Is there any way to auto-detect, and automatically switch to a free wireless channel?
July 17, 2011 5:52 PM Subscribe
Is there any way to auto-detect, and automatically switch to a free wireless channel?
I live in a townhouse complex, as well as across the street from an apartment building and two office complexes.
There are *a lot* of wireless networks in the neighbourhood, so much so that my laptops often drop own wireless internet signal.
For a while I was able to solve the problem by logging into my wireless router (a Linksys Wireless N model) and changing the channel to "11" or whatever, but over the past couple of days no channel seems to be free.
Basically, every 10 minutes I'll have to login to the router and change the channel.
I've gone from 1 to 11, and the signal still keeps getting dropped.
It's not an issue with my broadband internet connection or my router, or my wireless adaptor or firmware etc.
My wireless signal is protected with WPA2.
I live in a townhouse complex, as well as across the street from an apartment building and two office complexes.
There are *a lot* of wireless networks in the neighbourhood, so much so that my laptops often drop own wireless internet signal.
For a while I was able to solve the problem by logging into my wireless router (a Linksys Wireless N model) and changing the channel to "11" or whatever, but over the past couple of days no channel seems to be free.
Basically, every 10 minutes I'll have to login to the router and change the channel.
I've gone from 1 to 11, and the signal still keeps getting dropped.
It's not an issue with my broadband internet connection or my router, or my wireless adaptor or firmware etc.
My wireless signal is protected with WPA2.
Response by poster: Also, if you don't really use N mode, force it to channel 13, technically slightly outside the legal range in the US but no one will notice or care.
How would I do that?
posted by KokuRyu at 6:01 PM on July 17, 2011
How would I do that?
posted by KokuRyu at 6:01 PM on July 17, 2011
Best answer: My router does that automatically unless you override it. It's a feature in some newer routers, but it's not required by the spec, and if your router is old, or cheap, then you're stuck doing it manually.
If all the 2.4 GHz channels are overloaded, maybe you should get a 5 GHz router -- assuming your computers also support the higher band.
Also, this free Windows program may be helpful. It gives you a beautiful view of what's going on, so you don't have to stumble around in the dark guessing.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:02 PM on July 17, 2011
If all the 2.4 GHz channels are overloaded, maybe you should get a 5 GHz router -- assuming your computers also support the higher band.
Also, this free Windows program may be helpful. It gives you a beautiful view of what's going on, so you don't have to stumble around in the dark guessing.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:02 PM on July 17, 2011
Another thing to try is to relocate your router to a different area of the townhouse, or get a more directional antenna. The idea would be to locate the router between you and the offending others.
(RE 5ghz: I thought that was inherent in the wireless N standard?)
posted by gjc at 6:32 PM on July 17, 2011
(RE 5ghz: I thought that was inherent in the wireless N standard?)
posted by gjc at 6:32 PM on July 17, 2011
Response by poster: I downloaded SSID Insider as Choco P suggested; I discovered that virtually every channel from 1-11 is occupied by more than one network. I chose "Channel 8", which is used by one other network.
The signal is still getting dropped. I guess I will have to take gjc's suggestion and move the damn router.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:15 PM on July 17, 2011
The signal is still getting dropped. I guess I will have to take gjc's suggestion and move the damn router.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:15 PM on July 17, 2011
Response by poster: The "higher" the value, the weaker the signal, right? I chose a new channel occupied by just one other router/network. My router's RSSI is -44; the other network's RSSI is -78. This should work, right?
posted by KokuRyu at 7:57 PM on July 17, 2011
posted by KokuRyu at 7:57 PM on July 17, 2011
RE 5ghz: I thought that was inherent in the wireless N standard?
Nope.
posted by flabdablet at 9:01 PM on July 17, 2011
Nope.
posted by flabdablet at 9:01 PM on July 17, 2011
What's probably happened is that most of the routers in your neighbourhood are still using their default channel hopping settings, and that in the last couple of days somebody has added another one; this last straw has broken the camel's back, and that instead of settling on an optimal pattern of channel use, the network of interfering routers is now hopping chaotically.
If this is so, then for the last few days everybody in your apartment complex has had crappy wifi. It might pay you to go knocking on some neighbour's doors and find out if this is in fact the case. If it is, then you can probably fix it by working out a co-operative pattern of channel assignments and router transmitter powers. Ideally, everybody should be using the minimum transmitter power they need to achieve reliable connectivity inside their own apartments, all apartments should use fixed channels, and the closer any two apartments are physically, the further apart should be the channels they use.
In Japan, you should all be using channel 1, 5, 9 or 13.
If the design of your apartment block approximates a 2D grid of rectangular cells, the following layout is about as good as you'll get:
posted by flabdablet at 9:26 PM on July 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
If this is so, then for the last few days everybody in your apartment complex has had crappy wifi. It might pay you to go knocking on some neighbour's doors and find out if this is in fact the case. If it is, then you can probably fix it by working out a co-operative pattern of channel assignments and router transmitter powers. Ideally, everybody should be using the minimum transmitter power they need to achieve reliable connectivity inside their own apartments, all apartments should use fixed channels, and the closer any two apartments are physically, the further apart should be the channels they use.
In Japan, you should all be using channel 1, 5, 9 or 13.
