BT Openworld WiFi swamping house

My brother in law has a Sky Broadband connection, and uses its WiFi to provide
coverage within his house, and back garden. Worked fine and without problems
for several years.

Last night he reported to me that a 'BT Openworld' Wifi signal now swamps out
his, everywhere except within the same room as his router.

Most probably his WiFi channel needs changing. I'm visiting this weekend, and
I'll take with me a spare Zoom AP, that has a useful 'site survey' feature, to
assist with finding a quiet part of the band.

I seem to recall, that domestic BT Home Hubs radiate an additional BT
Openworld WiFi service for public consumption, or did I dream that in a
nightmare ? He doesn't live near any commercial premises, so I can only assume
one of his neighbours has just acquired a Home Hub ?

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

On 29/12/2010 14:43, Mark Carver wrote:
> My brother in law has a Sky Broadband connection, and uses its WiFi to
> provide coverage within his house, and back garden. Worked fine and
> without problems for several years.
>
> Last night he reported to me that a 'BT Openworld' Wifi signal now
> swamps out his, everywhere except within the same room as his router.
>
> Most probably his WiFi channel needs changing. I'm visiting this
> weekend, and I'll take with me a spare Zoom AP, that has a useful 'site
> survey' feature, to assist with finding a quiet part of the band.
>
> I seem to recall, that domestic BT Home Hubs radiate an additional BT
> Openworld WiFi service for public consumption, or did I dream that in a
> nightmare ? He doesn't live near any commercial premises, so I can only
> assume one of his neighbours has just acquired a Home Hub ?
>
Yes, it's called FON, for those who opt into it.
However, it sounds like a channel problem to me too.

George

"Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:b_-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Mark Carver wrote:
>
>> I seem to recall, that domestic BT Home Hubs radiate an additional BT
>> Openworld WiFi service for public consumption,
>
> And an SSID for 'BT Fon' too, but all three are on the same channel,
> they don't have multiple radios.
>
>> He doesn't live near any commercial premises, so I can only
>> assume one of his neighbours has just acquired a Home Hub ?
>
> Sounds about right ...

There seems to be a growing trend for automatic channel selection. Worse still,
the feature is enabled by default. This is the case of the one Virgin Cable are currently
supplying D-Link DIR-615

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed)
says...
>
> On 29/12/2010 14:43, Mark Carver wrote:
> > My brother in law has a Sky Broadband connection, and uses its WiFi to
> > provide coverage within his house, and back garden. Worked fine and
> > without problems for several years.
> >
> > Last night he reported to me that a 'BT Openworld' Wifi signal now
> > swamps out his, everywhere except within the same room as his router.
> >
> > Most probably his WiFi channel needs changing. I'm visiting this
> > weekend, and I'll take with me a spare Zoom AP, that has a useful 'site
> > survey' feature, to assist with finding a quiet part of the band.
> >
> > I seem to recall, that domestic BT Home Hubs radiate an additional BT
> > Openworld WiFi service for public consumption, or did I dream that in a
> > nightmare ? He doesn't live near any commercial premises, so I can only
> > assume one of his neighbours has just acquired a Home Hub ?
> >
> Yes, it's called FON, for those who opt into it.
> However, it sounds like a channel problem to me too.
>
> George

Not just those who opt in - all new BT customers have their Home Hubs
configured to offer a FON/Openworld connection _by_default_. You can opt
out, but many of the less clued-up miss this - and are blissfully
providing public access points without realising it. You CAN'T disable
the WiFi on the Hub without opting out first. BT overrides the settings
and resets it back on if you try.

> Most probably his WiFi channel needs changing. I'm visiting this weekend,
> and
> I'll take with me a spare Zoom AP, that has a useful 'site survey'
> feature, to assist with finding a quiet part of the band.
>


No need to take anything with you. Just download, install and run this
(unless running a non-Windows OS)

http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

"Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) o.uk...
> Graham. wrote:
>> "Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:b_-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Mark Carver wrote:
<snip>
> Thankfully none of my neighbours seem to use dynamic channels, they all
> fight over 1/6/9 while I use 13.
>
>
I use network stumbler to monitor what's going on
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/netstumbler.html

Around here most use 1, 6, and 13

Steve Terry
--
Quidco cashback Sign-up Bonus of £1.25 when you signup at:
http://www.quidco.com/user/613515/55307

"Brian Gregory [UK]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:AfWdnRT-(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Steve Terry" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ifgfnh$r4l$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> "Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed) o.uk...
>>> Graham. wrote:
>>>> "Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>>> news:b_-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>> Mark Carver wrote:
>> <snip>
>>> Thankfully none of my neighbours seem to use dynamic channels, they all
>>> fight over 1/6/9 while I use 13.
>>>
>> I use network stumbler to monitor what's going on
>> http://www.snapfiles.com/get/netstumbler.html
>>
>> Around here most use 1, 6, and 13
>
> Only WiFi channels 1 to 11 are legal in the UK so you will have problems
> with 12 and 13 if you ever get anything that enforces the UK restrictions.
>
> The normal choices are 1, 6 or 11.
> Brian Gregory. (In the UK)
>
>
Sorry you are right, i meant 11 not 13
So i usually find 1, 6, and 11

So i tend to select 3 or 9

Steve Terry
--
Quidco cashback Sign-up Bonus of £1.25 when you signup at:
http://www.quidco.com/user/613515/55307

"Nicola Redwood" <nicolaexternal-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ifg45v$ml7$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>> Most probably his WiFi channel needs changing. I'm visiting this weekend,
>> and
>> I'll take with me a spare Zoom AP, that has a useful 'site survey'
>> feature, to assist with finding a quiet part of the band.
>>
>
>
> No need to take anything with you. Just download, install and run this
> (unless running a non-Windows OS)
>
> http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

That was very useful, thanks....

Fred

Nicola Redwood wrote:
>> Most probably his WiFi channel needs changing. I'm visiting this weekend,
>> and
>> I'll take with me a spare Zoom AP, that has a useful 'site survey'
>> feature, to assist with finding a quiet part of the band.
>>
>
>
> No need to take anything with you. Just download, install and run this
> (unless running a non-Windows OS)
>
> http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

Thanks, I'll stick it on my laptop later. I have used the WiFi Analyser ap
that Andy Burns mentioned, on a Sony X10 Android phone, which is excellent,
however I just couldn't get on with the phone itself, so that option is no
longer available. I've got a Nokia C6 Symbian now, doesn't appear to be a
similar ap for that ?

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

Mark Carver wrote:
> Nicola Redwood wrote:
>>> Most probably his WiFi channel needs changing. I'm visiting this
>>> weekend, and
>>> I'll take with me a spare Zoom AP, that has a useful 'site survey'
>>> feature, to assist with finding a quiet part of the band.
>>>
>>
>>
>> No need to take anything with you. Just download, install and run
>> this (unless running a non-Windows OS)
>>
>> http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider
>
> Thanks, I'll stick it on my laptop later. I have used the WiFi Analyser
> ap that Andy Burns mentioned, on a Sony X10 Android phone, which is
> excellent, however I just couldn't get on with the phone itself, so that
> option is no longer available. I've got a Nokia C6 Symbian now, doesn't
> appear to be a similar ap for that ?
>
Be aware that 2.4GHz stuff is spread spectrum, so there is a lot of
overlap from channels nearby as well.