IBSS wireless channel is different the router's but works - interesting?

Hi,
I wanted to change my router's wireless channel number to avoid a
possible signal interference resulting with strange freezes, then i
changed from 11 to 6. I changed successfully.

However under advanced tab which is in my wireless adapter's driver
page(device manager), IBSS channel number and WZC IBSS channel number
are stayed at 11(they were default though).

However, with this settings i experienced strange freeze problem again
while downloading(also i cannot reach to 192.168.1.1, but doing
disable/enable or ''repair'' fixes this). Then i wanted to change
channel number to 6 from driver page on my wi-fi adapter also. The
computer locked and XP couldn't shut down, after restarting computer,
the channel of wi-fi adapter(Broadcom BCM4318) is set to 6.

Now i am on channel 6 both for router and wi-fi adapter.

The thing i'm surprised: Before setting channels 6 for BOTH
devices(router and wi-fi adapter), Although my router is broadcasting
wi-fi on channel 6, WHY was i connecting and surfing although my wi-fi
adapter's channel settings were set to 11 before?


I hope you understood.

Thank you...

"kimiraikkonen" <kimiraikkonen85@gmail.com> hath wroth:

>I wanted to change my router's wireless channel number to avoid a
>possible signal interference resulting with strange freezes,

Is there any reason why you didn't bother supplying the manufacturer
and model number of your router?

>then i
>changed from 11 to 6. I changed successfully.
>
>However under advanced tab which is in my wireless adapter's driver
>page(device manager), IBSS channel number and WZC IBSS channel number
>are stayed at 11(they were default though).

There are at least 3 MAC addresses involved in your wireless router.
1. The MAC address of the WAN port. This can be changed.
2. The MAC addresses of the LAN/ethernet ports. These are fixed and
cannot be changed.
3. The MAC address of the wireless port. This is fixed and cannot be
changed.

When your unspecified wireless client connects to your unspecified
wireless router, the client will scan through all the available
channels trying to find the proper SSID. Therefore, after a channel
change, the client will show a new channel, but the same MAC address
(and the same SSID).

>However, with this settings i experienced strange freeze problem again
>while downloading(also i cannot reach to 192.168.1.1, but doing
>disable/enable or ''repair'' fixes this). Then i wanted to change
>channel number to 6 from driver page on my wi-fi adapter also. The
>computer locked and XP couldn't shut down, after restarting computer,
>the channel of wi-fi adapter(Broadcom BCM4318) is set to 6.

You cannot change channel on the Wi-Fi client. The client follows the
channel set by the wireless router. Change it only in the wireless
router and the client automatically follow.

Why do you associated the computer locking with wireless? There's
usually no connection unless the wireless drive is old or defective.
My guess is that the failure to shut down was caused by something
else.

>Now i am on channel 6 both for router and wi-fi adapter.
>
>The thing i'm surprised: Before setting channels 6 for BOTH
>devices(router and wi-fi adapter), Although my router is broadcasting
>wi-fi on channel 6, WHY was i connecting and surfing although my wi-fi
>adapter's channel settings were set to 11 before?

I have no idea. You might be surfing using the neighbors wireless
router. Try rebooting your client computer again to see if that
clears indications from before the change in channel. The only way
you can set the channel on the client is if you are in the ad-hoc
mode, which will NOT work with your wireless router, which requires
infrstructure mode.

>I hope you understood.

