[SlimDevices: Beginners] Wireless network problems - any pointers?

[Zaragon]

It's a vague memory and I may be thinking of b rather than G but there
is really only the bandwidth for 3 channels say 1, 4 and 7 the
intermediate channels actually overlap so channels 2 and 3 would
overlap 1 and 4.

So if you had three access points you would put them at 1, 4 and 7 or
2, 5 and 8 and so on.

I don't know the modulation scheme so I can't say where the maximum
power occurs in a channel which might allow chosing an appropriate
channel number.

As you appear to only have a limited channel availability it might be
time to upgrade to one with more flexibility. It may also be worth
running a wireless monitor, such as netstumber, on the laptop to see
what channels are occupied around you then you know where to target a
quite channel.

If it is particularly crowded then it may be of advantage to run a mimo
type router which uses antenna steering technology to maximise the
signal to where your devices are located.

You didn't mention what wireless router you were using but I am
partially suspicious about it anyway. Since from memory any router
which automatically scans for a free channel only does so on startup
there seems no reason for other APs to be coming onto your channel
unless people are continuously turning their devices on and off which
most don't.

It is vaguely suggestive of a router problem. It would be interesting
the next time that you have a problem to change the channel to the
channel it is currently on. I have come across problems with a couple
of netgear routers that I had where for some reason the power levels
would drop to the point where I couldn't connect from two feet away.
Just changing the channel, even to the same one it was on, would put it
back. On the other it also seemed to fill it's MAC cache with junk which
seemed to stop devices connecting, turning the radio on and off cleared
it and it would work great until it happened again.


-- 
Zaragon
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