Do BT know what they are tlking about?

[ghinzani]

Usual BT story I expect, basically I asked to change from BT Business to Resedential last April, and they finally managed to do it in November... Anyway since I have changed from an excellant BT Business router (a BT 2700 HGV) to a BT Homehub 2.0 the wireless has been so bad as to be unusuable. The most I have had it running is about an hour before it drops out. Has not been that much of a problem though as I was only connected by a cable to my PC. However a new wireless Netbook and a work laptop has meant I need to get wireless running. Several fruitless calls have resulted in this mornings advice from BT resedential broadband in India that I should call BT Business and get them to reconfigure the 2700 to work with Resedential. BT Business predictably told me 'we dont do that sort of thing Sir'. Anyway another call to BT Resedential this afternoon has seen them change the wireless interface type from b/g/n to b/g, which they assure me is stronger and thus should ensure router stays up.

Are they talking ******? Whats the difference between b, b/g and b/g/n ?


Also is there any validity in me attempting to reconfig the BT Business router (the robust 2700) to work in place of the Homehub 2.0? If so what will I need to do? I guess the most important thing is being able to login to it? Although I guess I could zeroize it to start with.

Any pointers gratefully recieved.

Oh and as a backup I just bought a pair of homeplugs as a means of at least getting a feed into my office...


edit... do I know how to write titles correctly also? no!

[Jiff Lemon]

In short..... NO! Every single dealing I've had with BT has been nightmarish.

The only possible explanation I can think of is if your on an ADSL2+ connection at home and the Business router was plain old ADSL.

[Singh400]

B/G/N refer to wireless standards/specifications.

802.11b is the oldest (1994)
802.11g is one of the most common (2003)
802.11n is one of the newest (2008?)

It's best to have the latest 802.11x standard enabled on all devices that support it.

Also to get the best wirelss, don't use automatric channel selection. Use manual and try channel 11.

[ghinzani]

Originally Posted by Jiff Lemon

In short..... NO! Every single dealing I've had with BT has been nightmarish.

The only possible explanation I can think of is if your on an ADSL2+ connection at home and the Business router was plain old ADSL.

You are not wrong brother!! about the first point...
I doubt Im on any '2' connection out here in the New Forest - our exchange still has a lady in it I fear!

[ghinzani]

Originally Posted by Singh400

B/G/N refer to wireless standards/specifications.

802.11b is the oldest (1994)
802.11g is one of the most common (2003)
802.11n is one of the newest (2008?)

It's best to have the latest 802.11x standard enabled on all devices that support it.

Also to get the best wirelss, don't use automatric channel selection. Use manual and try channel 11.

Cheers for that, yes they also switched it to channel 11 - why should that be the best then? and if its the best why is it not the default?

Any idea why they would switch from b/g/n to b/g? It seems a retrograde step by your list above. Thanks for the info though.

[oioldman]

be careful with manual channel setting to 11, because if all your neighbours did that the signal would be less than you have at present.

the letters determine the frequency, 2.4 or 5GHz and also the speed they can perform at.
11n is the newest but is also not ratified by IEEE as yet hence seeing "draft 11n" on everything.
11b/g will be most compatible with laptops & expansion cards for PC.

i do agree that bt customer service can be very hit!! and miss

[beerhunter]

Your problem is a classic EMI. The correct way to fix it is rather than just choose a channel at random, use something like Netstumbler or InSSIDer to find out what channels are in use locally and then choose one that not only isn't in use but is not adjacent to one that is. (WiFi channels overlap.)

To answer your original question. No, they are close to useless. Having said that, I am afraid that WiFi connectivity is your problem not BT's.

[ghinzani]

Bizzarely it seems to have worked. Broadband stayed up all night with no interuptions. Now just got to hope none of my neighbours goes to channel 11

[beerhunter]

Originally Posted by ghinzani

Bizzarely it seems to have worked. Broadband stayed up all night with no interuptions. Now just got to hope none of my neighbours goes to channel 11

It is actually nothing to do with your Broadband which is why I remarked that is isn't really BT's problem.

Your best bet is still to find out what your neighbours are using rather than poke and hope. (Which appears to be the BT methodology.)

[Singh400]

Beerhunter has a point. Find out what channels your neighbours are on, then move all your wireless devices over to a new unused channel.

[ghinzani]

Good call people, Il put the word out that channel 11s mine and I dont want no interference. This isnt A.M. Citizens Band radio...