Changing the Wireless Channel does WONDERS.

[The Pentium Guy]

For years I've suffered from crappy wireless signal. Router's in the basement and this computer's upstairs.... I used to get Very Low or Low signal, never getting Fair, Good, Very Good, or Excellent .

I changed the channel from 6 to 1. Voila. The default that ships with every router is 6, so if you have a lot of less-than-tech-savvy neighbors around they could be interfering with you.... nevermind cell phones, cordless phones, and remotes.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[austin316]

haha. I'll need to check this out.

 

[ArJuN]

How is this done..?

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: ArJuN
How is this done..?

some routers have the option in the http menus, some don't.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: ArJuN
How is this done..?

Router config page. Usually 192.168.2.1 or 1.1 or 0.1 - depends on the router though...

I also found that in the wireless adapter properties, under Wireless Networks, select your network and hit properties. If you go to the Authentication tab and uncheck "Enable IEEE 802.01x authentication" the dropped connection problem goes away. I googled this and verified.

Try different channels. They range from 1 to 11. 1 won't overlap with 6, which won't overlap with 11, so I'd try 1,6, and 11 then deviate from there...

Also my friend showed me, if you get custom firmware for your Linksys WRT router you can set the channel from 1 to 15... and increase the xMit rate from the default 20mW to a maximum of 120mW, which supposedly helps.

 

[BillGates]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Originally posted by: ArJuN
How is this done..?

Router config page. Usually 192.168.2.1 or 1.1 or 0.1 - depends on the router though...

I also found that in the wireless adapter properties, under Wireless Networks, select your network and hit properties. If you go to the Authentication tab and uncheck "Enable IEEE 802.01x authentication" the dropped connection problem goes away. I googled this and verified.

Try different channels. They range from 1 to 11. 1 won't overlap with 6, which won't overlap with 11, so I'd try 1,6, and 11 then deviate from there...

Also my friend showed me, if you get custom firmware for your Linksys WRT router you can set the channel from 1 to 15... and increase the xMit rate from the default 20mW to a maximum of 120mW, which supposedly helps.

DD-WRT is sweet firmware for the Linksys WRT series plus a handful of others.

Default Xmit power is 28mW, max with DD-WRT is 251. Mine is set to a conservative 34 right now - no real signal issues right now.

 

[DaWhim]

what does IEEE 802.01x authentication do?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

DD-WRT is sweet firmware for the Linksys WRT series plus a handful of others.

Default Xmit power is 28mW, max with DD-WRT is 251. Mine is set to a conservative 34 right now - no real signal issues right now.

I wish I had that router though... I played with that firmware at my friend's house, it's impressive. I guess LinkSys released their source code to the public (they had to, due to some licensing) so there's a lot of firmware available for it.

I can't seem to find anything similar to DD-WRT for the Microsoft MN-500 router though... let alone firmware updates from Microsoft as they simply dropped support for it.

 

[razor2025]

Word of warning of those who's tempted to up the Xmit power on WRT54g with custom firmware. Anything above 70mW is going to strain the router and unsafe without additional cooling. Setting is to 251mW is screaming for dead router in seconds.

 

[cessna152]

You're really not supposed to use the channels above 11

FCC black vans will surround your house and blow up your router!

 

[ATLien247]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
what does IEEE 802.01x authentication do?

Not sure what 802.01x does, but 802.1x gives you Layer 2 (or port-based) access control.

I only know a few people that use 802.1x at home, and they are hardcore network security geeks.

 

[EKKC]

it works a lot better for people in apartments or crowded neighborhoods, if you have some kind of a custom client (like intels) on your computer, search for other access poiints and see what channel they are using, find the unused channel (hopefully no conflicts with mouse, phones, bluetooth, or wireless controllers) and it will be much better