Wifi in Hifi

[Strictly Stereo]

Your first sentence is the crucial difference. My wifi devices can find upto 19 different networks within range of my home at any one time, only one of which is mine. The least-congested channel changes almost daily. I had to install home plugs because sometimes my TV can't stream even a DVD-quality film from my NAS fast enough to play it, because the wifi connection speed is bottlenecked by airwave congestion. It's even worse if the kids are watching YouTube on their tablets or playing online RPGs with their pals. You lucky folks living in the wilderness where you alone are creating the only wifi traffic are in a different universe to the one many of us live in. Those of us who struggle with wifi don't necessarily do so because we're technological cretins or because we can't be arsed to set up a wifi system properly.

My mother is in a similar situation. It is a problem.

Have you tried switching to 5GHz? There are more channels and 5GHz has less range than 2.4GHz, which sounds counter-intuitive, but if a neighbour is on the same 5GHz channel, it will have less effect as the signal will suffer greater attenuation before it reaches your house.

This is good advice. You could also try to agree a channel plan with the neighbours. It takes a bit of effort and you might get a few funny looks, but it can make a big difference for everyone involved. Stick to channels 1, 6 and 11 for the 2.4GHz band to avoid overlap.

 

[andyjm]

Stick to channels 1, 6 and 11 for the 2.4GHz band to avoid overlap.

This would be good advice for the US, but in the UK we have channels 12 and 13, so you can go with 1,5, 9, 13 which gives you one more channel to play with.

These aren't magic channels, you just need to aim for a 5 channel gap for ideal separation, but 4 will do at a pinch. So if your neighbours are using channel 2 on one side of you and 10 on the other, then channel 6 will give a 4 channel gap each way.

 

[Strictly Stereo]

This would be good advice for the US, but in the UK we have channels 12 and 13, so you can go with 1,5, 9, 13 which gives you one more channel to play with.

These aren't magic channels, you just need to aim for a 5 channel gap for ideal separation, but 4 will do at a pinch. So if your neighbours are using channel 2 on one side of you and 10 on the other, then channel 6 will give a 4 channel gap each way.

Better to avoid overlapping channels altogether, surely? I take your point though and can see how a four channel strategy would help in a situation like this.

 

[MajorFubar]

My mother is in a similar situation. It is a problem.

Have you tried switching to 5GHz? There are more channels and 5GHz has less range than 2.4GHz, which sounds counter-intuitive, but if a neighbour is on the same 5GHz channel, it will have less effect as the signal will suffer greater attenuation before it reaches your house.

Sorry for slow reply, I haven't been on the forum. Only some of my devices can use 5gHz, crucially the TV isn't one of them. Homeplugs were my solution, perhaps look into this for your mum if it's practical? My only point really was to just keep in view that some of us struggling with wifi are only doing so because of circumstances beyond our control.

 

[tino]

I thought this standard was meant to solve the wireless interconnect problem ... http://www.wisaassociation.org/

 

[Strictly Stereo]

I thought this standard was meant to solve the wireless interconnect problem ... http://www.wisaassociation.org/

WiSA does not address the problem of congestion or interference from neighbouring networks. It has more to do with wire-cutting and interoperability between equipment from different manufacturers.

 

[BigH]

I thought this standard was meant to solve the wireless interconnect problem ... http://www.wisaassociation.org/

Wisa is just for certain brands? Probably does not solve anything if your internet is unstable.

 

[cheeseboy]

interesting article here about using foil lined wifi reflectors in the home to increase wifi coverage - https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-11/dc-aw110717.php