Problems with Wireless Networks

The two most common issues I've seen with wireless networks are slow performance and generally being unreliable.  They can have the same causes often either a weak signal or a clash with another wireless network.  It is also possible that updating the software driver for your particular client network adapter will improve things (this was the case with the Linksys USB 2.0 network adapter I use).

Weak signal

Of course the simplest reason for this is that there is too much stuff (walls, computers, floors) in between the Wireless Access Point (WAP) and the client or there is too much distance.  In our house the room containing the WAP is on the top right corner of the house and the client are usually in the bottom left corner of the house.  Its important to remember that your wireless network works in a similar way to a radio transmitter and a radio in your car or home.  If you go under a bridge for example you may loose the signal.

The simplest way to resolve this issue is usually to move the WAP, in my case more towards the centre of house by moving the WAP out of the corner of the room.

Another way is to buy a more powerful antenna.  For example Linksys offer a high gain antenna kit but the aerial connections are usually standard so you may be able to a high gain antenna from a different supplier than the original manufacturer if that's more convenient.

Linksys also have a product they describe as a range expander that might be worth investigating.

Channel clash

If you neighbour also has a wireless network and it is in range of yours its highly likely that they will interfere with each other, particularly if you are using the same or near channel - by near I mean you may be using channel 5 and your neighbour is using channel 6 or 7... yes even channels near each other clash.  This happens with radio and tv broadcast too.  If you've tuned a radio manually by turning a tuning dial you'll know that broadcasts cover a small range of frequencies - when you are at the exact broadcast frequency you get the best reception, but you can usually still pick-up the station if you are really close its frequency.  With radio and TV broadcast there is usually a regulating body that stops two stations broadcasting in the same area on frequencies that clash.  With your wireless network the regulators have set the overall range that represents the 11 channels in the USA and the 13 channels in Europe but of course you and your neighbour are the regulators beyond that.

Often a channel clash will cause issues even if the client computer and WAP are close to each other, so that may be one way to tell.  Your two alternatives are to simply ask your neighbours if they have a wireless network and if so, what channel it is set to (if they don't know then the default channels are 6 and 7) and you should choose a channel in your WAP at least 3 channels away from that (e.g. 3 or 10 in this case).  Or just try a different channel.

Assuming that you client computers are set-up as connecting to a WAP or Infrastructure Network (which are the same thing) then it should just pick-up the new channel - you may need to re-boot your computer for this to happen.

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