To many wireless networks :(

[bensr20det]

So here is the deal. I have had my wireless network for about 2 years and it has worked great the whole time... until now. I have a Linksys WCG200 wireless cable modem gateway. Its the modem router combo built in one. the firmware is upto date aswell as my drivers for my wireless card. But over the past 2 months alot of wireless networks have pop'ed up around me. when i scan for networks I pull up about 8 all with good strength. I have 4Mbps service with insight broadband. berfore I got about 3.5-3.8Mbps I am now getting between 500kbps and 1.5Mbps. when i test it starts high then falls way low. I know it is not the service because when i plug in to the router i get my 3.8Mbps. And i know it is not the wireless transmitter becasue i have used 3 other cable modems, 2 other routers, and 2 access points. Nor is it my laptop I have use a brand new xps same problem I also have 2 other wireless cards i use in my computer all of them work well at other locations but not here. Is there any settings inside of this router that can fix this? I have tried every channel i can use. I am going crazy here WoW really sucks when your latency goes from 31ms up to 2000+ms. please please help me thanks

[brownizs]

Problem is, with 8 other WiFi networks around you, most likely everyone is operating on Channel 6, or 11, and all their networks are stepping on each other. Happens the same way if you have everyone in an apartment building with Vtech cordless telephones. I would suggest running Netstumbler to find out what channel is not being used, set your router for that channel, and make sure you have a good WPA key enabled, along with making sure that you have a good Admin password (and change Admin to something else like (Joe_Namith) or the such that is not thought that it would be).

[bensr20det]

thank you very much will try and let you know

[bensr20det]

Ran netstumbler and found half the networks were on channel 6 other half on channel 11 and 1 on channel 1. I set my router to channel 3, setup 128bit WPA, and changed my admin password. I am now able to get 3.3-3.5Mbps. very nice an thank you very much :

Ben

[brownizs]

Your welcome. Netstumbler is amazing when trying to figure out what is operating on what channels It is not just for people hackiing networks, but a great tool for checking for noise, and problems with Routers stepping on each footprint.

[bensr20det]

I have never used it before but i am going to play with it. can it change anything or is it only a diagnostics tool? can you tell me what all it can do?

[brownizs]

It is more of a diagnostic tool. Great for also keeping an eye on your network if you are wanting to know about the noise, and also for Site-Surveying.