This is a story from years ago but I thought retelling it might help save some of you a terrible headache.

About 2 years prior to now is when we first began our journey into wireless internet. At the time this feature seemed to be quite unique, indeed wanted. Only with time and chance did I come upon a horrible truth, that wireless internet isn't so easy to install as you might think. Let me explain...

It began the day I came home from California. I'd been living out there for around 3 years, mostly because my dad was a really hard person to get along with. I'd tried being nice, cordial, but he always insulted me, mad me feel bad, and mostly I felt like dying around him, it's because of that I had moved to Los Angeles. After around 3 years of living with my sister I finally got sick of it, her constant drinking, alcoholic ramblings, and banter were simply to much. I felt she was moving in a direction I couldn't allow myself to go into, one of limitation! Aheem, the real reason I moved back home was because she was annoying + I was getting more depressed and suicidal, thus I realized I'd better get someplace I could at least sit in without loosing my mind.

So here I was, I'd just gotten home from California after spending 3 years of life away from home. It felt good to know I'd be free of worry, at least for some things. I soon came to understand my situation, my father was as big a gerk as ever, and my mother was a religious freak now! Crazy mofo's.... so yeah I can't get my family to behave and would like to slaughter them all... but that's not the entire story here ppl so listen up!

It came to my attention that my father had bought a Mac G5 (at which time I laughed histerically). This thing has wireless capability and so my father had purchased a Linksys Wireless-B Router. Incidently I'd had a computer sent home to await my arrival, and they had purchased + installed a wireless nic for me.

So there the story begins again....

Through random connection drops, hellish resets on the router, I came to wonder what would cause this. Could the router just be a cheap piece of junk?

Long story short...

Routers operate at 2.4 GHZ... your cordless phones do as well. This means they CAN possibly interfere with one another causing static on the phone or connection drops on the internet. You'd think this would be widely known but it isn't... to test yours put your handset (after you turn it on) next to the router, if the connection fails to the internet you've got an interference issue.

Now the solution should be to merely get yourself 5.8 GHZ cordless phones right?! Wrong!!! It would seem some manufacters try and save cost by making only the BASE transmitt at 5.8 GHZ while your handsets send back the signal at 2.4 GHZ!!!!

Thus your cordless phone system you just bought that claims 5.8GHZ is really a 5.8/2.4GHZ system! Crazy huh? The only way to be sure is to look in your instruction manual in the back, there it should list the operating frequency for your handset + base. If the handsets are 2.4 you've been ripped off, the phones will still cause drops in your internet connection.

So yeah that's my story, I could've wrote more but am at work and it's to long to keep writing.

You can also make sure the AP and the cordless phone are on different channels.

I did try changing the routers channel but since the cordless phones operate in a range of 2.4 GHZ that's random it's impossible to guess whether it would solve the interference issues.

Also it had no effect :?!

It is possible that older wireless technology will suffer from such problems, the newer types should be using a slightly different method to try and resolve issues with connections. However wireless will suffer a deterioration in service for a number of reasons, notibly other wireless devices or multiple computers using the same network. All I can suggest is make sure that you've "Secured" your network using your IP/MAC constraints in regards to who can access the network, otherwise you might someone either purposely connecting through your network or even people accidentally logging on to the stronger signal in the local area.

somehow I dont believe that darksidZz is sderenzi sockpuppet anymore...like he claims...

I've secured my WLAN with WPA2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPA2) security, but haven't done MAC/IP bindings, because I want an occasional friend to be able to connect to my network too without changing my wireless router settings.

Well in belgium we have this evil coorperation named telenet who has pretty much a monopoly on internet/wireless. So like most evil coorperations they heavily over charge and don't know a single thing abouth their own products or even the internet in general. Annyway I have a contract for 2 computers but with my own router and wireless network I distribute it to my other 5 computers. So this guy from telenet comes in see's what I'm been doing reports it and now I'm back with 2 computers on the wireless.

Are these computers all in the same house? Or are you talking about a company.

No company, yust a big house. I'm still living with my parents

No company, yust a big house. I'm still living with my parents
And they charge you per computer? In the same house?

I mean I can understand it if they were against multiple housholds in an area sharing the same connection.

And they charge you per computer? In the same house?

I mean I can understand it if they were against multiple housholds in an area sharing the same connection.

Yes they do, they also charge extra per giga byte I download or upload (2 seperant things) a month. For something like 45 euro's a month. offcourse for that amount of money you don't have nearly enoug upload for let's say to maintain a site.

That's Evil!

I too have a monopolistic ISP (has monopoly in landline telephone communications), but they have nothing against sharing internet connection among as many computers as I wish.
They even have a service to set it up for you.

mine aperently has a service to break it down again. :(
I only cald on them because of a pasword problem, they suggested that I reset the whole thing so nothing worked anymore so they can come to fixe it and charge 60 euro travel fee. So they sent some former clock shop owner that had a couple of lessons of networks and he simply shut my network security of. So in the end I had to do it myself. And because he reported me I can't get more then 2 internet connections.

Well, I sorta have a strange situation with my wireless Internet. I rent the upstairs of the same house my landlord lives in and he told me he has a router in the basement and that I can basically connect to it and get my Internet for free. So I just plugged in my Netgear, got a signal and wamo I'm connected. But what bothers me is that my landlord had no password protection on the thing. He says he is a Mac-user and not so sure about stuff like that. I'm hesitant to ask him more about it since I am after all getting free Internet. It's reliable and I only sometimes get wierd disconnects, but nothing too bad. Should I be worried about my system's security since his router is not passworded? o_o

Well I have a firewall on my PC anyway, so you could just go for something like that. I assume the main reason for 'securing' a wireless router is to prevent strangers from surfing for free at your expense. I know they can also have built in firewalls too. I use Zonelabs: Zonealarm, I think there are others around too.

An unsecure wireless router will pretty much allow anyone to connect a computer to it. The only problem that might be caused if you are accurate in saying it's "unpassworded" is if someone opens up the routers admin page and altered it to have a password that nobody knows.

I knew of someone that had a secured wireless router but in close proximity within the neighbourhood there was an unsecured wireless router operating. They at the time kept accidentally connecting to the unsecure one until I explained that connecting to a router that you don't own isn't just "Potentially"* against the law but you don't know who's running it. Any information sent involving their business or bank details could of potentially been read by a 3rd-party, so I showed them how to make sure they didn't connect to the wrong router and to keep to their own.

*I said potentially since an unsecure router is an open invitation. It's like a bank leaving all it's doors and vault open for the night, or a petrolstation leaving it's pumps active when all it's employees have gone home for the night.