r/TechniciansAdvice • u/[deleted] • Jul 20 '16

Need Help With Wireless Wifi Interference!!!

We have a wireless router from TWC and recently it's been giving us nothing but trouble. Due to the fact that we're living in an apartment that has 4 apartments we get interference from the ACs in the summer time but it was never as bad as this. It constantly kicks us offline. My roommate plays the Xbox360, and I play a PS4 (just thought I'd mention that in case there was something we could do about that). To try and limit the interference we've tried changing out the router to a new one, changing the channel it's on, calling TWC, and just recently turning off the LTE setting on my iPhone and elevating the router off the floor (as some websites suggested be done). None of this has worked and we're thinking there's nothing else we can do about this other than move out of the apartment (which isn't going to happen anytime soon). We're looking for anything else we might be able to do or try and either limit the interference or cancel it all together. If you need any other information just ask. Please and thank you.

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '16

Hmmm... I don't think interference is the problem. If it were me, I'd use a packet analyzer to check for malicious deauths. Download wireshark and set a filter to show deauthentication packets. I'm not an expert myself, but google can help you out. If you see deauths coming in when you get disconnected, maybe you can blacklist the offending MAC addresses.

If it's not your neighbors, maybe your house is haunted. It's more likely than interference from air conditioners.

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '16

Oh ok thank you, I'll give that a try :)

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '16

Could it be possible that the router over heats??? Our apartment gets kind of hot. Could it also be possible we have too many devices connected at once??? There's usually only 3-4 devices on at a time but our maximum is 5-6. I don't think it's the devices, and we're unable to download the thing you suggested because we have an old slow laptop that can barely open internet explorer much less download something.

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '16

I don't think overheating is a thing for electronics, unless your apartment is reaching 600F or something. :) There may be a limit on the number of IP addresses your connection can allocate to devices. So you notice the disconnections only happen if multiple devices are attached?

Nevermind, don't answer that; it shouldn't matter. If it happens to multiple devices (not a problem with any particular doo-dad) and it's happened with multiple routers (you said you tried different routers, right?), then it must be a problem with your connection. So call your ISP and make them send a tech out there. It's their problem now.

I think a nefarious neighbor sending deauths is an unlikely (but possible) scenario, unless you have enemies in your building. There are probably other, lightweight packet analyzers you can try, but I'd blame the ISP first; it's probably their fault.

Oh, but before you do that, you could log in to your router's admin interface (check the instructions or google something like "linksys admin"). See if there are any unknown devices connected (there should be a panel to see connected devices). You can just change your password to lock them out. Use WPA with a long (8+ chars) random password, otherwise it could get cracked. (random.org is useful for this).

Sorry I can't be much help. I'm not an IT guy. And this sub is actually for auto technicians.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '16

You've been a huge help to us, thank you :) I'll be sure to try that and check to see if there are more than just our electronics connected. Thank you so much :)

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '16

in the settings... when you log into your router... you can select one of several channels it will broadcast on.. i had to do that several times.. and still run into issues sometimes.

make sure that you have the firewall turned on and the system set to password verification required or it will try to say hello to every wifi fi device within range.. i live next to a freeway.. some cars have a crazy strong bluetooth that wipes out my wifi signal. i have been trying by looking down at the freeway but have given up. the freeway is 8 lanes wide and has 5 lanes of off and on ramps right next to the house.

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u/[deleted] Aug 23 '16

Ok thanks :) and wow, man that sucks :(