Wifi In My Apt

[TomAtAlki]

Hi All, I'm on my way back to BA (in a couple of weeks) and I just got a message from a friend saying that wifi router use has exploded, router's in every room and therefore great wifi interference. I currently play my music over my wifi system and even last year the music would cut out all of the time and now it may be worse.

To make matters more complicated, last year I couldn't access my [background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]Motorola SBG901 modem/router (supplied by Fibertel) to hook up a separate router even with the incredible help from some of this forums members. Assuming that I can hook up another, separate router, will a new router (new apple [/background]extreme or ???) help with this music situation. Or, of course.....any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dennisr]

Appletv for sounds: $99.00. My choice for music: free. Can connect to fIbertel's modem/router. Suggest registering to iTunes account before departing USA.
Note, optical connection for sounds

 

[pauper]

You could analyse the existing wireless signals and choose a channel that will involve the least amount of interference. There are routers that can do this and there are apps for smartphones that will automatically recommend the ideal channel for your environment.

 

[dennisr]

Also, bought one of these to AR http://www.bestbuy.com/site/zvox-z-base-220-soundbar-system/5403195.p?id=1218642237626&skuId=5403195.

Best gadget I have ever brought. Quality shocked me in a good way. Plus, it just fits in a carryon. Do not forget an optical cable.

Good luck.

 

[scotttswan]

Your best bet is to get your mobile phone and check which has strongest signals out of channels 1, 6, and 11 and then use the more empty ones. These are the ones that don't overlap.

The 5 GHz frequency block (used in wifi a and n) its pretty empty, although it doesn't go as far and could be illegal to use in argentina as each country has different laws on it. Mercadolibre has a few 5ghz things for sale and as long as it is indoors i'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[Ries]

I vote for the apple extreme. I put a new one in my apartment last winter, it works great for music thru the stereo, and seems to work with everybody's different devices who visit. The new ones transmit simultaneously on 2 bands, including the 5ghz mentioned above, and are compatible with all kinds of stuff. Plus, dead simple. plug it in, go online and set the password, your done.
The good thing about the apple stuff is that it usually takes argentina 2 to 5 years to catch up, tech wise, so the routers everybody else is using around you are usually using different, obsolete in the US, tech.

I have noticed that there are now a zillion wifi networks I can get in my apartment- every neighbor now has their own, and within a couple hundred feet of my apartment, I probably have 50 neighbors.

 

[TomAtAlki]

Thank you for these answers. I have changed my channel and that did help some.

Just to clarify - I have a couple of amplified speakers hooked up to an apple express to play my music through and the connection from my computer to the apple express is what I am trying to improve as that is where the music cuts in and out. Will a stronger router (or something else) help?

Tom

 

[Bricky]

The 2.4Ghz band is very congested around the city now, *especially* now that so many people use 802.11n on channel 6 (which is something of bandwidth hog).
Happy to report though that most people don't use the 5Ghz band at all.

So, get a reasonably modern router that supports 802.11n on the 5Ghz band - the apple ones, even the cheap one (don't remember what it's called now) would be perfect - and you won't have any congestion issues. Range on the 5GHz band is a little shorter, but unlikely to be an issue unless you have a really big apt


(if you're concerned about which specific router to buy, post up a link and I can confirm that it'll be ok)


Edit: just saw your last post. Airport express is good (that's the cheap one to which I was referring).


Edit again: screenshot of settings:

these are for ireland of course, but they'd be much the same in your case. The significant thing is to give the n-network its own name, and use that instead of the g network.

Edit again again!:

Allowed channels in argentina are:
2.4GHz: 1 - 13 (not 14)
5Ghz: 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161, and 165

This is actually a very wide choice to pick from: less restrictive than most other countries. If in doubt, set your router to either UK or US (both of which are more restrictive) - that'll keep you legal. (not that anyone is ever likely to even know!)