Wireless channels

Hi

I have a wireless network setup and having problems with connecting my
wireless radio. I was advised to find out how many competing networks are
in the air, and on which channels? Also how do I check which channels I
maybe competing with. I only know how to check the wireless networks in my
area via Windows, and there are only 2 and they are not in my range.

Please let me know your comments.
Thanks in advance.

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:50:56 +0100, "jayc" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>I have a wireless network setup and having problems with connecting my
>wireless radio. I was advised to find out how many competing networks are
>in the air, and on which channels? Also how do I check which channels I
>maybe competing with. I only know how to check the wireless networks in my
>area via Windows, and there are only 2 and they are not in my range.
>
>Please let me know your comments.

See the wikis below.

>Thanks in advance.

You're welcome.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

Thanks, I did a search using the links but cannot find anything specific to
how I find out my competing networks are, not can I find anything relating
to my AE Internet Radio having 1 or 2 bars of wifi power or less... this is
the main issue. I know it's new technology but I think I may have to return
the radio as it's just not working as expected....

If you have anycomments or help, please let me know.


"John Navas" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:50:56 +0100, "jayc" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> <(E-Mail Removed)>:
>
>>I have a wireless network setup and having problems with connecting my
>>wireless radio. I was advised to find out how many competing networks are
>>in the air, and on which channels? Also how do I check which channels I
>>maybe competing with. I only know how to check the wireless networks in
>>my
>>area via Windows, and there are only 2 and they are not in my range.
>>
>>Please let me know your comments.
>
> See the wikis below.
>
>>Thanks in advance.
>
> You're welcome.
>
> --
> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

Did you not see Site Survey? Network Stumbler is a good way to find
other networks, what channels they are on, and how strong the signals
are.

Did you also not see Interference? Wi-Fi is subject to many types of
radio frequency interference, as listed in the wikis.

And there's information on improving signal, notably the benefits of
better antennas.

Does that help?

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:26:39 +0100, "jayc" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>Thanks, I did a search using the links but cannot find anything specific to
>how I find out my competing networks are, not can I find anything relating
>to my AE Internet Radio having 1 or 2 bars of wifi power or less... this is
>the main issue. I know it's new technology but I think I may have to return
>the radio as it's just not working as expected....
>
>If you have anycomments or help, please let me know.
>
>"John Navas" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:50:56 +0100, "jayc" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>> <(E-Mail Removed)>:
>>
>>>I have a wireless network setup and having problems with connecting my
>>>wireless radio. I was advised to find out how many competing networks are
>>>in the air, and on which channels? Also how do I check which channels I
>>>maybe competing with. I only know how to check the wireless networks in
>>>my
>>>area via Windows, and there are only 2 and they are not in my range.
>>>
>>>Please let me know your comments.
>>
>> See the wikis below.
>>
>>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>> You're welcome.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

"jayc" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>I have a wireless network setup and having problems with connecting my
>wireless radio.

Any particular reason why you didn't bother to supply the maker and
model numbers of your wireless devices? They could be ancient junk,
incompatible, or known losers. Full disclosure is helpful.

>I was advised to find out how many competing networks are
>in the air, and on which channels?

Good advice. However, if you don't want to go through the trouble,
just change your unspecified model wireless router to 1, 6, or 11 and
see if any of these channels offer an improvement.

>Also how do I check which channels I
>maybe competing with.

That's impossible for me to describe because I have no clue what
operating system, hardware, drivers, or utilities you're using. You're
posting header shows Ouchlook Depress 6.00.2900 so you're using XP.
There's a better than 50% chance that you're using Microsoft supplied
Wireless Zero Config. Find the icon that looks kinda wireless in the
system tray (lower right of screen). If you double click when
connected, it will show the channel, signal strength, and connection
speed. The less than 50% chance is that you're using a connection
manager utility supplied by your unspecified wireless device vendor.
Double click on the icon and it should display something worth
reading.

>I only know how to check the wireless networks in my
>area via Windows, and there are only 2 and they are not in my range.

If you can see them with your unspecified Windoze client, and they are
on the same channel, they have the potential to interfer. Note that
the 802.11b/g signals are about 20MHz wide, which means that they
occupy about 4 channels. That's why 1, 6, and 11 are the only
non-overlapping channels. If you use one in between, you run the risk
of getting interference from both adjacent channels.

Also note that there may be wireless LAN's that you cannot see with
WZC or the vendors tools. The problem is caused by excessively clever
security experts insisting that not broadcasting the SSID is some sort
of security feature. It's not and the result is that it makes what
you're trying to accomplish rather difficult. You'll need a Linux
based sniffer (i.e. Kismet) in order to see everything.

>Please let me know your comments.

Comment: What problem are you trying to solve? What are the
symptoms? What is the distance? What's in the line of sight? What
do you have for hardware? Softare?

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558