WiFi issue

Hi all, I have the Sky black SR102 hub the new one. And the issue is i have alot of people with WiFi networks around here using all kinds of different channels. The sky hub set on auto which makes it change channel when it detects the channel it is on is heavily used in my area. Problem is since loads of them are it is constantly changing channel. When it does this it makes some devices disconnect then reconnect. usually straight away but that is enough to make a Netflix stream stall and have to be restarted.
What can i do? Shall i lock it to a single channel and if so which one? my laptop is detecting 12 wifi networks (counting mine) right now.

Oh and one last thing it can't be channel 1 because my LG smart tv does not seem to like that channel and seems to have trouble connecting and or staying connected on that channel.

Identify the channel that most other networks around you are using, and lock it to that. Since you've already ruled 1 out, that normally leaves 6 and 11. Though channels 1, 5, 9, 13 are sometimes used as well (with a small overlap on each).

Rule is - try and match it to use exactly the same channels as other networks ... or none at all. Avoid overlaps. Matching the channel means all APs (yours and your neighbours) work together collectively to share bandwidth as efficiently as possible. Non-overlapping is obviously better but I doubt you'll be able to manage that. Partially overlapping channels cause interference and are actually detrimental to wireless signals (yours and theirs).

Edited by deleted (Tue 12-May-15 18:28:15)

I have done what you have said and locked it to channel 6. After 7 days or so i will try channel 11 and after a week on that i will see which performed best and stick to it. I have to say I'm already noticing a positive increase in stability and speed by locking it to channel 6. I'm wondering if the auto channel change feature of Sky hubs causes more issues than it helps.

In reply to a post by blackmesa8:

I'm wondering if the auto channel change feature of Sky hubs causes more issues than it helps.

I've found that to be the case with most of the routers I've ever owned (which, I'll admit, is not a large number).

Stability improves even when I manually set it to the same channel it chose for itself

Maybe it's faulty... It seems odd to be changing it that often.

I see 12 WiFi networks and I can honestly say my router does not change the WiFi channel - it is also on AUTO.

The way mine works is when I first turn it on, it scans 1, 6 and 11 and choses whichever one is best. It then never changes again. I know it technically can change, although I've never seen it change the WiFi channel in practice (even when a channel was so congested I physically could not connect to the Hub).

I've had 2 of them, both the same.

Anyway - yes fix the channel if it's causing issues.

It could be all your neighbouring APs are locked. Thus your one never moves as it has found a sweet spot. It might be the case that the OP has some neighbouring auto-selecting APs which also keep moving around, so the entire wifi channels are in a state of "musical chairs" and no single AP ever settles on what is a good all round configuration. One of the reasons I don't particularly like the use of auto selection if using the device in a static location, like a house. It's fine for mi-fi devices though.

I notice this a lot on a neighbours wifi device myself, except it's a really dumb device and flips between ANY channel 4 through to 9, completely disregarding the 1, 6, 11 rule. Highly annoying TBH.

Not true...
A lot of my neighbours have TalkTalk. In fact 4 of them

If you know anything about huawei routers (supplied by TT) you will know they choose basically ANY WiFi channel, do not follow conventions and often change their channel. So thanks to TalkTalk Huawei routers my entire WiFi is a musical chairs game.

Also the worst part about these Huawei routers, they often come with 40Mhz mode enabled, so one router uses multiple channels...

Also I have a neighbour who turns their WiFi off overnight like clockwork... Each morning their HomeHub comes back up with either channel 1, 6 or 11 (seemingly different each day).

I have two connections...
I've often had it where my HomeHub comes on using channel 1. I then turn the Sky Hub on, it also chooses channel 1 (despite the HomeHub being 15cm away) and eventually the HH has changed wireless channel.

The Sky Hub. Well it sits there with a smile on the front, in my view oblivious to any of the changes.

So in my view, I am extremely shocked to hear someones is actually "working"... Although I get a feeling maybe theirs is just faulty / resetting on its own.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Tue 12-May-15 23:20:08)

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Also the worst part about these Huawei routers, they often come with 40Mhz mode enabled, so one router uses multiple channels...

That is selfish. The APs I use support that, but I leave the feature off. I tried with it on, but they are clever enough to fall back to 20Mhz anyway if they detect that they would not gain any benefit from broadcasting using 40Mhz. And that's exactly what they did when I enabled 40Mhz mode. I also didn't need the speed offering which 40 provides, and in some cases, I found it less reliable (higher latency jitter).

40Mhz really messes things up. Who ever came up with that standard needs shot. At least there is now 5Ghz for when 2.4Ghz just becomes too overloaded.

Ta for the info re Huawei routers.

Edited by deleted (Wed 13-May-15 13:41:04)

80 MHz on 802.11ac may cause similar issues in time with 5Ghz

Well all WiFi devices have been working great with no disconnects or issues since i locked it to channel 6.
Speed tests on Ethernet vs WiFi still show a slight stability and ping difference but nothing that bad. I also did a lan ftp transfer and got a very good stable speed. I think i will leave it at this it seems ok.
Only device that needs alot of bandwidth for wifi is the LG smart tv rest of my devices are just tablets smartphones and one laptop i dont do anything bandwidth heavy on. So it is all fine for me.

I do PC gaming and more heavy downloading via Ethernet. I do plan to put a ethernet socket in the wall behind where the tv goes for this current TV and any/all future ones to stop my reliance on WiFi for heavy Netflix streaming and iplayer etc.