Is this 2.4Ghz Congestion Problematic?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Is this 2.4Ghz Congestion Problematic?

MikeAqua

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#205682 23-Nov-2016 10:22

My WiFi keeps dropping out (on 3 separate devices). I'm in an apartment building where 90% of people get their Internet from the same company and they only provide 2.4Ghz routers.

Looks crowded to me, but I have no expertise in this area. Could this congestion be the cause of my issues

Mike

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#1675884 23-Nov-2016 10:43

I can't give you an exact answer.

We look after a professional services firm located in the Auckland CBD on Level 5 of a building, and you can imagine the WiFI Analyzer picture would be similar to yours. There are a dozen quality laptop users on high quality wireless gear, but the throughput is rubbish (accessing files on the server is slow) and dropouts are not uncommon. I've been practically begging them to authorise cabling to be installed to as many of the laptops as possible.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

MikeAqua

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#1675890 23-Nov-2016 10:59

I'm thinking

1) Try channel 7 - looks to have the weakest traffic.

2) Failing that buy a 5ghz AP. 5Ghz has very little traffic.

Mike

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#1675923 23-Nov-2016 11:03

Makes good sense to me. Or channel 13, but you may have some gear made for the US market that cannot support channel 12 and 13.

If you can cable up a 5GHz router you should have much less interference. It is becoming more common for ISP-supplier routers to have 5GHz capability so that may not last for much longer.

I never though about this down-side to apartment living.

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RunningMan

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#1676008 23-Nov-2016 13:28

MikeAqua:

Looks crowded to me, but I have no expertise in this area. Could this congestion be the cause of my issues

Yes. There's a lot of overlapping channels there all competing for the same airtime. Probably compounded by people upping the transmit power on their routers to try and shout over the top of everyone else. Go 5GHz or wired if you can.

MikeAqua

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#1676105 23-Nov-2016 14:33

Can anyone recommend a good (and idiot proof) 5Ghz AP?

Mike

MikeAqua

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#1676710 24-Nov-2016 13:21

Sorted (for now) by 5Ghz capable Wifi wired to modem.

Mike

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RUKI

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#1676729 24-Nov-2016 14:27

Dynamic:

Makes good sense to me. Or channel 13, but you may have some gear made for the US market that cannot support channel 12 and 13.

If you can cable up a 5GHz router you should have much less interference. It is becoming more common for ISP-supplier routers to have 5GHz capability so that may not last for much longer.

I never though about this down-side to apartment living.

Welcome to the nightmares of the new Unitary Plan in Auckland! I guess boys you soon will have a lot of business to do.

My neghbourhood in Greenlane once had 3-4 APs and lately with a lot of rentals around - dosens of WiFi and my connection is dropping few times a day. Lan cables are still at my fingertips to plug and avoid that nonsense but that is not cool. Not sure if I have any 5Ghz capable gear

MikeAqua

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#1677547 25-Nov-2016 18:09

RUKI:

My neghbourhood in Greenlane once had 3-4 APs and lately with a lot of rentals around - dosens of WiFi and my connection is dropping few times a day. Lan cables are still at my fingertips to plug and avoid that nonsense but that is not cool. Not sure if I have any 5Ghz capable gear

I've got everything than can be hard wired, but some device that just isn't possible.

Mike