Wireless Giving me grief!!

I have recently moved to o2 from AOL, this problem hasnt just started but has been getting worse....any help would be most appreciated and stop me from pulling hair out!

Ok, i am using the o2 wireless box as they requested and before that a belkin G wireless modem, also a belkin pci card in my PC...

I am on ultimate and when connected to router by ethernet i get say 16 -18mb d/l and 1.3mb upload, over my wireless max i can get d/l is 8mb (i have questioned this and forums and o2 say that could be just what it is, the max cos of walls etc etc (not sure if this is the case.....however i have decided to accept it, and carry on...

now to my main ache!

sometimes during the day, mainly around 4 - 5pm my conection goes all screwy....whereas at good times i am conected to the router at 54mbps maybe sometimes 48mbps it can drop to 5mbps or even 1mbps...and also connection keeps dropping and reconnecting

I downloaded Network Stumbler and there are 11 different wireless networks within the range of my card and i think this is the problem...i have changed my channel to 3 (the only one not n use or 3 away from someone elses! but still no help...

I just wanna fix it, i would get a draft N modem router and usb dongle but i wanna be sure this will fix the issue before spending 100quid on it (also would it allow me to use the full 18mb d/l speed?)....my other option is pc world have a deal on those plug things from the router into power socket and then 1 upstairs in my roomplug socket then ehter to my pc and i should get 85mbps data so it claims, which i would expect would also give me my full 18mb d/l for only 55quid....

strange thing is that always my belkin connection and windows conection indicator always says connection excellent???

at this v moment i am at 24.0mbps and on network stumbler SNR = 52, Signal+ = 35 and SNR+ =65

any help?

There may be someone on the area with a wireless video sender which can interfere but not show up on network scans...

So try other channels, even if it looks like a clash.

The speed reported by the wireless card is up and down speeds combined, so a 48Mbps link will support at best 24Mbps in either direction, and in practice probably only 15Mbps

As Andrew says, other services share bandwidth with wi-fi, but since the wi-fi signal is pushing the same power into much less bandwidth, the wi-fi should always win over a TV transmitter, but possibly not if your aerial is very close to your neighbour's TV transmitter.

Another possibility to consider - how secure is your wi-fi ? Could someone else be tapping into your bandwidth at certain times of day ? If you're using WEP encryption, that can be hacked very easily. Also, be aware that only 3 wi-fi channels (channels 1, 6 and 11) are have "sole occupancy" of a channel - all the other channels overlap each other. Wi-fi is designed so that several people can use a channel simultaneously - if it wasn't, then wi-fi hotspots wouldn't work - and you shouldn't have a problem unless you have one or two people on the same channel running the connection flat out.

P.S. 4 to 5 PM is a time when kiddies might be doing their pop-tarts in the microwave - another source of interference to wi-fi.

Edited by deleted (Tue 08-Jul-08 10:03:43)