Okay, so I'm egocentric as you know, and I'm bringing this up now because I'm having trouble with it. But there's also no wiki in the guides on this topic, and it's an important one.
The scenario: I moved down the street from apartment to apartment, carrying over the same computer hardware, same cable modem, same ISP, same service level.
The symptoms: Quite apart from two issues with the cable service in one week (after two years of zero issues), I have experienced the following:
1. People complain that my Motorola H500 headset is staticky
2. My computers get less than full bars on Airport 5' away from the AEBS
3. I start getting intermittent drops on IM services (particularly MSN)
4. With an iBook G4 and an iMac G5 sitting next to each other, each 6' away from the AEBS, an over-air transfer of 30MB takes *twenty minutes* :eek
5. My Apple Wireless Mouse is sometimes jumpy
6. My Apple Wireless KB starts lagging or repeating (mmmmmmmkkkkkkrrrrriiiisssshhhhnnnnaaaannnnn or sometimes mkrishnannnnnnnnn)
So clearly, this constellation of symptoms has only one common pathway -- 2.4GHz radio-frequency interference (RFI). And I haven't even turned on my microwave yet!
What I've done -- list of things to try:
A. In my old apartment, there was very little RFI, and I found that I could get access in the entire apartment with my AEBS outputting at 25%. Now it's back up to 100%.
B. I set the multicast rate up -- actually, I'm not sure entirely whether MC up or down is supposed to help in this kind of situation. I think that with the computers so close to the router, MC up should compensate for lost packets?
C. Interference Robustness was already on. No one is entirely sure what it does, but this is what it's supposed to be for, right?
Between A-C, I solved problem (3). Well, actually, as I was typing, I had an MSN drop...so...maybe I solved (3).
D. I took the router off automatic channel config and started going through channels manually, but I have not yet gotten to one that is perfect. Is there any tool that can help in this process, preferably software -- it's probably too much to ask, but there wouldn't be a widget that could chart out for you the cleanliness of the airwaves on each of the 12 channels using your airport card, is there?
E. Turning BT devices on and off when there's an issue seems to initiate a channel search/hop (from my understanding, BT devices are pretty good at doing this automatically). And so that seems to solve 1, 5, and 6.
Does anyone have any additional suggestions? I played around briefly with repositioning the router, and I understand that if the interference is really directional, I might even end up moving it farther away and getting a better signal, but... with the geometry of the apartment, this is going to be a bit of a nuisance....
Anyway, I would appreciate suggestions and insight, and in return pledge to make a guide!
The scenario: I moved down the street from apartment to apartment, carrying over the same computer hardware, same cable modem, same ISP, same service level.
The symptoms: Quite apart from two issues with the cable service in one week (after two years of zero issues), I have experienced the following:
1. People complain that my Motorola H500 headset is staticky
2. My computers get less than full bars on Airport 5' away from the AEBS
3. I start getting intermittent drops on IM services (particularly MSN)
4. With an iBook G4 and an iMac G5 sitting next to each other, each 6' away from the AEBS, an over-air transfer of 30MB takes *twenty minutes* :eek
5. My Apple Wireless Mouse is sometimes jumpy
6. My Apple Wireless KB starts lagging or repeating (mmmmmmmkkkkkkrrrrriiiisssshhhhnnnnaaaannnnn or sometimes mkrishnannnnnnnnn)
So clearly, this constellation of symptoms has only one common pathway -- 2.4GHz radio-frequency interference (RFI). And I haven't even turned on my microwave yet!
What I've done -- list of things to try:
A. In my old apartment, there was very little RFI, and I found that I could get access in the entire apartment with my AEBS outputting at 25%. Now it's back up to 100%.
B. I set the multicast rate up -- actually, I'm not sure entirely whether MC up or down is supposed to help in this kind of situation. I think that with the computers so close to the router, MC up should compensate for lost packets?
C. Interference Robustness was already on. No one is entirely sure what it does, but this is what it's supposed to be for, right?
Between A-C, I solved problem (3). Well, actually, as I was typing, I had an MSN drop...so...maybe I solved (3).
D. I took the router off automatic channel config and started going through channels manually, but I have not yet gotten to one that is perfect. Is there any tool that can help in this process, preferably software -- it's probably too much to ask, but there wouldn't be a widget that could chart out for you the cleanliness of the airwaves on each of the 12 channels using your airport card, is there?
E. Turning BT devices on and off when there's an issue seems to initiate a channel search/hop (from my understanding, BT devices are pretty good at doing this automatically). And so that seems to solve 1, 5, and 6.
Does anyone have any additional suggestions? I played around briefly with repositioning the router, and I understand that if the interference is really directional, I might even end up moving it farther away and getting a better signal, but... with the geometry of the apartment, this is going to be a bit of a nuisance....
Anyway, I would appreciate suggestions and insight, and in return pledge to make a guide!