wifi range more than half reduced

i got an problem wireless for the last 2 weeks at my house has lost about 60% or more of its range (having problems using it more then 20m away, where as before i could get the signal 4 houses away or to the back garden)

its like the power output on the wireless has dropped i ended up having to turn off wireless on my phone as was very intermittent downstairs wifi just dropping off and falling back to mobile data and then back onto wifi ( same for laptops and an iPhone as well)

once everyone is out of the house today going to turn everything off plug my old router in before i start knocking on doors next doors ask them to turn stuff off (wish there was an device where i could pinpoint where the issue is coming from as i guess it's likely something is overpowering the wifi signal)

i have got an Linksys e3200, asus 54g wifi router and an edimax router (needs to be the linksys one as the other two can't handle VM 100mb speeds)

i am quite technical myself so i am going to do an bunch of testing just be helpful for any of your insights or information on stuff i could do (just its really only started to bother me now as others in the house are starting to bug me about it not working very well)

If you are sure it's not the routers at fault?

Have you tried all wireless channels. Try 1 6 and 11.

Anything on 1 will overlap and interfere upto channel 5, anything on 6 upto 10 etc.
Hence manufacturers use 1, 6 and 11 as default. Give this a shot.

If not, I would install a bunch of access points around the house. Either add one or 2 more... Not the solution you are looking for but the 2.4ghz is largely unregulated and you cannot easily force someone to stop using their network because it's causing a few issues on yours.

You will also find the cause near on impossible to pin point as it could be a router, baby monitor, cordless phone, AV receiver, microwave oven, cordless 2.4ghz keyboard / mouse. The list is so long.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 28-Oct-12 18:26:36)

i know most on the street (that are in range of my router)

as i set up most of the routers on the street most are on chan 6 and 11 mine is on 1 (with 2 routers just out of range on my channel 1 but do not have access to them yet)

the one router should do it as its not an big house it easy covers the house until about 2 weeks ago where its now an issue using it past 20m as explained in the post

i got an edimax DD-wrt router and the asus WL54g (rock sold router that one is and a boot up time of 2 seconds from power on) that i am going to try tonight

could the router be automatically Lowering the wifi Radio power due to other wifi networks in range? not sure if routers do that or not, i be back in about 2 hours so i can do some more testing (as i can just plug the other router into my linksys and turn off the wifi on it to test it as i wish to keep my VM IP address)

Definitely try a different channel. As you are on 1, try 11 as a starting point.

You say you know most of the people and the routers in range. HOWEVER you do not know what channel the neighbours cordless phone is using or their microwave or their baby monitor or their cordless doorbell or their cordless alarm system etc.

Wireless routers usually work nicely with one another whereas devices such as baby monitors don't work well with routers.

You can have numerous routers on the same channel no problem. Having numerous baby monitors and a router is more likely to cause mayhem.

I find it's the stuff that you cant see that's the issue. Report back

I found in the past every router on channel 11 in range. Why? It was the only one that worked at a speed above 1Mbps 24/7. I eventually linked it to the equipment a neighbour was using to build a plane in his garage! This took many years.

Your router wont be putting out less however a neighbours equipment can be very strong and overpower your own. Changing channel should solve this.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 28-Oct-12 18:41:46)