Neighbour keeps changing wireless channel

Hi there,

I Thought i would raise this particular issue with fellow TB users and VM & non-VM users alike to gain more information as to whether this affects other users also.

Just for informational purposes i am on Be There Internet via ADSL (NOT CABLE) just to make that clear but this does to some degree involve VM in this specific issue.

The problem that i keep experiencing is that when i use my ADSL Router (TP-Link TD-W8960N which is my own and not supplied by BE) is that when i change my wireless signal channel to 3, the neighbours VirginMedia hub (NOT Super Hub, its the Netgear Hub with the grill on top) changes also to channel 3, when i change it to channel 5 (as to avoid the commonly used channels of 1,6,11 & to avoid interference from the VM Hub) the VM router would follow suite.

This has also has lead to me to believe this cause severe signal loss in the downstairs & back of my home (router sited upstairs) as when i have it on the channel that the VM modem router is broadcasting on, the signal downstairs seems to be really weak.

This has been tested out using: MetaGeek's InSSIDer - Wireless Signal Site Survey Software

Now my router (TP-Link TD-W8960N which is my own and not supplied by BE) has got the high-gain detachable 8dB antennas and not the ones that come with it connected which makes it amongst the strongest in my street as i can get a signal on my phone at the top and bottom of my street with acceptable thoughput.

I would just like to know of anyone else who is having similar issues like this as its quite frustrating, i have spoken to one of the neighbours about this issue already and they have allowed me to set their router to Manual Channel setting so that this keeps their VM Hub on the same wireless channel but this has yet to be completed.

Is there any way at all this could be raised to someone in the industry as to put pressure on VM to get rid of these router modems or at very least provide some form of a fix/patch on them as these are still being given to new customers today when taking anything below 50Mb packages so i am lead to believe.

Screenshots on the PDF document on the shortened link at the bottom below show evidence of this issue including the before & after i changed my wireless channel and few days later when the VM Hub followed suite and changed themselves on to the new channel which i recently changed.

There is a similar issue on the Virgin Media forums also from other people experiancing the same problem, see this link: Virgin Media Forum - Neighbour keeps changing wireless channel

See the following PDF for my findings so far:
PDF Document of all Screenshots from inSSIDer

Using channels 3 or 5 doesn't really help in terms of avoiding interference from wifi on channels 1 or 6.

Channels 1,6 and 11 are the ony ones that don't overlap - i.e. channel 3's frequency range overlaps that of 1 and 6. Weh you operate in an overlapping band, your signal looks like noise to something in the other band and vice versa.

I suspect that your neigbours netgear is auto-selecting a channel that is free of noise - your relatively high-power signal - and using that. Of course this ends up falling to the same channel that you are using as this at least contains a recognisable wireless signal rather than just "noise".

What happens if you move to channel 11 which doens't overlap the neigbours unit at all? Does it "track" you then as well?

I can't move it to 11 because there are routers in the area using this channel as one of the most popular channels auto-selected by routers is ususally 1,6,11.

I have had it on ch 3 in the past with no problems til the VM routers appeared, i made sure all my neighbours of which i help out with any internet/router/computer issues had their own wifi routers on set channels so that it avoids my channels and the rest in the street also so we more or less each independantly have our own channels, but since then people around the street have moved or have changed their provider and now there is a mish-mash of people using ch 1/ ch 6/ ch 11 resepctfully.

No, the netgear's reasoning of noise is to follow where-ever my router went so if i changed from 3 to 5 it would follow, if i then changed to 3 from 5 it would follow, if i changed to 10 from 5 or 3 it would still follow. I have been experimenting with this over the last 2-3 months now only to narrow it down to faulty VM router which cannot detect its got another wifi spot in this channel.

I was always under the impression that wifi router signals were like CB radio in the fact that they too operate on channels but if you get two people trying to talk on the same channel it would break up yet if you changed the channel to another one so you was the only person on that channel there would be no interference, am i right in thinking that is along the lines it works?

Channels are similar but not the same to CB channels.
Whereas CB channels don't overlap, wireless channels do. Generally channels 1 through to11 are available for use (legally). Of these 1,6 and 11 are the most commonly used as that gives three non-overlapping channels. See http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/2...

If you have an access point set to channel 3, then any traffic from this will just seem like noise to devices on other channels between 1 and 6 whereas to other devices on channel 3 it will at least be seen as a valid wifi signal - somethat that allows a degree of controlled coexistence