For the past couple of weeks I’ve been experiencing intermittent failure on my wireless network.  The first thing I noticed is that a site survey showed that someone else had put up a network on the same channel as me.  Since I had used the Linksys default of 6, I decided to go ahead and move to 11 so as to avoid interference from the other network.  That worked for a few days, but then I started experiencing it again.  Only it was worse in that not only did the bridge go down, but all the other wireless clients would lose connection (including a laptop that’s only about 12-ft away from the router/AP). 

I switched to channel 9 after being down for a while this morning and I was OK until a few minutes ago.  I changed to 7 for now and got it working.  But I noticed that when the network went down that the wireless utility on the laptop showed that the noise levels went through the roof.  I am now starting to suspect that someone nearby has a FHSS 2.4 GHz cordless phone.  These phones hop frequencies across the 2.4 GHz spectrum, which causes symptoms similar to the ones I’m seeing now.  When I first installed my Wi-Fi network a couple of years ago I ran into this same problem.  I ended up throwing out my Panasonic 2.4 GHz cordless and getting a Uniden 5.8 GHz system, which cured the problem.

Coincidentally (and I don’t believe much in coincidences) my new next-door neighbor moved in about two weeks ago.  I guess I’ll need to inquire with him as to what kind of phone he has.  But to definitively pin-point the source of the interference I’ve ordered a Wi-Fi signal finder that also helps find signals from phones, microwaves, and surveillance cameras.  Since it is my understanding that there is no FCC rule about which takes precedence, if it turns out that it is his phone, I may just go ahead and offer to buy him a new phone.  It’s either that or wire the whole house and give up on Wi-Fi.  I rely on my network to be up all the time, since I work from home.  I can’t afford to have my network taken down at random times by an errant wireless phone.