interference between wireless devices

August 26, 2005 3:22 AM

Is there a way to avoid a wireless router interfering with the signal from a wireless audio-video transmitter?

I have one of those video transmitters that broadcast the tv signal from a satellite receiver to another room. After I got wireless broadband, I noticed that when both are active the wireless router interferes with the video receiver, causing noise and the tv picture to "bounce" with lines in the middle. So I can't use both at the same time.

The router is a Belkin 802.11g (this one), the audio-video transmitter is a few year's old, I've seen newer models but I suppose they'd work the same, right?

So is the interference simply unavoidable? Or are there any video transmitters that would not create this problem? Or any other solution or workaround?

Thanks in advance!

posted by funambulist to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

802.11b and 802.11g WiFi equipment (including your Belkin router) operate in the 2.4 GHz band and since you are experiencing interference with your audio-video transmitter, I assume it also operates in the 2.4 GHz band. Basically, you've either got to change the frequency your wireless network operates at, or change the frequency at which you transmit your video. I've seen 900 Mhz video transmitters, but due to bandwidth issues they generally have poorer video quality the then ones that operate at 2.4 GHz. The other option would be to replace your wireless network equipment with 802.11a equipment, which operates at 5 GHz (for example, the Linksys WRT55AG with 802.11g disabled and a matching wireless adapter).
posted by RichardP at 3:55 AM on August 26, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks RichardP. Yes you're right, the video transmitter is also 2.4 Ghz, hadn't thought about checking that...
See, I would rather avoid having to get another wireless router, I got this one cheap off ebay and it works great, and besides my computer is an ibook with built in airport card and as far as I know it cannot work at 802.11a, at least from the tech specs it says only 802.11g and 802.11b. So I guess that's really not an option for me.

On the other hand I don't have a problem in changing the video receiver. So if I can find one with any other frequency than 2.4 Ghz I should be ok?
posted by funambulist at 4:40 AM on August 26, 2005

Response by poster: erm, nevermind, I just found the solution and I don't need to change anything! I came across this model that still uses a 2.4 band but says "Multiple transmission channels allow you to select the best signal possible, as well as eliminate interference with other household products that may also use 2.4GHz technology." So I thought, hang on, I actually have 4 channels on the transmitter I'm using, and I had no idea what that was for before reading that bit... so after switching between all four channels on both transmitter and receiver, I found one where there's no interference. Yay.

Sorry for asking the question before checking more thoroughly, I really had no idea it was that simple.
posted by funambulist at 4:51 AM on August 26, 2005

On the other hand I don't have a problem in changing the video receiver. So if I can find one with any other frequency than 2.4 Ghz I should be ok?"

Yes, but like I mentioned earlier, I'd probably avoid the 900 MHz video transmitters. A quick search turned up this 5.8 GHz A/V transmitter. Also, if you have a cordless telephone, make sure you avoid its frequency band as well (cordless telephones usually operate in the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz bands).
posted by RichardP at 4:55 AM on August 26, 2005

Oops, I didn't notice that you'd already found a solution before I posted my previous post. To be honest, I assumed your existing transmitter used the entire band since you didn't mention that it supported multiple channels (802.11b/g breaks the 2.4 GHz band into 11 channels, but requires 3 channels of separation, so in practice it uses 1/4 of the band). Some 2.4 GHz video transmitters use the entire band, so I'm glad to hear that you have a model that supports multiple channels.
posted by RichardP at 5:02 AM on August 26, 2005

Response by poster: RichardP: I just had never paid attention to those channels because I'd never had any other wireless devices! I really am a bit clueless about this stuff. :)
Thanks you for answering though, what you said helped me find that bit of information that prompted me to test the other channels.
posted by funambulist at 8:32 AM on August 26, 2005

You should be able to change the channel on your wireless router, too. There are 11 channels in the US; most default to channel 6.
posted by zsazsa at 8:38 AM on August 26, 2005