If the design of your apartment block approximates a 2D grid of rectangular cells, the following layout is about as good as you'll get:
1 13 5 9 1 13 5 9 1 13 5 9 5 9 1 13 5 9 1 13 5 9 1 13 1 13 5 9 1 13 5 9 1 13 5 9 5 9 1 13 5 9 1 13 5 9 1 13The layout assumes that propagation from floor to floor is attenuated more than propagation through walls, which will generally be true for antennas oriented vertically.
posted by flabdablet at 9:26 PM on July 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Wow, thanks a lot. BTW, I am actually located in Canada, not Japan these days.
Anyway, it might pay to see if some of our neighbours are having crappy WiFi. inSSIDer shows me that many of the networks are frequently jumping to new channels, which seems to indicate your theory.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:49 PM on July 17, 2011
Anyway, it might pay to see if some of our neighbours are having crappy WiFi. inSSIDer shows me that many of the networks are frequently jumping to new channels, which seems to indicate your theory.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:49 PM on July 17, 2011
You are located in a very difficult wi-fi environment. Moving to the 5ghz band will be your easiest way out. Dual-band wireless routers and adapters are readily available. Headache solved.
posted by exphysicist345 at 10:43 PM on July 17, 2011
posted by exphysicist345 at 10:43 PM on July 17, 2011
OK, so in Canada you're not supposed to use channel 13, and if a quarter of your apartment block does so it might cause some grief. The non-overlapping channels are 1, 6 and 11, which you can grid like this:
posted by flabdablet at 10:44 PM on July 17, 2011
1 11 6 1 11 6 1 11 6 1 11 6 6 1 11 6 1 11 6 1 11 6 1 11 11 6 1 11 6 1 11 6 1 11 6 1It might also be worth experimenting with a four-channel grid, at the cost of rather more near-channel overlap:
1 11 4 8 1 11 4 8 1 11 4 8 4 8 1 11 4 8 1 11 4 8 1 11 1 11 4 8 1 11 4 8 1 11 4 8 4 8 1 11 4 8 1 11 4 8 1 11
posted by flabdablet at 10:44 PM on July 17, 2011
The absolute best fix for this, by the way, is to abandon wireless altogether and just put Ethernet outlets near the places where you use your computers. Can't beat the reliability and security of a good solid chunk of wire.
posted by flabdablet at 2:10 AM on July 18, 2011
posted by flabdablet at 2:10 AM on July 18, 2011
KokuRyu : How would I do that?
Most routers have a country selection dropdown (which doesn't usually change the language from English, it just sets which channels the local regulations allow you to pick). You would have to pick Japan, where they allow channel 13 (as flabdablet pointed out).
In some cases, you might actually need to download a Japanese version of the firmware, I don't know if I'd recommend going that far just to gain two extra channels.
Then, in your settings, you just pick 13. Voila, no one except geeks, and even then only geeks willing to slightly violate the law, will directly interfere with you. You still might get a little overlap from channel 11, but you'll basically have the spectrum to yourself.
posted by pla at 4:33 AM on July 18, 2011
Most routers have a country selection dropdown (which doesn't usually change the language from English, it just sets which channels the local regulations allow you to pick). You would have to pick Japan, where they allow channel 13 (as flabdablet pointed out).
In some cases, you might actually need to download a Japanese version of the firmware, I don't know if I'd recommend going that far just to gain two extra channels.
Then, in your settings, you just pick 13. Voila, no one except geeks, and even then only geeks willing to slightly violate the law, will directly interfere with you. You still might get a little overlap from channel 11, but you'll basically have the spectrum to yourself.
posted by pla at 4:33 AM on July 18, 2011
Oh, and on posting - Seconding flabdablet. As a geek myself, I use 100% wired whenever possible. Wireless has so many problems, really not worth bothering with unless you have no choice.
posted by pla at 4:34 AM on July 18, 2011
posted by pla at 4:34 AM on July 18, 2011
Response by poster: Hi there, just to report back:
It's been several days, and Chocolate Pickle's advice has worked. It took a little fiddling, but I have seemed to have found a channel (7) that no other routers are using... for now.
My internet connection has also improved significantly as well... for now.
While I may try to organize a neighbourhood committee (we have a trash problem that management won't address), trying to assign router channels by household probably just won't happen.
I'm going to look into purchasing a newer 5 ghz router, or simply switching to ethernet.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:32 AM on July 22, 2011
It's been several days, and Chocolate Pickle's advice has worked. It took a little fiddling, but I have seemed to have found a channel (7) that no other routers are using... for now.
My internet connection has also improved significantly as well... for now.
While I may try to organize a neighbourhood committee (we have a trash problem that management won't address), trying to assign router channels by household probably just won't happen.
I'm going to look into purchasing a newer 5 ghz router, or simply switching to ethernet.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:32 AM on July 22, 2011
Best answer: Ethernet beats any wireless arrangement hands down for speed as well as security and reliability; if you've got more than one computer and you'll ever want to transfer files between them, do it with wires.
posted by flabdablet at 10:16 AM on July 23, 2011
posted by flabdablet at 10:16 AM on July 23, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also, if you don't really use N mode, force it to channel 13, technically slightly outside the legal range in the US but no one will notice or care. You'll never have another problem... Until someone else does the same ;)
posted by pla at 5:56 PM on July 17, 2011