(Ted Harding) wrote:
[SNIP]
Jen
You can get intermittent connectivity in locations more remote from the router. Local events (beyond your control) can interfere with the wireless connection -- e.g. if your neighbour's dog settles down next to the dividing wall within a few feet of your computer, or perhaps if you get interference from a neighbour's wireless router. Or, simply, just your own nearby presence (under certain conditions, me walking into my kitchen can switch the radio therein into "mush" mode).
Radio is funny stuuf! Ted.
Jenny,
I don't know what the Linux equivalent of netstumbler (http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/) is, but it's a 'Doze tool to sniff out local wifi and report on things like signal strength and channel.
The basic rule is 3 channels of separation, and if your WAP is on the default channel, maybe a neighbour's is too, and on the same channel. This will cause problems with signal and traffic. If it's the case, and it might be, then just make sure you choose a channel that's 3 removed from the neighbours' channels, or at least, the strongest ones.
Cheers, Laurie.
PS. Had a (very) quick google for netstumbler-like tools on Linux:
http://www.kuthulu.com/iwscanner/ http://apradar.sourceforge.net/ http://wifi-radar.berlios.de/ http://www.kismetwireless.net/