Cant connect to wireless router since neighbor moved in next door.

[Fred]

A friend is having trouble with his computer. He has a router on the 2nd floor and a computer in the basement a wireless card. A laptop on the first floor connects to the his router ok, but the basement computer hasn't been able to get online since shortly after a new neighbor moved in next door. I suspect that they new neighbor might have a wireless router and WEP turned on, and that the basement computer is picking that signal and not the signal on the 2nd floor where it should. So I guess I looking to make a list of things to try when I get over there. When my buddy uses the linksys utility and chooses his own SSID it still doesn't work. I have heard that if XP's own wireless config tool is running it might override the Linksys utility and take the strongest signal. Any truth to that?

 

[poertner_1274]

Does it even recognize that his own SSID is being broadcast? It could be that his neighbor has a microwave or something in their house and it is interfearing with his 2.4GHZ network. You can also try changing the channel on which it is broadcast.

BTW
:wave:Welcome to TechSpot:wave:

 

[Fred]

He can see his own SSID, and he thinks he might have been actually working off their network for a short amount of time before it stopped.

 

[Fred]

Ok, I'm doing some research here, got a partial list..

1. shut downXP's config tool
2. change SSID name to something other than "linksys"
3. Change IP of router to something else 192.168.15.1 ??
4. Then do ipconfig /release, ipconfig/ renew

 

[tdeg]

Do what I did.

1) Log onto neighbors router and change their channel to something like 2.
2) Change their IP range to 192.168.2.xxx instead of 192.168.1.xxx.
3) Set up second machine with Bittorrent to run off their network instead of mine.

 

[kraugie]

Channel

Change the channel of your router, plain and simple.

 

[StormBringer]

On a b/g network there are three nonoverlapping channels, 1, 6, and 11(this is for US settings) Channel 6 is what most routers in the US come preset to. If the neighbor's router is set to 6, set yours to 1 or 11 (You can get this info by either connecting to the neighbor's network or by using a wireless diag tool such as NetStumbler. How close is this neighbor? There could be other devices causing interference, the microwave was mentioned but usually only causes problems in close proximity and only when running. 2.4GHz phones can also interfere, as well as baby monitors, home surveilence systems, and many other devices that operate on the 2.4GHz frequency.

The neighbor might also be using a range booster for their network which may be causing you problems. Many wireless signal boosters do not adhere to wi-fi standards and some even break FCC regulations, this can cause problems by jamming or overpowering your wireless device.

 

[Fred]

The neighbor's house is probably 75feet away, with just a driveway separating the houses. Since his computer in the basement is trying to connect to the router on the 2nd floor I was figuring that maybe it might be closer to the neighbor's or the neighbors was a better signal than the signal going through 2 floors. He had mentioned that he thought originaly that he was connected to the neighbors when they first moved in that's why I didn't think it was a microwave or baby monitor problem. But changing the channel sounds like a good idea. I'll add that to my list. I might stop over there this weekend and tinker with it. Thanks for the info.