54G help needed aka how to locate other wireless networks/possible interference?

I have a 54G ad-hoc network set up here using 2 Belkin 54G PCI cards running
on channel 11.

Its been working fine for several months with the Belkin Utility consitant
reporting speeds of 48/54MB with a "Excellent" Signal strength

However, for the last week or two - my siginal strength has dropped to "Very
Low" with the reported speed dropping to as low as 1MB (mainly in the
evenings)

There has been no major changes in my network/software recently (only the
odd MS patch/AV update) and thus I am looking for other possible reasons
why this may be happening.

Anyone have any ideas?

As it seems to occur mainly in the evenings - I am thinking along the lines
that someone else may finally have set up a wireless network in my street
and that is interfering with my one... also once I saw a entry in the "Site
Monitor" for a device which wasn't mine (I think it may have been a WAP) and
using channel 11 though that seems to have gone now...

I believe some of the 54G frequencies overlap with each other?

Therefore is there any (ideally free) software I can use to scan my area to
see if there is another network in the area and what channel its on? That
would be a lot easier than changing the channel I use and rebooting 13
times....

Regards
Sunil

Sunil Sood wrote:

> Therefore is there any (ideally free) software I can use to scan my area to
> see if there is another network in the area and what channel its on? That
> would be a lot easier than changing the channel I use and rebooting 13
> times....

<http://www.netstumbler.com/> is pretty good, but why not just turn off
of your PCs and see what your other one can find on it's own?

"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>As it seems to occur mainly in the evenings - I am thinking along the lines
>that someone else may finally have set up a wireless network in my street
>and that is interfering with my one... also once I saw a entry in the "Site
>Monitor" for a device which wasn't mine (I think it may have been a WAP) and
>using channel 11 though that seems to have gone now...
>

Yep. Wireless was a big seller this Christmas. Went from 4 nets in my
neighborhood to 14.

>I believe some of the 54G frequencies overlap with each other?
>

1, 6 and 11 are clear channel from each other. All the others overlap.

>Therefore is there any (ideally free) software I can use to scan my area to
>see if there is another network in the area and what channel its on? That
>would be a lot easier than changing the channel I use and rebooting 13
>times....

With a wireless PCMCIA card, Netstumbler.

In article <buml1m$jr4k0$(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> I have a 54G ad-hoc network set up here using 2 Belkin 54G PCI cards running
> on channel 11.
>
> Its been working fine for several months with the Belkin Utility consitant
> reporting speeds of 48/54MB with a "Excellent" Signal strength
>
> However, for the last week or two - my siginal strength has dropped to "Very
> Low" with the reported speed dropping to as low as 1MB (mainly in the
> evenings)
>
> There has been no major changes in my network/software recently (only the
> odd MS patch/AV update) and thus I am looking for other possible reasons
> why this may be happening.
>
> Anyone have any ideas?
>
Baby monitors, microwaves, DECT cordless phones...


--
Conor

"The vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world.
And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."
- George Bush

"Clark W. Griswold, Jr." <73115 dot 1041 at compuserve dot com> wrote in
message news(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >As it seems to occur mainly in the evenings - I am thinking along the
lines
> >that someone else may finally have set up a wireless network in my street
> >and that is interfering with my one... also once I saw a entry in the
"Site
> >Monitor" for a device which wasn't mine (I think it may have been a WAP)
and
> >using channel 11 though that seems to have gone now...
> >
>
> Yep. Wireless was a big seller this Christmas. Went from 4 nets in my
> neighborhood to 14.

Yes, it seems to have gone from just me here to 4 different MAC entries
showing in NetStumbler (in the evenings anyway)

> With a wireless PCMCIA card, Netstumbler.

I have PCI cards but I guess it does the same thing.

My Belkin PCI card/Mac address is showing that its running on channel 11* -
however all the other cards are showing as running as 11+

Does anyone know what the difference is?

