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<b>FYI :<br>
<br>
Subject: WiFi channels and 2Wire modems/WiFi Routers
<br>
From: Mike Bailey<br>
Date: 02/11/2009 07:52 EST
</b><br>
<br>
<p><!-- start message --> </p>
<div>I'm not sure whether to classify this as venting, a warning to
others, or suggesting a workaround to solve problems.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
A
good friend of mine recently installed AT&T's UVerse service (which
I cannot get and according to the installer is unlikely to ever be
available in my neighborhood because AT&T is not spending any money
to expand or improve services in existing service areas - mutter,
mutter, grumble, grumble).
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Anyway he has been
plagued by dropouts on his wireless network so he asked me to come
troubleshoot since AT&T was taking a "so what" attitude. I took my
MacBook Air and used AirRadar to test the WiFi signal in his home and
discovered no fewer than eleven WiFi network signals were reaching his
home with signal strengths, as measured by AirRadar, running from 0% to
40% and the signal strength in his office hitting around 60%. Three of
the other networks were stacked on channel 8, the same channel my
friend's network as on. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>That was an easy
problem to solve. At least that is what I thought at first. Channels 2,
3, and 4 were clear while all the other channels had existing networks.
So I configured his 2Wire modem/wireless router to channel 3.
Everything worked beautifully. His network was rock solid, no dropouts,
excellent data transfer rates, everything just as it should be. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Twenty-four
hours later the network was dropping connections, data transfer was
dead slow, it was back to the beginning. Not only that his network was
back on channel 8 along with the three other competing networks, one of
which was hitting his house with almost the same signal strength as his
own network. Then we discovered in the manual there is a "feature" in
the 2Wire modem where IT will decide the optimum channel on its own and
override the manual setting. A telephone call to AT&T got an answer
on the order of, "Yes that is a premium feature of our UVerse modems
and there is no way to override the automatic channel switching. If
that causes you a problem you are on your own to correct it."</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Our
next plan of attack is to purchase an Airport Extreme Base Station and
attach it to the 2Wire modem via ethernet, disable the wireless network
feature of the 2Wire, configure the firewall in the 2Wire to pass the
network signal through to the Airport Base Station unfiltered, and then
use the Airport Base Station to configure and drive his wireless
network on the channel of his choosing. Other than the cost of the
Airport Extreme Base Station this is not all bad because it will also
enable him to use Back To My Mac which the 2Wire will not support.</div>
<div>
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<br>
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<div>_________________________</div>
<div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder">
</div>
<div>Mike Bailey</div>
</div>
</span></div>
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