NetStumbler; set your wireless channel correctly
Already a while ago I had the following problem; all of a sudden my wireless connection would go bad…… But next day it was good again – but then all of a sudden it would go bad again. Sometimes even no internet….
I did all kinds of things to fix it…. Put my wireless card in another cardslot… putting my router on another spot. Telling my router what IP address it should give to this computer. But no result.
After a lot of Googling – I read that some people have a “bad connection” because of their neighbors connection. Your wireless router is using a channel…… what happens if your neighbour is using the same channel…?? Yes – that could interfer with your connection. So – this is not only (like me) with “bad to good to bad to good connections”….. but also with people who just do not have a great connection at all…. or people who have the feeling that their WiFi connection is not doing as well as it should.
So; this NetStumbler program is able to scan your neighborhood for WiFi connections and see what channels your neighbors are using… !!
And yes – then the solution is almost in your pocket; if you see that your neighbors are using the same channel AND they give a strong signal; set your router to another channel !
Pls note that some routers do have the options of high numbered channels, BUT your connection could disappear – which will result in a reset of your router….. So – this is not one without total risk…!!
But I already helped 4 other persons with this trick…. !!
Success
Download; NetStumbler
Yea, netstumbler is a very useful tool. I’ve used it for wardriving, not to connect to unencrypted networks, just scouting is fun to me for some reason. Sometimes if your SSID is the same as your neighbors it will try to connect to it, so it’s better to get a unique SSID and change the channel to one that isn’t being used much. Of course, also always use encryption on your wiifi, if you don’t want freeloaders. I can’t remember the exact program, but there is one that scans the channels to find the most clear channel to use.
There is some debate going on if you should use encryption or not, perhaps somewhat surprising is the opinion of security expert Bruce Schneier on the matter. Read it here:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/01/my_open_wireles.html