Also, say my SSID is "LAN" - in NetStumbler all the other MAC addresses
(i.e. not mine) all appear under here as well - shoudn't they have their own
SSID name?

Ideally, I would like to find some way to contact whoever has installed
their wireless network (a close neighbour I imagine) and agree on what
channels we should each use to avoid interference with each other.

At the moment it appears that we are both running non secured networks on
the same channel!

Thankfully they only seem to be running their network in the evening so its
not disrupting my signal all the time but still..

Also, is there a way to identify the manufacturer of any equipment from the
MAC address?

Regards
Sunil

Sunil Sood wrote:

> Also, is there a way to identify the manufacturer of any equipment from the
> MAC address?

Beware, this is over a meg in size, but lists all MACs against the
manufacturer:-)

<http://standards.ieee.org/regauth/oui/oui.txt>

Happy hunting:-)

"Nig" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:BUdRb.11293$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Sunil Sood wrote:
>
> > Also, is there a way to identify the manufacturer of any equipment from
the
> > MAC address?
>
> Beware, this is over a meg in size, but lists all MACs against the
> manufacturer:-)
>
> <http://standards.ieee.org/regauth/oui/oui.txt>

Thanks - only about 5/6 seconds to download on a 2MB connection

Regards
Sunil

"Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) s.com...
> In article <buml1m$jr4k0$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> (E-Mail Removed) says...
> > I have a 54G ad-hoc network set up here using 2 Belkin 54G PCI cards
running
> > on channel 11.
> >
> > Its been working fine for several months with the Belkin Utility consitant
> > reporting speeds of 48/54MB with a "Excellent" Signal strength
> >
> > However, for the last week or two - my siginal strength has dropped to
"Very
> > Low" with the reported speed dropping to as low as 1MB (mainly in the
> > evenings)
> >
> > There has been no major changes in my network/software recently (only the
> > odd MS patch/AV update) and thus I am looking for other possible reasons
> > why this may be happening.
> >
> > Anyone have any ideas?
> >
> Baby monitors, microwaves, DECT cordless phones...
>

There's a piece in the March edition of PCPlus (UK) which suggests car alarms
with "Microwave Motion Detection" are a major offender.

Is someone parking or VW Passat ouside your house each evening?

PSB

microwaves and 2.4 Mhz phones mess with the wireless network.
"PsychicStickleBrick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:c00iu0$dv1$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) s.com...
> > In article <buml1m$jr4k0$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> > (E-Mail Removed) says...
> > > I have a 54G ad-hoc network set up here using 2 Belkin 54G PCI cards
> running
> > > on channel 11.
> > >
> > > Its been working fine for several months with the Belkin Utility
consitant
> > > reporting speeds of 48/54MB with a "Excellent" Signal strength
> > >
> > > However, for the last week or two - my siginal strength has dropped to
> "Very
> > > Low" with the reported speed dropping to as low as 1MB (mainly in the
> > > evenings)
> > >
> > > There has been no major changes in my network/software recently (only
the
> > > odd MS patch/AV update) and thus I am looking for other possible
reasons
> > > why this may be happening.
> > >
> > > Anyone have any ideas?
> > >
> > Baby monitors, microwaves, DECT cordless phones...
> >
>
> There's a piece in the March edition of PCPlus (UK) which suggests car
alarms
> with "Microwave Motion Detection" are a major offender.
>
> Is someone parking or VW Passat ouside your house each evening?
>
> PSB
>
>
>

"Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) s.com...
> > Anyone have any ideas?
> >
> Baby monitors, microwaves, DECT cordless phones...

I finaly figured out that someone locally has actually set up another WiFi
network on the same channel as me!

Thankfully, for me, they only seems to use their computer in the evenings
and switch off the router the rest of the time..

Hmm - I wonder if I could identify who it is - they haven't secured their
network for one thing - if I found out, I could at least advise them to do
that..

btw DECT cordless phones in the UK won't cause interference with Wifi
siginals - they use a different frequency than that used in the US

Regards
Sunil