[Helmling]

I've been having some trouble with my Airport the last few days. My connection seems to come and go at random. As I was sitting on my bed trying to get the darned thing to replicate the problem, I was having no luck--or, good luck I guess. Then my wife started using the phone right next to me and the signal bars started dropping. I got up and walked over to my daugher's bedroom and they went right back up...

It's a 2.4 Ghz portable phone...am I imagining things or could they really be having a conflict.

[mduell]

Yes, 2.4Ghz phones are able to and have been known to cause problems for wifi.
Try enabling Interference Robustness on Airport to improve things marginally. Or buy a new 900Mhz or 5.8Ghz phone.

[rcl1221]

Yeah, I've always encountered problems when using a 2.4ghz phone and my wireless router simeltaneously. It's not just Airport.

The internet would disconnect when I would pick up the phone. We just upgraded our phones to all 5.8ghz (at least the ones by computers), and problem solved.

[Millennium]

2.4 GHz phones can, in fact mess with your AirPort, though your case is more severe than most. To solve it, use phones that operate on a different frequency, like 900MHz or 5.8GHz. Personally, I use 900MHz phones.

[ghporter]

They've said it. The deal is that some 2.4GHz phones' signals interfere with WiFi (and some do more than others) to the extent that it's not a good idea to have one around a wireless network.

The problem with 900MHz phones is that they tend to not be terribly secure (most are just managed two-way radio devices) while the higher frequency models are digital and tend to have significant security features. If you can find a 900MHz phone with security (beyond just random channel selection) then go for it! But otherwise, move up to a 5.8GHz device.

[MacBook91]

most phones are 2.4Ghz and wireless signals are 2.4Ghz as well. A 5.8Ghz phone will not interupt the wireless signals