1. Yes, it's a whole new look! Have questions or need help? Please post your question in the New Forum Questions thread Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Seeing tons of unread posts after the upgrade? See this thread for help. Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice

Wireless router on channel 1 knocked offline

Discussion in 'Community Broadband & Computers' started by '03 Cavalier, Jul 21, 2010.

  1. '03 Cavalier

    '03 Cavalier New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2010
    Messages:
    142
    Likes Received:
    1
    I'm in Southern Walk, and today something bizarre is going on. I typically have my router set to channel 1, since it seems like most of my neighbors are on channels 6 and 11. Yet today, the laptops in my household were booted offline and unable to even see our network. I used Network Stumbler to see if I could figure out what was going on, and even though probably 20 or so networks showed up, ALL of them were on channels 6 and 11. Nothing on 1.

    Is it possible for any sort of consumer electronics device to completely knock out a channel like this? I switched to channel 11 for now and everything is now working fine (other than the fact that it's a pretty congested channel). Has anybody heard of something like this happening before? Is it possible that a cordless phone is doing this?

    I've never seen this before, so thought some of the networking pros on the forum might have some insight :)
     
  2. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2001
    Messages:
    3,277
    Likes Received:
    69
    Sounds like someone near your home might have picked up a new cordless phone setup or even a whole-house wireless alarm system. I've seen this happen in other areas of our community and after a bit of research, that's what it turned out to be. Ask your immediate neighbors if they installed something in the last few days.
     
  3. '03 Cavalier

    '03 Cavalier New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2010
    Messages:
    142
    Likes Received:
    1
    Still looks like channel 1 isn't working at all. When it's a little cooler out and people emerge from their air conditioning, perhaps I'll do a bit of investigation. For now I've just sucked it up, switched to a more congested channel, and moved the router to be within a few feet of where we mostly use our laptops. I can only imagine what a pain it would be to get a solid wireless signal if one lived someplace super high density like Manhattan!
     
  4. IRideYZFR6

    IRideYZFR6 Linux Guru

    Joined:
    May 28, 2009
    Messages:
    70
    Likes Received:
    3
    I would try stepping it up one channel at a time until I was out of the MHz that is causing the problem in channel 1. Each step is only 5MHz, you would still have bleed over into whatever was distorting in channel 1. Hopefully you can step it up and be clear before you get to 6.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  5. merky1

    merky1 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    Messages:
    303
    Likes Received:
    8
    Were is this graphic from? I was trying to explain to some of my less "geek" co-workers about 802.11 interference issues, and this would help out.

    Thanks.
     
  6. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2002
    Messages:
    5,358
    Likes Received:
    250
    It's taken from wikipedia... (look at the image properties in the web page..)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11_channels
     

Share This Page