Thinkpads Forum

I'm curious about the reasoning behind wireless channel selections. It appears 6 and 11 are the ones we're "supposed" to choose, but what if you live in an area where twenty wireless networks appear? Wired, I get 6Mbps (burst, 3-4 continuous), but wireless I barely get 500Kbps. What am I doing wrong? (I've tried several channels on the router.)

AFAIK you can choose any channel between 1 and 11. I use channel 7 so as to not be on the more common channels. As I remember, you set this in the router and in the software for the wireless adapter in the laptop.

Some wireless routers do not seem to work well with certain wireless adapters. Of course you need the same technology on both - 802.1g, 802.1b, or 802.1a. There are some newer protocalls available now too.

Other things interfere with wireless as well. Cordless phones, cell phones, halogen lamps, and microwave ovens are some of the culprits.

Everytime at 12AM and 12PM, my wireless goes on the fritz, and no microwave or cordless or cellphone is interfering, I suspect my neighbor might be having fun with something..

I was only getting ~1000/750kb/s out of the box on my T43. Ran http://www.broadbandreports.com/tweaks and then downloaded http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/tweaks/1.%20DRTCP DRTCP and now get my full 3000/768kb/s. I can achieve this on several channels as well.

you can use any channel 1-11 and should select one based on the channels used by the strongest of those 20 other networks.

For the lowest interference, choose a channel that is five away from the strongest of those networks. In other words, if there's another wireless signal at 100% using channel 2, use channel 7 or above to minimize interference. That's why channels 1, 6, and 11 are the most popular because they offer that ideal separation.

Alternatively just switch channels until you find one that works best. Sometimes the lo-tech solution is best.

though there are 11 channels in the US there are only 3 that do not over lap (1,6 and 11). The best option is to choose one of the 3 less used by the people in your area ( 6 is default for most cards/routers). Other issues can be cordless phones (b/g bandwidth), close proximity tohigh voltage appliances ( microwaves/dryers) and area between your system and the router.

try running software installer from http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... estyle=ibm
to update your drivers and applications.

Also idf you go in to the powermanagment for the wireless card change the settings from powersaving to best performance ( this will increase your sample rate and increase your signal strenght).

Channels 1, 6 and 11 do not overlap with each other, so all three can be used at the same time. It's true for any channels that are 5 or more apart.

So 2 does not overlap with 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11; 3 and 8; 4 and 9; 5 and 10 are all good pairs if you want to run two channels at the same time (like some double channel cards).

But if you just want one clean channel, and are getting some interference, by all means, try them all.

I think I found the culprit. The Access Connections power save was set to minimize power use rather than maximize network performance. After trying several channels to no avail, turning off the power save got me back to the 3500/700 my ISP delivers. It was a little hidden under advanced settings.