wifi phone interference

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qwerty7

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#97197 13-Feb-2012 17:19

i have a single 2.4 ghz cordless phone and a thomson modem which operates on 2.4 ghz
it is wireless interference as the computer hard-wired to the modem does not loose connection through use of the phone

through reading on the internet i understand i need to change the wireless channel on my modem?
i am logged into the modem have clicked manual channel selection and have the options of 1 - 13 , what should i change it to ?

RunningMan

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#580968 13-Feb-2012 17:36

Try them all and see what what works best.

The only sure-fire solution is to move one or other off the 2.4GHz range.

sbiddle

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#580984 13-Feb-2012 18:31

99% of phones don't use the 2.4Ghz band - it's really only poor quality Uniden's that ever did.

I recommend buying a DECT phone that'll also be of far better quality - you can pick up a decent phone these days for $25

raytaylor

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#581032 13-Feb-2012 19:34

sbiddle: 99% of phones don't use the 2.4Ghz band - it's really only poor quality Uniden's that ever did.

I recommend buying a DECT phone that'll also be of far better quality - you can pick up a decent phone these days for $25

The early 2.4ghz uniden phones are horrible at causing wifi issues. They spread crap all over the spectrum. And their channel hopping often made things worse.

Anything from 2.4ghz baby monitors, video senders, remotes and wireless cameras can cause you interference. I even had a friend who found the reversing camera in their car would cause wifi issues because they had hooked it up live, rather than to the reverse lights.

You can often just change the channel from Auto to a number 1 to 12. Dont use channel 13 - its not compatible with all the laptops on the market.

I agree with sbiddle's suggestion. Look for a DECT phone. They usually run at 1.7/1.8ghz. Well out of the 5.8 and the 2.4 range. Cant go wrong with a cordless phone at 1.7/1.8ghz.

Ray Taylor

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xpd

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#581055 13-Feb-2012 20:13

Or to make sure youre not going to choose a channel thats already in use by overlapping wifi points, download a wifi monitor (cant think of name of any atm) and see what channels are free to avoid any "conflict" - not that it happens these days, most wifi units are smart enough to work things out.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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raytaylor

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#581096 13-Feb-2012 21:28

xpd: most wifi units are smart enough to work things out.

Thats a good point - however i wonder if they are auctually smart enough just to avoid other accesspoints by doing a scan for SSID's, or do most devices properly measure the noise floor on each channel?

Because some people would say its better to measure the noise floor, and others would say its better to avoid SSID's because from a router programmers point of view, the SSID's would be better to avoid because they have the potential to create noise even if there is none.

I have always wondered which it is.

Ray Taylor

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hashbrown

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#581631 15-Feb-2012 07:44

raytaylor:
xpd: most wifi units are smart enough to work things out.

Thats a good point - however i wonder if they are auctually smart enough just to avoid other accesspoints by doing a scan for SSID's, or do most devices properly measure the noise floor on each channel?

I suspect most home routers just look for a channel with the least number of SSIDs. Some will do a mini site survey, but this will only look for the amount of other Wifi traffic on each channel, but you're still only seeing possible Wifi interference, not other 2.4GHz sources.

In NZ it's only legal to use channels 1-11. Channels 1,6 and 11 being non-overlapping these are the most commonly used. The best idea is to just run some tests to find the best channel. Plug a PC into your router, fire up all the possibly interfering devices, then upload and download files to the PC from a good distance from the router. Try on each of channels 1,6 and 11, and find the best.

sbiddle

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#581646 15-Feb-2012 08:31

hashbrown:
In NZ it's only legal to use channels 1-11.

RSM follow the ETSI bandplan in NZ so channels 1-13 are legal (and have been so for many years).

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raytaylor

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#581668 15-Feb-2012 09:27

Sorry yes my mistake

We use channels 1-13
However a laptop designed for the american market wont use channel 12 or 13.
I find this with alot of laptops sold in NZ too with american market chipsets. Some you can change with a software setting. But its usually simpler just to not use channels 12 or 13.

In napier, we get cruise ship passengers and all sorts of tourists coming in to the workshop with their laptops saying they cant pick up a number of networks and "back home it works fine".

Ray Taylor

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qwerty7

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#581872 15-Feb-2012 14:49

yes the cordless phone was a uniden wasn't cheap at the time i bought it but anyway i have set the wireless to use channel 6 and it does not seem to interfere. thanks for your help