"jayc" <noreply@mail.com> hath wroth:
>I have a wireless network setup and having problems with connecting my
>wireless radio.
Any particular reason why you didn't bother to supply the maker and
model numbers of your wireless devices? They could be ancient junk,
incompatible, or known losers. Full disclosure is helpful.
>I was advised to find out how many competing networks are
>in the air, and on which channels?
Good advice. However, if you don't want to go through the trouble,
just change your unspecified model wireless router to 1, 6, or 11 and
see if any of these channels offer an improvement.
>Also how do I check which channels I
>maybe competing with.
That's impossible for me to describe because I have no clue what
operating system, hardware, drivers, or utilities you're using. You're
posting header shows Ouchlook Depress 6.00.2900 so you're using XP.
There's a better than 50% chance that you're using Microsoft supplied
Wireless Zero Config. Find the icon that looks kinda wireless in the
system tray (lower right of screen). If you double click when
connected, it will show the channel, signal strength, and connection
speed. The less than 50% chance is that you're using a connection
manager utility supplied by your unspecified wireless device vendor.
Double click on the icon and it should display something worth
reading.
>I only know how to check the wireless networks in my
>area via Windows, and there are only 2 and they are not in my range.
If you can see them with your unspecified Windoze client, and they are
on the same channel, they have the potential to interfer. Note that
the 802.11b/g signals are about 20MHz wide, which means that they
occupy about 4 channels. That's why 1, 6, and 11 are the only
non-overlapping channels. If you use one in between, you run the risk
of getting interference from both adjacent channels.
Also note that there may be wireless LAN's that you cannot see with
WZC or the vendors tools. The problem is caused by excessively clever
security experts insisting that not broadcasting the SSID is some sort
of security feature. It's not and the result is that it makes what
you're trying to accomplish rather difficult. You'll need a Linux
based sniffer (i.e. Kismet) in order to see everything.
>Please let me know your comments.
Comment: What problem are you trying to solve? What are the
symptoms? What is the distance? What's in the line of sight? What
do you have for hardware? Softare?
--
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