If you play with Wi-Fi stuff ...

Aug 21, 2006 11 Replies
T

Hi All,



In the spirit of d-i-y I thought I'd mention I was recently trying to help a mate setup his new VOIP router and we were getting crap range between that and his laptop, in spite of my little Trend 'Hotspot' detector (and Netstumbler) showing nothing else on the channel we selected.



Changing to *another* channel and getting better range suggested it was interference from *something* (but not a Wi-Fi device and nothing new there then).



Because of this issue (and liking real answers to such questions) I treated myself to a MetaGeek 'Wi-Spy' (Wi-Fi band PC based basic spectrum analyser) the other day and took it to my nephews when I was swapping an 11b dongle for a 11g PCI card.



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demonstrated that most of the band was fairly clear ... until my Sister turned her microwave on downstairs that is ... it walked all over channels 8 to 12 and at the same amplitude as the genuine signal. Had I set his network on CH10 I might have had a telephone call or two from him "Uncle Tim, I keep getting signed off MSN ... ".. ;-(



I don't think this could be considered a 'Professional' tool but, it seems to do what it says on the tin .. ;-)



All the best ..



T i m


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A

Another success for Uncle Tim.

Do you wear your underpants on the outside?

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G

This is well known. A quick google would have shown this to be the case.

Dave

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T

Nope, they all just think I can fix *anything* (which I can't of course). ;-(

It was just nice to be able to see the things that previously you just had to experiment around .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

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O

But it's still fun to see for oneself. A bit like microwaving a credit card or building ones own jacob's ladder.

Owain

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M

Actually, this interests me, having had all sorts of problems with a PC downstairs on WiFi, whereas the XBox was fine. Love to experiment.

Hmmm, $99 plus $6 shipping, not to Europe, bit pricey, but maybe...

Aha, UK distributer...

Hmmm, £99.95, and £5.50 postage.

I thought £:$ was around 1:1.89 ?

Sod that for a game of soldiers. Rip-off Britain can shove their Wi-Spys up their arse.

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H

Not when it comes to buying things; then it's 1:1.

Simple solution. Order the American one.

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A

Computers have had their own "special" $1:=A31 conversion rate for at=20 least the last twenty years :-(

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G

The message from Andy Burns contains these words:

So has almost everything else. DVDs for example.

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C

In message , T i m writes

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T

LOL .. Well spotted!

Mainly on the old 'Aunty Mary' (more exciting) but no big twigs or burners.

Then it went all legal and FM and stuff ... ;-(

Then we got mobile phones and became RA's and it all got pretty much forgotten .. ?

I did fire up my old Tandy 'Hand portable' (luggable?) CB the other day but it all seemed pretty quiet (and yes, I did put the very long telescopic aerial up) ;-)

10:10 ... ;-)

T i m

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