Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tracking Down Wi-Fi Interference?

Posted by kdawson on from the hello-fcc-i'd-like-to-report-hello?-hello? dept.

Nicros writes "Almost every evening, between 8:30 and 10:00, my Wi-Fi just dies. This, in itself, could be explained by a crappy Wi-Fi source or some hardware failure, except that I know both of my neighbors are experiencing the same loss of signal at the same time. While the Wi-Fi is down, the LAN is OK, and anything plugged into Cat5 can access the Internet just fine. One possibility comes to mind — perhaps some other neighbor arrives home and turns on their router from 8:30 to 10:00? And something in their signal is hosing our Wi-Fi? I have tried looking around for software to help identify the source of interference, but either the programs are ridiculously expensive for a home user, or else my card (Intel Link 1000 BGN) isn't supported. (Netstumbler is an example of the latter.) Any suggestions on how I can track this down?"

3 of 499 comments (clear)

  1. Try a Network Monitor by stcorbett · · Score: -1, Redundant

    Is the interference possibly another network broadcasting on the same 802.11 channel? Try using a wireless network monitoring program like AP Grapher for Os X or Net Stumbler for Windows. You'll be able to see the channel, signal strength of your wireless network and your neighbors and possibly the interfering network.

  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. Re:report it to the fcc by wcrowe · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ...why the entire wireless network went down every day at the same time...

    That sounds pretty far-fetched to me. Tides do not arrive at the same time every day.

    --
    Proverbs 21:19