Problems with Wi-Fi Connectivity, Worth Changing Channel Number

oldfart

Established Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2015
Messages
281
Reaction score
125
Points
133
Age
71
Location
Bletchley
Hi,

Just lately my MatrixAudio Elements I ( 12 feet away from the router ) and HP Envy 4527 ( 20 feet away from router ) have been losing their wireless connection to the TalkTalk router, with the result of either unplugging and plugging back in to establish connection or reseting the router. Looking at the screenshot below, could it be that for some reason when someone nearby turns their equipment on it somehow interferes and knocks off my own equipment. So the big question is, Would it be worth changing my Channel number from 1 to 2 on the 2.4 Ghz. Thanks.

Screenshot 2022-05-25 at 12.54.16.png
 
As you can see you are already straddling channel 2, I would either leave as is and re scan with inssider when the issue occurs or try channel 6.

The issue you may find is that other ap’s set to auto may move around channels as a result of your move.

Out of interest what happens if you try and connect another device on the 2.4Ghz frq while you have this outage?
 
Upvote 0
There is a kind of "good neighbour" protocol as part of the Wi-Fi standards that mean any nearby Wi-Fi devices that are transmitting above a certain signal level have to "play nice together." I'll spare the details of how this works, but the threshold signal level at which a wannabe transmitter has to "wait" for for some "clear air" are lower for Wi-Fi neighbours that cannot hear each than for those that can.

Typically in the 2.4GHz waveband, Wi-Fi sources choose a channel plan based on [1,6,11] (sometimes, though rarely, [1,5,9,13].) Neighbouring devices aligned on the same channel plan can "hear" and decode each others transmissions, and the "good neighbour" protocol kicks in.

Changing your AP to a "non-aligned" channel means that it (and respectively your neighbours) cannot decode neighbouring transmissions and will regards them as "noise" or some non-Wi-Fi source - Wi-Fi is not the only thing that uses these radio frequencies. The "rules" about transmitting mean that Wi-Fi devices are more conservative about avoiding non-Wi-Fi sources (won't stomp over them) than for Wi-Fi sources, so by tuning to a "non-aligned" (with the neighbours) radio channel, you could actually make things worse not better.

As Captain Morgan indicates, you could try a different (1,6,11 aligned) channel, but it tends to be a bit of a hiding to nothing as so many people leave their routers/AP's "auto-tuning" that it's only a matter of time before it all flips round again and you're back to square one.

I live in flats and way back when, I could find a 2.4GHz more or less to myself, but a couple of decades later and everyone has Wi-Fi there's just no chance of it. I suffer the same issue that every so often, some of my Wi-Fi clients (particularly my laptop) just falls off the network. In an ideal world, I'd use 5GHz where signal propagation is lower so co-channel interference is less of an issue, and there's more channels available, but my particular laptop's is 2.4GHz only so just have to live with it.

BTW - with an "infrastructure" Wi-Fi system (one with routers/AP's rather than a "closed "ad-hoc" system) you shouldn't need you HP printer to advertise itself as a Wi-Fi device (essentially it's functioning as an AP, probably to facilitate some form of "direct print" or similar feature.) Consult the printers manual and "just" configure it as a regular Wi-Fi client connected to your router/AP like any other and it will stop advertising itself. That's then one source of interference removed. Better still, if it is possible to connect the printer with a wired ethernet cable, do that and turn off printer's Wi-Fi functionality entirely (though some printers don't have ethernet and are Wi-FI only, so you're stuck with it.)
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Thank you both for your valuable input.

As you say moving to another channel may well be a retrograde step. The disconnect seems to happen in the middle of the night? but it has been nearly three days since the last disconnect. If the issue does persist then I will hard wire both endpoints which will mean moving the printer near the router in the front room ( A third world problem I suppose ). I always wondered why the printer should show up as an Wi-Fi access point and will look into your suggestion, Thanks.
 
Upvote 0

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom