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kampana
join:2011-12-30
Danville, CA

kampana

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Wireless interference by neighbors?

Hi all,

We live in a subdivision where everyone has the same U-verse modem. Every night, starting around 7pm, our wireless-only internet speed slows to a crawl, I can't even get it measured. Our wired LAN, however, is chugging along just fine.

I was told by an AT&T technician that because everyone in the neighborhood has the exact same modem, there's no way to fix this problem. His suggestion was to change the wireless channels and find one that isn't as clogged.

Unfortunately changing the channels only partially fixes the issue, only channel 1 will work because I believe it's provides the smallest radius of service; we can't connect to the modem in 1/3 of the house. It's not really an acceptable solution.

All that being said, is this just how it's going to be? Is there no way to bypass the clogged channels?

Thanks all,
Kampana
Henderson50
join:2005-01-16
Chicago, IL

Henderson50

Member

I very recently got Uverse installed and set up the wireless using InSSIDer to help me choose the best channel with the least interference. The first post in this thread at the AT&T forums explains it all very nicely.

Do a speed test after you change the channel to verify it's a good choice. Although channels 1-5 were virtually empty of interference in my neighborhood, channel 4 gave me the best speeds with the wireless PC getting the same upload/download speeds as the wired PC.

Also it might help if you reduce the power level from 100. I'm at 90 with the NVG510 modem/gateway and I have excellent signal strength anywhere within the house.
retired17
Premium Member
join:2007-01-24
Anaheim, CA

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You could try plugging in a 802.11a router into one of your modem ports. It operates at 5 gHz which has less interference. Also you have to upgrade your computer.

AnonMan
@sbcglobal.net

AnonMan

Anon

I think the real issue is that by default AT&T lets these routers use full power. Most people can have good coverage at 50% power as 2wire already uses higher power compared to most wifi routers.

I can see about 8 or 9 uverse devices from my house. Thats sad, our houses are not close and up together also, they are a good 10 feet apart each and the ones behind and in front at a good 100+ feet away.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

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Download inSSIDer here: »www.metageek.net/product ··· nssider/

Scan, and see which channels are in your direct vicinity. Find a channel no one is using, or if all channels are being used find the one with the lowest signal.

Then, configure your U-Verse GW to use that channel.

Forosnai
join:2011-09-30

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Re: Wireless interference b neighbors?

The best solution would be to use a program like inssider, or install a similar wifi analyzer app on a mobile phone and tweak your wifi channel on this page »192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=C_2_1
The phone apps work better cause you can move around your residence and tweak the position of the RG and monitor the strength much easier.
Alternatively you could purchase any one of these
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· eSize=20
The setup is super simple to use it as your main wireless access point, and you can use the 5Ghz band to completely avoid all your neighbors using the freebie wifi.
kampana
join:2011-12-30
Danville, CA

kampana

Member

Hi all,

Thank you all for your suggestions and help, I greatly appreciate it.

In the last couple of weeks I have done the following:
- Used inSSIDer to locate unused channels
- Limited my router to 90% power or less
- Hid my SSID and changed my password
- Received a brand new 2wire modem/router combo from ATT

Unfortunately, nothing has changed. When 6PM rolls around on weekdays, and 9pm on weekends, our WiFi connection drops off drastically. I have to change channels and/reset the 2Wire every 10-15 minutes; even then the best speed I can get is 3Mbps and after about 10 minutes, it drops to less than 1Mbps or fails to connect to the speedtest server.

All that said, will attaching a router to the 2Wire solve the issue? I noticed on inSSIDer that the channels go up to 14, the 2Wire modems AT&T use only go up to 11. Would buying a router that has 14 channels or more solve our issue?

Thanks again all. My family and I have grown increasingly frustrated since we installed U-verse. We're really hoping we find some sort of solution, it really looks like the solution would be found here if anywhere.
Secyurityet
Premium Member
join:2012-01-07
untied state

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Re: Wireless interference by neighbors?

Wire your house with cat5e or cat6 cable, and use a series of gigabit ethernet switches to tie the rooms together.

I'm living a blissful wifi-free experience.

TheDuck6
join:2003-06-22
Eastlake, OH

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Set the router back to auto and let it decide which channel to use. The best/worst channel changes constantly so the one you choose now will be different in five minutes. You need to do more on diagnosis on interference in your house to determine the interference. Signals from your neighbors will be much weaker than yours so will not interfere that much.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

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ATT modems/routers (2wire especially) do not have that strong of signal.
I dont know why someone told you to go to 90%, you should have it set to 100% if you are not getting good coverage.
If you cant get good coverage at 100% you need a wifi repeater or maybe even 2 if it is that congested across your house. Getting a better wifi router that has a stronger signal could also work.
WDS repeaters will make a seamless network across your house.

My friend has 2wire and it would barely make it from the basement through the wood floor to the 1st floor at 100%.
I have a feelling that inSSIDer show free channels or some with little congestion.

If that 2wire is not WDS compatable. Then you need to buy a new router that is WDS compatable and then a WDS repeater.
»www.google.com/search?q= ··· &bih=655

For my uverse setup, I have the motorola uverse modem hooked up to a linksys e3000 router running dd-wrt firmware. That gives excellent coverage.
But I can use a repeater with it if needed.
My uncle has used a wrt54g with a wrt g range extender that hangs on the power outlet for about 6 years.

