Wifi issues - when several users connected

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coffeebaron

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#93091 14-Nov-2011 10:10

Hi All, having an issues with a WiFi network once several users are connected; 5-6+ users, sometimes less. Laptops / Mac books etc start having difficulty connecting, or drop out, or go real slow etc.
This is in the city where multiple WiFi networks surround. I have picked the most quiet channel and have swapped to a different brand / model (Cisco SRP527 --> TP Link TL-WA901ND).
Using mixed mode N+G+B, WPA2 AES+TKIP.

Any suggestions? Is this just overcrowding from neighbours? Can a WiFi router only be expected to support say 5 users?

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sbiddle

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#545016 14-Nov-2011 10:16

What is the signal strength like for all users? Are there users connecting with very low signal strength bogging down the AP?

garvani

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#545022 14-Nov-2011 10:23

Also try and cut down on the frequency's your outputting.. take off B for a start, no one is going to use that and it cuts down your total output power by having it enabled. If every device is N then just use that.
A good wireless router should be able to support 10+ wireless clients at a time. I have a mesh network of Ubiquity Unify's at a school and at any one time they can have 15 clients on one AP with no noticeable performance drop (at 20 clients i have it set to start offloading clients to a nearby AP though)

kyhwana2

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#545055 14-Nov-2011 11:17

Switch to 5Ghz.. not many seem to have 5ghz gear yet and it's pretty quiet up there ;)

xpd

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#545080 14-Nov-2011 11:43

garvani: Also try and cut down on the frequency's your outputting.. take off B for a start, no one is going to use that and it cuts down your total output power by having it enabled. If every device is N then just use that.

+1

Even if you have 1 N user and the rest are G, kill the N.
Im sure theyll manage....

XPD / Gavin

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cyril7

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#545083 14-Nov-2011 11:48

Even if you have 1 N user and the rest are G, kill the N.
Im sure theyll manage....

+1

Have you done a spectrum scan with tool like inSSID to see what spare spectrum is about.

Cyril

MauriceWinn

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#545613 15-Nov-2011 13:50

<This is in the city where multiple WiFi networks surround.>>

On Quay Street opposite the Ferry Building I saw 53 different ssids at once on my laptop, so interference is a big deal in the big smoke [and can be in the little smoke with a portable phone on the wrong frequency or wireless CCTV blasting away drowning the wifi signal].

But the problem might be some users downloading lots of data blocking your broadband. You should be able to have a couple of dozen people connected and all using small quantities of data [such as email] without problem if you have reasonable broadband back-haul. The access you provide your customers should be based on data allowance [not time].

Where there's a lot of interference, your users will have to be close to your wifi antenna to get connected. Like talking in a crowded room full of chattering people = have to go and stand next to somebody to talk [unless lip-reading across the room], but on a cool night across a soundless lake you can talk quietly and be heard.

If you are using a wifi service rather than just your own standalone router, the wifi system you are using might also be faulty [some systems are reported to us by operators as being quite problematic - I prefer not to mention names here]. From your description, you just have your own router and give out a password - maybe without control on usage?

Or the broadband supplier is providing slow broadband. Or it's glitchy [water in the lines or something - seems absurd but happens].

A standard Linksys WRT54GL can connect happily and operate with a standard laptop at 380 metres [across the old Mangere Bridge] with no interference and nothing at all between the router and the laptop. With high gain antennas on the router, add a couple of hundred extra metres, and with a high gain directional antenna right across the bridge was no problem [nearly a kilometre]. The more interference you have, the closer you have to be to the router.

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coffeebaron

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#545692 15-Nov-2011 17:15

cyril7:
Even if you have 1 N user and the rest are G, kill the N.
Im sure theyll manage....

+1

Have you done a spectrum scan with tool like inSSID to see what spare spectrum is about.

Cyril

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes done inSSIDer, and there is no spare spectrum, so picked the range with lowest competing signal.
Can't lock to N only or use 5GHz as too varied collection of devices. Router can't do G + N only either, so will try locking in G only and see how that goes.

Would I be correct in my assumption that this is an issue with just too much competing WiFi, so just a case of doing the best I can to minimise the impact?

Cheers

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cyril7

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#545716 15-Nov-2011 19:04

Hi Fraser, Maurices comments are a good point to check, does the lan feed to the AP exhibit the limitation, just incase there is some upstream issue, other than that its either bad radio or more likely interference.

Typically if you want modestly trouble free service then you need a good 20dB of clear margin from the received signal to any interference, and that is needed at each radio locatino (ie clients and AP), much less than that and things can go tits up.

Staying with G is a good option, other than that to get that 20dB margin you may need to move the AP or AP's closer the clients or use antenna gain to achieve the same, cranking the power up is not an answer as it only works in one direction.

Cheers
Cyril

coffeebaron

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#545826 16-Nov-2011 07:02

Connecting to LAN does not suffer the issue, so don't think it's broadband bandwidth being saturated. All the competing AP's are sufficient strength that they could well be within 20dB margin. Will lock to G only and see how that goes.
Would downgrading to WPA help any also?

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sbiddle

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#545837 16-Nov-2011 07:49

You could also try forcing the encryption to AES, running mixed mode TKIP+AES does have the potential to cause some issues.