Only partly. The English is good enough but the technical description
is terrible. Try to clearly seperate when you are talking about the
router and when you are talking about your client adapter. It's also
necessary to know the details of your hardware in order to guess an
answer.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Mar 30, 7:33 pm, Jeff Liebermann <j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us>
wrote:
> "kimiraikkonen" <kimiraikkone...@gmail.com> hath wroth:
>
> >I wanted to change my router's wireless channel number to avoid a
> >possible signal interference resulting with strange freezes,
>
> Is there any reason why you didn't bother supplying the manufacturer
> and model number of your router?
>
> >then i
> >changed from 11 to 6. I changed successfully.
>
> >However under advanced tab which is in my wireless adapter's driver
> >page(device manager), IBSS channel number and WZC IBSS channel number
> >are stayed at 11(they were default though).
>
> There are at least 3 MAC addresses involved in your wireless router.
> 1. The MAC address of the WAN port. This can be changed.
> 2. The MAC addresses of the LAN/ethernet ports. These are fixed and
> cannot be changed.
> 3. The MAC address of the wireless port. This is fixed and cannot be
> changed.
>
> When your unspecified wireless client connects to your unspecified
> wireless router, the client will scan through all the available
> channels trying to find the proper SSID. Therefore, after a channel
> change, the client will show a new channel, but the same MAC address
> (and the same SSID).
>
> >However, with this settings i experienced strange freeze problem again
> >while downloading(also i cannot reach to 192.168.1.1, but doing
> >disable/enable or ''repair'' fixes this). Then i wanted to change
> >channel number to 6 from driver page on my wi-fi adapter also. The
> >computer locked and XP couldn't shut down, after restarting computer,
> >the channel of wi-fi adapter(Broadcom BCM4318) is set to 6.
>
> You cannot change channel on the Wi-Fi client. The client follows the
> channel set by the wireless router. Change it only in the wireless
> router and the client automatically follow.
>
> Why do you associated the computer locking with wireless? There's
> usually no connection unless the wireless drive is old or defective.
> My guess is that the failure to shut down was caused by something
> else.
>
> >Now i am on channel 6 both for router and wi-fi adapter.
>
> >The thing i'm surprised: Before setting channels 6 for BOTH
> >devices(router and wi-fi adapter), Although my router is broadcasting
> >wi-fi on channel 6, WHY was i connecting and surfing although my wi-fi
> >adapter's channel settings were set to 11 before?
>
> I have no idea. You might be surfing using the neighbors wireless
> router. Try rebooting your client computer again to see if that
> clears indications from before the change in channel. The only way
> you can set the channel on the client is if you are in the ad-hoc
> mode, which will NOT work with your wireless router, which requires
> infrstructure mode.
>
> >I hope you understood.
>
> Only partly. The English is good enough but the technical description
> is terrible. Try to clearly seperate when you are talking about the
> router and when you are talking about your client adapter. It's also
> necessary to know the details of your hardware in order to guess an
> answer.
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Dear Jeff, i gave the needed technical informations, eventhough you do
not need i want to give some info,
My router is US Robotics 9109 MaxG ADSL2+ router.

Why do you talk about MAC address? I don't have about MAC address and
i know they cannot be changed as they're off-topic for me. I had
strange freezes about ''wireless'' , my problem is: While surfing or
downloading, data transfer stops and i cannot receive or send packets,
wi-fi icon which is on the taskbar stops lighting as it should
indicate data transfer, but data transfer stops, FREEZES. Also i
cannot reach to 192.168.1.1(my router) until i click ''repair'' or
disable/enable of my wireless adapter(Broadcom BCM4318 driver
3.100.46.0) without touching my router.

After having this kind of problem, i researched and got some answers
about requirement of a channel change.

Then i went to web user interface of my router and changed channel to
6 from 11. But also there are wi-fi channel number(client)s as you
know which are in the ''device manager'' with ''advanced'' tab.
Look at: http://www.linksysinfo.org/images/Co...m/broadcom.png

1st question: There 2 setting field related to channels, they are:
IBSS channel number and WZC IBSS channel number. Should i also change
them to channel 6??? Although they are stayed at channel 11, i was
able to surf, although router's channel number has been set to 6
already. Indeed, only changing router channel to 6 did not help, i
experienced freeze(data transfer stops) problem again :(

2nd question: As i am not using Ad hoc(computer-to-computer), these
IBSS channel numbers are wi-fi adapter driver channel settings are
needless for me? (I'm connecting the net wirelessly through my router
(ADSL) ).

Also, as i am carefull, i do not use neighbours wireless networks,
because i always check SSID name which i am surfing through.

Freeze problem is about wireless connection , not computer freeze.

As i am new to wireless i supposed that wireless channel changes
should be made both for router and wi-fi adapter? What is the correct?

Thank you...

