Is your neighborhood have too many wireless networks which interfere with yours????
One of the most common complaints is that every time a neighbor puts up a wireless network your wireless network is slower or you get booted off.
The easiest thing you can due is change your channel on your wireless router. Almost all wireless networks have default channel of 6. Change your wireless network channel to something try channel 11 first.
If you have the money purchases a MIMO wireless router. This will overpower one radio access points.
The most common complaint about wireless interference is dropped packets. MIMO wireless routers let you transfer and receive at twice the rate because they have two transmitters and two receivers…or two radios!! This gives you a better quality signal and better coverage.
Next tip – Placement of your wireless router is the key. If you have a wireless router in one of your edge bedrooms half you signal is being sent out of your house with the default dipole antennas.
If you are going to keep your default Di-pole antennas then you need place your router in the middle of your house away from large metal objects.
Next, you can get rid of those cheap rubber duck antennas and make your purchase directional antennas. Directional antennas will focus your wireless signal in one direction.
If you purchase a directional antenna you need to change your transmit and receive antenna to the same. Or purchase a wireless antenna with diversity meaning two TNC connectors.
You might want to think about purchasing another wireless adapter. PCMICA wireless cards often are subject to damage.
Changing your wireless transmit power – You can change your wireless transmit power but it comes with a price. First this will cause your wireless router to work harder and heat up more thus reducing your wireless routers life span. Their is no need to have transmit power over 70mw for a home or small office. You can crank up your transmit power but remember more of you signal will bleed out into the street giving war drivers another target.
You will know if you are having interference if you are constantly connecting and reconnecting to your wireless network. The first thing to try is to try and change the channel to 2 or 11 or what ever works. Next you can make or purchase a wireless directional antenna to focus your signal where you need it. Third Move your wireless router to another place in your home. Fourth boosting your wireless signals transmit power has it’s benefits and it’s consequences, you could fry your wireless router and it could give you hacker issues. Finally if all else fails go out and purchase a new wireless MIMO router.
By: Eric Meyer
Posts Tagged ‘Wireless Cards’
Wireless Network Trouble Shooting: Battle of the Wireless Neighbor
January 12th, 2010How To Protect Your Home Network From Security Threats
October 18th, 2009
Technical computer jargon has become a part of our everyday lives and not only at work but at home as well. If you have setup your own computer network at home you probably know all about wireless cards, routers, and firewalls. Most computer components are easy to install and get set up, making it possible create a safe and secure home network. One Internet connection can mean connectivity for every computer in the house.
However, you need to make sure your network is safe from hackers and viruses, which can destroy computers and result in irreplaceable data loss. Start by reading the manual of each network product you have since they typically go into great detail about security configurations. But there is still more you need to know.
Router Ports
The first thing you should do is rename the standard administrator account and password since it is likely quite common and would be easy to find. Router ports are basically network numbers which is used by some applications to distinguish traffic. For instance, port 80 is used for web browsing and is the standard for HTTP.
In order to make your ports secure you may want to forgo dynamic IP addresses and purchase a static IP address. This means that you can specify which IP addresses generate traffic leaving your network. This is especially important if you have a wireless network since someone next door can potentially use your network to get onto the Internet. By specifying which IP addresses may do that youíre preventing this from happening. This is especially important if you live in an apartment building since using someone elseís network is surprisingly easy.
Port 80 should be configured to accept all incoming traffic. Some corporations specify which IP addresses can come into the network but this is very time consuming and labor intensive. You will also need to open port 25 for outgoing mail (SMTP) and 110 for incoming mail if you are using a desktop email program.
Once you have your router setup as described above youíre essentially good to go. There are some extra settings you may need to concern yourself with such as ftp ports, but this can leave your network open to attack.
Wireless Networks
If you have a wireless network, take security one step further and lock it down. If you have an unsecured network anyone within range can access the Internet via your connection. Not only can this severely slow down your own Internet access, but it is dangerous to have someone surfing and downloading who knows what in your name. Most wireless network manuals explain in detail how to configure your wireless security.
By: Paul Wilcox
