3700/4500. Rock friggen solid. in 6 months I had to login via hardwire to the router and disable/enable the wifi to 'fix' it. Hasn't been unplugged yet. also does 5GHz connection - less range but better throughput.

My microwave would kick out my 2.4GHz signal as well. new Netgear that don't happen, and 5GHz ensures it too! I think it has to do with it being dual/tri-band (so 2-3 connections to the router at once)

You may want to get something like wireshark or the linux distro backtrack, which will show you whats active in your wifi vacinity. Which channels are most in use, how much power they are outputting (if neighbour outputs 1W on the same channel you're donig 250mW at, you will be booted)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Crisp

Posted
Posted

Do you have DD-WRT running?

DD-WRT sucks for wireless. Did Microsoft use to make routers?

Microwaves are another pain in the arse when it comes to WIFI. Try to avoid USB adpaters, they seem to have the worse coverage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

*RedBull*

Posted
Posted

I use a Linksys Wireless G, and it does fairly well. I have two cordless phone at 2.4ghz and there's my two cell phones. I don't get interference issues on any. I did have to add a longer antennae on my router and place it is a more central location. But works great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

*RedBull*

Posted
Posted

If you mean the Router...http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/linksys-wrt54gc-compact-wireless/4505-3319_7-31337781.html

If you read the reviews, I have no problems. Sometimes needs rebooting. But ususally just connect/disconnect will solve connection issues. Doesn't happen often. I got two of em. one used off of ebay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Experienced

fintechfooty

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Okay so I will buy a new router because the router I currently have is running at 2437Ghz with my phone running at 5.8Ghz. Should the phone be a problem?

what model you use?

I currently use a 'stock' one I received with Shaw Communications. It is Cisco and as I understand their one of the top dogs in Wifi? But I mean then again I'm just using the router that my ISP provided me with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.