A wifi signal can only go so far without breaking down too much. The router might cover everything but your devices are too weak. One or two repeaters in your house could easily fix this.
kampana
join:2011-12-30
Danville, CA

kampana

Member

Just wanted to close out this issue, thank you everyone that helped us.

AT&T provided us with a newer version of the modem/router, it's actually helped a bit with the disconnects/interference we've been having. We've also switched back to auto-select for channel selections.

We're still getting slow-downs and disconnects from time to time, but no where near as bad as it was last month. That said, we'll probably drastically reduce our download speed as we're still not getting the 12 mbps we're paying for.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

You should check to see the wifi rate/speed you are connecting at. If interference is high you might be only gettting a slow wifi connection of 1mpbs or 5 mbps or something else less than 12 mbps so your wifi could be choking your connection. You can check the connection speed from right clicking your Wifi connection in the control panel and selecting "status" it will say the connect rate.
You should also run a speed test from a computer directly connected to the router/modem with ethernet.

If you really have interference it could be worth it to run an ethernet line across your house and setup a 2nd wifi router or to use a new router (with wds feature) and put a wifi repeater halfway across your house.

As I said the ATT modems with built in wifi are very weak even at 100%, they do not go far through floors and walls.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

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said by kampana:

Just wanted to close out this issue, thank you everyone that helped us ... That said, we'll probably drastically reduce our download speed as we're still not getting the 12 mbps we're paying for.

You should really take some of the good advice folks have given you here. Go get an "N" router/access point. It'll allow you to move you into the (hopefully) less crowded 5.8ghz band. It's also just faster, so you could go all the way up to 24mbps internet and still be able to enjoy full speed through wireless.

Your problem may not be other wifi routers. There are other things in the 2.4ghz band that can wreak havoc. Cordless phones, baby monitors, wireless outdoor speakers to name a few.

InvisiBill
join:2004-12-01
Saranac, MI

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Re: Wireless interference b neighbors?

said by kampana:

All that said, will attaching a router to the 2Wire solve the issue? I noticed on inSSIDer that the channels go up to 14, the 2Wire modems AT&T use only go up to 11. Would buying a router that has 14 channels or more solve our issue?

In the US, only channels 1-11 are legally allowed. »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li ··· channels Switching to 12-14 will most likely provide less interference (as nobody else should be using it), but some hardware simply won't support those channels (since you're not supposed to be using them). Your devices may simply stop seeing your router at all. I tried it once in a crowded apartment complex and ran into this issue.
said by kampana:

Thanks again all. My family and I have grown increasingly frustrated since we installed U-verse. We're really hoping we find some sort of solution, it really looks like the solution would be found here if anywhere.

Keep in mind that your issues are with the Wi-Fi connection between your devices and the router, not with the U-verse internet connection itself. As you said, the wired devices are fine. However, if the U-verse requires that you use a particular router which is causing those problems, then the problem is indirectly caused by the U-verse (more specifically, AT&T's policies regarding hardware related to U-verse). It still results in a poor experience for you, but there is a difference between having a crappy internet connection and having a good internet connection that requires you to use a crappy router.
InvisiBill

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Re: Wireless interference by neighbors?

said by djrobx:

You should really take some of the good advice folks have given you here. Go get an "N" router/access point. It'll allow you to move you into the (hopefully) less crowded 5.8ghz band. It's also just faster, so you could go all the way up to 24mbps internet and still be able to enjoy full speed through wireless.

Note that 802.11n works on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. Simply buying an "N" access point will not guarantee that you're getting off the 2.4GHz band.

If you do switch to a 5GHz AP, be aware that you'll also need to use 5GHz devices. For example, the iPhone 4 has 802.11n, but only supports 2.4GHz. It is physically unable to connect to a 5GHz AP, as it only has a 2.4GHz radio. You would need a 2.4GHz AP (either use the existing router or make sure the new one is simultaneous dual-band) for devices that aren't able to use 5GHz (e.g. you can't just upgrade the Wi-Fi in an iPhone).

Not that it really matters for average end users, but 5GHz 802.11n actually uses frequencies between 5.150 and 5.725GHz. 5.8GHz is used in cordless phones and specialty systems like Motorola's Canopy. Just a minor correction.

A 54Mbps 802.11g connection should support actual data transfers of ~22Mbps, so even with a 24Mbps internet connection, a good 802.11g connection could be enough. But with 802.11n (even on 2.4GHz), you're more likely to ensure that your Wi-Fi connection is faster than your internet connection, and not bottlenecking you.
said by djrobx:

Your problem may not be other wifi routers. There are other things in the 2.4ghz band that can wreak havoc. Cordless phones, baby monitors, wireless outdoor speakers to name a few.

This is very true. At a restaurant near work, the Wi-Fi would drop every time the cordless phone (also 2.4GHz) rang. Microwaves are also in this range and can cause problems.
EOLonline
join:2007-01-17
Atlanta, GA

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If it's 6:00PM every day, it's probably somebody using a microwave oven next door, upstairs, whatever -or maybe even you in your own kitchen.

A router or wireless PC is working with very low power, while a typical "sealed" microwave oven is probably leaking several times that much energy, and it falls dead on top of the 2.4GHz wifi band. Test it yourself by using a wifi laptop near an oven that is idle and not cooking, and then cook something. You should see the wifi fall off a cliff.

Switching to a 802.11A/N 5GHz wifi setup would resolve it, or perhaps you could install some extra WAPs at different spots on your wired network.