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138 posts

Master Geek


Topic # 110981 21-Oct-2012 20:27 Send private message

I have one of the "old" Standard Telecom Thomson wifi modem/routers, and have been getting a lot of dropouts lately. Now, I want to stress that I'm no expert on this stuff, so will probably use the wrong terminology... I apologise for that in advance - feel free to correct me, but please be nice.

Trying to diagnose this problem, I read something about the channels wifi routers use, and that there's some kind of "overlap" which extends two channels up and two channels down and can cause some "interference". If one is set to channel 1, the overlap extends up to channel 3, and if another is set to channel 6, the overlap extends down to channel 4, so there's no overlap. The article suggested using channels 1, 6 and 11, as there's no overlap between these three channels.

I downloaded the Wifi Analyzer app for my mobile, and noticed that:
(1) I have a couple of neighbours using channel 1, and one using channel 11. The strength of signal on these is reasonably high.
(2) There is another neighbour using channel 10. Looking at the network name I can work out who this one belongs to. It's a few houses away. The signal just pops up occasionally, and is quite weak.
(3) My router was using channel 9. Why 9? No idea. I didn't set that.
I figured I would reset mine to 6 - no overlap with the strong signals, some overlap with the intermittent weak signal, might help with the dropouts.

So I poked around in the Thomson Gateway interface, found the relevant configuration option, and changed the channel to 6.  Wifi Analyzer now shows the signal on channel 6 (stronger than it was on 10, so that's good), but no devices will connect to it now - not my HP Windows desktop, Android phone or the wife's iPad.  I’ve restarted the Thomson, but that didn’t help.

Is there something I need to reset on each device?  Do I need to “forget” the network, and set it up from scratch on each device?  Any ideas?

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368 posts

Ultimate Geek


  Reply # 704485 21-Oct-2012 22:27 Send private message

You seemed to have done feely will describing the configuration. :-)

Out of interest,what model of Thomson modem do you have?

The following is the WiFi configuration for a Thomson TG858v8



On the TG858 after a reconfiguration, check that "allow New Devices" is enabled.
The TG858 doesn't have a range much over 10metres in a house with walls.



138 posts

Master Geek


  Reply # 704503 22-Oct-2012 00:02 Send private message

Hi there
Thanks for helping.  It's a Thomson TG585 v7.

After trying for hours on channel 6 without joy, I just switched to channel 11, and it's working perfectly, so far.  But it is midnight, and my neighbours have probably all gone to bed - let's see what happens in the morning when everybody gets busy.

The setup is as shown (I changed nothing but the channel no. from 6 to 11):


Cheers...

368 posts

Ultimate Geek


  Reply # 704628 22-Oct-2012 12:53 Send private message

And you've cleared the Wireless SSID reference in the Windows Network sharing panel of the PC and rebooted the TG858v7?

This clears any residual ARP/RARP cache.

It should work OK even with WiFi frequency conflict you should be OK when up close.

Can't really think of any show stoppers off hand.

If it was me, I'd bump your security up to WPA2 Personal (PSK) + AES.

This just adds a better level of security.

Also I note your only using 802.11g. I'm not sure if the TG858v7 supported 802.11n, but if it does I'd use it exclusively if you have no 802.11g clients and if you do have 802.11g clients then a mix of 802.11g and 802.11n.

With no 802.11n, this may explain the lack of WPA2 support.





138 posts

Master Geek


  Reply # 704840 22-Oct-2012 22:49 Send private message

It seems the the TG858 v7 - well, mine anyway - doesn't support 802.11n - the options in the dropdon are 802.11b, b(legacy)/g, b/g, or g.

With a security mode of WPA-PSK, the available versions are WPA, WPA2, WPA-PSK, or WPA + WPA2. It doesn't mention AES anywhere.

I rebooted the TG585, but haven't cleared the SSID under network sharing on the PC. I'll try that tomorrow. I really need to crash now - have been washing the outside of the (two storey) house and the inside windows most of today and ache all over and am totally knackered!

Thanks for your help so far though - really very much appreciated!

368 posts

Ultimate Geek


  Reply # 704916 23-Oct-2012 09:29 Send private message

Maybe 802.11n was the kicker for the Thomson TG858v8

It doesn't have to be the Windows PC you clear the SSID reference on, you can use another device which is less strategic to your needs.

An Android device would just need the SSID removed "Forget Network"  and then reconnected.

Have you had a look at the DHCP configuration to make sure it reflects your configured environment.
Shouldn't make any difference as it shouldn't have changed. But....

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

  Reply # 704986 23-Oct-2012 11:17 Send private message

Yes, 'n' came in with the V8.

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