[Kyle Dreaden]

Hey everyone. I'm having a bit of an interesting situation. I have a PowerMac G4 MDD with an airport extreme card in it. Every since I got it, I would be able to go a good couple of weeks with a solid connection wirelessly, nice and quick. Almost as fast as being wired to my DSL modem. But every once in a while, it SLOWS WAY DOWN and I start to get packet loss. To fix the situation, I just go into my router's options (Linksys 802.11b AP+Router) and change to another channel. Once I do this my speed is back up and there is no more packet loss. I hate going through this cycle over and over. Anybody know what my be causing this and how I can fix it? Thanks in advance.

[ghporter]

If changing the channel helps, then the problem is probably interference on or near whatever channel you were using when the problem showed up. It could be a neighbor with a noisy 2.4GHz cordless phone, somebody else's wireless network, or a lot of other things.

You also have to understand that these "channels" aren't simply a sharply defined band of frequencies, like a TV channel. They are a specific set of discrete frequencies that are stepped through, one at a time, in order. This means that the interference could be on or near any of the discrete frequencies, disrupting only part of the channel.

I understand the channel changing routine could get old. One way to overcome this problem is to go pounding on all your neighbors' doors for blocks around, asking them what they're doing that screws up your network. Obviously, this ins't practical.

A better way is to keep records of when you had the problem, and what channel you were on when it happened. When you change channels, change to one you haven't used before. It may be that there are only a couple of channels that are affected. By keeping track of what channel and when, after a while you may find that you haven't had the problem come up in a while.

Unfortunately, the FCC's rules for using this frequency band require that unlicensed devices, like your network, have to "accept any destructive interference," which means you can't complain to them and expect them to take action. Unless everybody in your area is having problems with their 2.4GHz systems at the same time, it's doubtful that you could get much action from the FCC.

[Kyle Dreaden]

Wow, a good answer! Thanks a lot, that does help with explaining it which makes me feel much better.

[aaanorton]

You might also want to take a look at your own eqpt. Keep your base station away from other things that can cause interference, like a cordless phone base, a microwave, your monitor, a subwoofer, etc. I keep mine as far away (6-8') from all this stuff, all by itself as I can. I noticed a MAJOR improvement when I moved it originally.

[Boondoggle]

wouldn't interference show up as a weak signal? I've got a strong signal, but I"m getting 1/10 the download speeds that I get when wired directly when using an Airport (not extreme) card in an iMac.

[aaanorton]

Originally posted by Boondoggle:
I've got a strong signal, but I"m getting 1/10 the download speeds that I get when wired directly when using an Airport (not extreme) card in an iMac.

On a really, really "good hair day", Airport should be about 1/10 the speed of hard-wired ethernet, so you've got no problem at all.

[Boondoggle]

I don't think that is right... Isn't Airport as fast as a 10 BT NIC? I don't think you need a 100BT card for full speed cable internet....

bd

[aaanorton]

In theory, yes, but in practice expect... less. And when you plug your iMac into the base, you should be getting 100 BT.

EDIT:
I see... You're talking about internet downloads. I was referring to file transfers. Sorry.
Interference is not an exact science. If you're getting slow d/l speeds via Airport, try changing channels. Even if you have a good signal, you could be experiencing interference issues.