On 30 Mar 2007 13:54:25 -0700, "kimiraikkonen"
<kimiraikkonen85@gmail.com> wrote:

>Dear Jeff, i gave the needed technical informations, eventhough you do
>not need i want to give some info,
>My router is US Robotics 9109 MaxG ADSL2+ router.

Please do not assume that I have read all your previous messages.

>my problem is: While surfing or
>downloading, data transfer stops and i cannot receive or send packets,
>wi-fi icon which is on the taskbar stops lighting as it should
>indicate data transfer, but data transfer stops, FREEZES.

I can't tell from here what is causing the freezes. I'm also not
familiar with the USR 9109 ADSL wireless router.
<http://www.usr.com/products/broadband/broadband-product.asp?sku=USR9108>

>Also i
>cannot reach to 192.168.1.1(my router) until i click ''repair'' or
>disable/enable of my wireless adapter(Broadcom BCM4318 driver
>3.100.46.0) without touching my router.

Do you have the same problem when connected directly with a CAT5
ethernet cable? In other words, is it a wireless problem or a problem
in the DSL modem or router?

Have you tried the same test with a different wireless laptop? I'm
trying to determine if the problem is in the USR 9109 or in the
computer.

>After having this kind of problem, i researched and got some answers
>about requirement of a channel change.

The only reason to change channel is to avoid interference.
Interference will not cause a hang. If sufficiently bad, it might
cause a disconnect or a difficulty in initially connecting. It's a
good idea to try different channels, but I don't think it will help.

>Then i went to web user interface of my router and changed channel to
>6 from 11. But also there are wi-fi channel number(client)s as you
>know which are in the ''device manager'' with ''advanced'' tab.
>Look at: http://www.linksysinfo.org/images/Co...m/broadcom.png

Would it be too much trouble to kindly supply the maker and model
number of the wireless client and wireless card? Without knowing the
model, it's a bit difficult to reasarch if 3.100.46.0 is the
recommended or latest Broadcom driver. Also, it would be useful to
know what country you are located as the drivers are different for
various regulatory jurisdictions.

>1st question: There 2 setting field related to channels, they are:
>IBSS channel number and WZC IBSS channel number. Should i also change
>them to channel 6??? Although they are stayed at channel 11, i was
>able to surf, although router's channel number has been set to 6
>already. Indeed, only changing router channel to 6 did not help, i
>experienced freeze(data transfer stops) problem again :(

Ok, now I see what you're doing. In Infrastructure mode, you do NOT
change the channel on the client. The access point controls the
channel number. In Ad-Hoc mode, which you are NOT using, the channel
is changed. If you are using Wireless Zero Config, you will find that
the various channel numbers in the wireless device properties, will
change by themselves when connected to an infrstructure access point.

>2nd question: As i am not using Ad hoc(computer-to-computer), these
>IBSS channel numbers are wi-fi adapter driver channel settings are
>needless for me? (I'm connecting the net wirelessly through my router
>(ADSL) ).

Well, I found this almost useless explanation of the various settings.
<http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/network/p70008/EN/props.htm>
This looks better:
<http://www.linksysinfo.org/forums/showthread.php?p=274614>
I'm not 100% sure (and too lazy to check) but I'm fairly sure that
IBSS Channel number is only settable on the client in Ad-Hoc mode. In
infrastructure mode, which you're using, it's only a channel
indicator, not a channel setting.

>Also, as i am carefull, i do not use neighbours wireless networks,
>because i always check SSID name which i am surfing through.

Assumption, the mother of all screwups. If you have your wireless
client set to "connect to any available network", it will magically
roam and connect to anything that it finds. Some older wireless
clients will do the same if you set the connection SSID to "ANY".

>Freeze problem is about wireless connection , not computer freeze.

Prove it by substitution. Replace parts and pieces or your system and
see if it persists. That's very difficult to do with an all-in-one
DSL modem/router/wireless. You may need to borrow a replacement for
testing.

>As i am new to wireless i supposed that wireless channel changes
>should be made both for router and wi-fi adapter? What is the correct?

No. It is NOT correct. The wireless access point sets the channel
number. The wireless client follows the channel number set by the
wireless access point.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
# http://802.11junk.com jeffl@cruzio.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS