Wi-fi interference in the house

[mjzee]

There's something in my house (or maybe emanating from a neighbor's house) that occasionally causes wi-fi interference. I recently replaced our phone system, thinking our old system was dying, but we hear the same interference on the new phone system. It's intermittent, but it causes problems with internet receptivity too. I bought a wi-fi extender, and that helped a little, but it still occasionally pops up. It is caused by nothing in the house that I can tell: it's not connected to any microwave oven use, air conditioning/air handler cycling, or any other appliance. I half wonder whether a neighbor is using something powerful or off-use. Is there some kind of detector available that could help me find the source of the interference?

[mjzee]

I'm wondering whether the problem stems from the Comcast cable system, perhaps from somewhere in the neighborhood.

[Scott Dolan]

Cable internet can be very iffy since the entire neighborhood is sharing bandwidth.

But you mention the problem is with your telephones? Cordless phones? Those work on radio frequency, not wi-fi.

Does Comcast also supply your phone service?

I would have them come out and test your line from the street. Chances are pretty good that the problems starts well before it enters your home.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[mjzee]

Thanks. Yes, Comcast does supply our phone service.

[7/4]

Sounds like it could be your ISP.

[Scott Dolan]

Agreed. That's exactly what it sound like.

We had a problem with our DSL and phone last year and it took multiple trips out to finally diagnose and fix it. Come to find out that after our extremely wet spring there was a a crack in one of the pipes and water got in the line and was causing it.

Put in that service call, mjzee. They should be able to get to the bottom of it sooner or later.

[BFrank]

Is your Wi-Fi router near a halogen light? That can cause interference, too.

I found that out from personal experience. Once I moved it to a different part of the room, everything seemed to work much better.

[mjzee]

Is your Wi-Fi router near a halogen light? That can cause interference, too.

I found that out from personal experience. Once I moved it to a different part of the room, everything seemed to work much better.

Interesting. The wifi router is in the same box as the cable modem and the phone jack, all supplied by Comcast. Costco often offers a Motorola cable modem that claims better performance, but I can't use it because it doesn't have a phone jack. My box is not near a halogen light, but it is near a florescent light; I wonder whether there's a connection there.

[Scott Dolan]

If it's intermittent, then I doubt it. But move it elsewhere just to see. If it's that easy of a fix, bonus!

[BFrank]

See if the reception changes when the light is on or off.

I read that cordless phones can cause interference, too. Especially if your router is next to the base.

[mjzee]

I wish there was some diagnostic tool that could just tell you what's going on in your house.

[7/4]

Is your Wi-Fi router near a halogen light? That can cause interference, too.

I found that out from personal experience. Once I moved it to a different part of the room, everything seemed to work much better.

Interesting. The wifi router is in the same box as the cable modem and the phone jack, all supplied by Comcast. Costco often offers a Motorola cable modem that claims better performance, but I can't use it because it doesn't have a phone jack. My box is not near a halogen light, but it is near a florescent light; I wonder whether there's a connection there.

Sounds like you have the same modem they gave me last month. It says the model is technicolor 105+. Four ethernet ports and wifi. They sent me one last month.

If you're having problems with your devices, ask them to swap the modem. If you're still having problems, suggest that it's a line problem.

[mjzee]

Is your Wi-Fi router near a halogen light? That can cause interference, too.

I found that out from personal experience. Once I moved it to a different part of the room, everything seemed to work much better.

Interesting. The wifi router is in the same box as the cable modem and the phone jack, all supplied by Comcast. Costco often offers a Motorola cable modem that claims better performance, but I can't use it because it doesn't have a phone jack. My box is not near a halogen light, but it is near a florescent light; I wonder whether there's a connection there.

Sounds like you have the same modem they gave me last month. It says the model is technicolor 105+. Four ethernet ports and wifi. They sent me one last month.

If you're having problems with your devices, ask them to swap the modem. If you're still having problems, suggest that it's a line problem.

Are you new to Comcast? If so, you should know that your suggestion to swap out the modem is akin to suggesting I pull out my fingernails. Swapping the box is easy, but you then need to spend (literally) hours on the phone with their customer service depts to reactivate services, change passwords, and get permissions sorted out. You also need to deal with 3 different customer service departments, since Net, phone and TV are all handled by different departments, and, though it makes no sense, swapping out the modem usually leads to TV problems as well. That's part of my reluctance to call Comcast re my phone issues, because I know what hell awaits.

[7/4]

I've been using Comcast about 16-17 years. My TV cable box and my internet cable modem are two different boxes. I haven't needed any tech help from them in years. Service started out real bad, but at some point, they rewired the building.

I cut off the land lines (aka internet phones, VoIP) last Winter to save a few bucks.

I know it sucks to deal with them.

[Jim R]

Swapping the box is easy, but you then need to spend (literally) hours on the phone with their customer service depts to reactivate services, change passwords, and get permissions sorted out. You also need to deal with 3 different customer service departments, since Net, phone and TV are all handled by different departments, and, though it makes no sense, swapping out the modem usually leads to TV problems as well. That's part of my reluctance to call Comcast re my phone issues, because I know what hell awaits.

We've been Comcast customers since they took over around here (15 years?), and service has really changed for the worse over time. We've never used their phone service (cancelled our land line recently anyway), but we used to be able to order a new cable box or a new modem pretty quickly and easily. In the early years, they were delivered to us (!) and installed free of charge. They sometimes used refurbished devices, but they usually worked out fine. Then, they decided to stop offering free delivery. Fortunately, it wasn't often that we needed anything, and restoring service after power outages and such remained pretty straightforward. Fast forward to last year, when they offered a free service upgrade with higher speeds and brand new modems. When we received the new modem by mail, we followed their installation instructions, and of course, no dice. When I called them to try to resolve the problem, I began a whirlwind tour of the United States (and possibly other nations) by phone. I was transferred to operators and tech support people in Phoenix, Nashville, and Boston, before being re-routed back to somebody on the west coast. Then, I got transferred to another regional operator, and then I got transferred to Boston again, and then... etc etc. What a nightmare of a day. My 22 year old son ended up solving things with a little youthful magic and experimentation, so I didn't go completely insane.

The new modem doesn't seem any faster, by the way.

[Chuck Nessa]

Guess I should be really happy with Charter internet/tv/phone. No problems for years and nice upgrades.

[7/4]

You can check your connection speed with http://www.speedtest.net/.

When I got the upgrade it doubled in speed from about 35 Mbps to somewhere between 75-90 Mbps. For some reason, my laptop clocks in at 120+Mbps when it's plugged in. My desktop machine must have a lot of malware hogging bandwidth.

BTW: test it muitiple times for a number. I get different results at different times.

example:

Edited July 29, 2014 by 7/4

[Dave Garrett]

How exactly does the "interference" manifest itself? Does your connection just drop out briefly and then come back online? Interference makes me think of static, and with VoIP telephony you should not be hearing any static. Since it's digital, the signal is either there or it's not, there's no "in-between" the way there sometimes is with analog telephony, and if the signal is there it should be perfectly clear.

Interesting that a wifi extender appears to have helped somewhat. That would seem to suggest a weak signal somewhere in the path. Those all-in-one boxes which contain both a router and a modem are a pain in the ass to troubleshoot, because it's much harder to pinpoint which part of the device is causing problems. If you have the chance to do so, it would be better to get a separate modem that handles VoIP telephony and a separate router. I finally got tired of paying Comcast a monthly rental fee after too many years of doing so and bought my own modem. I only have TV and internet through them, though, no phone service, so I was able to use the Motorola SB6141 that seems to be the preferred cable modem these days.

[mjzee]

How exactly does the "interference" manifest itself? Does your connection just drop out briefly and then come back online? Interference makes me think of static, and with VoIP telephony you should not be hearing any static. Since it's digital, the signal is either there or it's not, there's no "in-between" the way there sometimes is with analog telephony, and if the signal is there it should be perfectly clear.

It breaks apart; it's choppy. No static, but virtually unusable as a phone conversation. It's intermittent, though, and I don't see what could trigger it (which would point to a Comcast pipe problem). Next time it happens, I want to test if the same phone conversation is better if I switch to a handset closer to the base unit.

I find it interesting that there's a flyer in the box for the new Panasonic unit for a Panasonic range extender. "Double the range of your Panasonic DECT cordless phone, so you can be sure to get your calls anywhere in the home." The wifi range extender I installed did help, but it's not perfect (which, again, might point to the Comcast pipe as the culprit).

[JSngry]

Have you contacted the NSA?

[mjzee]

Have you contacted the NSA?

I'm sure they already know.

[Dave Garrett]

How exactly does the "interference" manifest itself? Does your connection just drop out briefly and then come back online? Interference makes me think of static, and with VoIP telephony you should not be hearing any static. Since it's digital, the signal is either there or it's not, there's no "in-between" the way there sometimes is with analog telephony, and if the signal is there it should be perfectly clear.

It breaks apart; it's choppy. No static, but virtually unusable as a phone conversation. It's intermittent, though, and I don't see what could trigger it (which would point to a Comcast pipe problem). Next time it happens, I want to test if the same phone conversation is better if I switch to a handset closer to the base unit.

I find it interesting that there's a flyer in the box for the new Panasonic unit for a Panasonic range extender. "Double the range of your Panasonic DECT cordless phone, so you can be sure to get your calls anywhere in the home." The wifi range extender I installed did help, but it's not perfect (which, again, might point to the Comcast pipe as the culprit).

That's certainly worth trying. One thing I'm a little confused by, though - isn't the base unit connected directly to the modem/router unit via an ethernet cable? If that's the case, I'm not sure why the wifi range extender helped. The Panasonic range extender's a different story, but assuming the handsets are communicating with the base unit over a different frequency than your wifi network uses (wifi networks are usually in the 2.4 GHz band), wifi signal strength shouldn't have any effect on how well the phones work.

You could also try changing the channel your router's operating on to see if that helps. This should be accessible via your router's configuration screens (if you have access to those, which may not be the case since it's Comcast's equipment). More on that here:

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wireless80211/a/choosing-the-best-wireless-channels-for-your-network.htm

[mjzee]

One thing I'm a little confused by, though - isn't the base unit connected directly to the modem/router unit via an ethernet cable? If that's the case, I'm not sure why the wifi range extender helped. The Panasonic range extender's a different story, but assuming the handsets are communicating with the base unit over a different frequency than your wifi network uses (wifi networks are usually in the 2.4 GHz band), wifi signal strength shouldn't have any effect on how well the phones work.

I have a wifi range extender for my Internet only. That would not help the phone receptivity (it has helped using the Web on the second floor). Panasonic sells a phone range extender, which I'm considering, but if the problem is in Comcast's pipe, it wouldn't help. So if I use a handset that's near the phone base unit and the conversation's still choppy, it's probably due to Comcast's pipe. However, if the same conversation that was choppy on the second floor is clear when next to the base unit, then the problem probably stems from something in the house.

[Dave Garrett]

I have a wifi range extender for my Internet only. That would not help the phone receptivity (it has helped using the Web on the second floor). Panasonic sells a phone range extender, which I'm considering, but if the problem is in Comcast's pipe, it wouldn't help. So if I use a handset that's near the phone base unit and the conversation's still choppy, it's probably due to Comcast's pipe. However, if the same conversation that was choppy on the second floor is clear when next to the base unit, then the problem probably stems from something in the house.

Ah, OK. That makes sense. I had to get a wifi range extender a couple of years ago as the room where my router is and the room where we most frequently use multiple devices requiring wifi are at opposite ends of the house, and I was getting tired of the weak/intermittent signal in the latter room. The extender has worked pretty well since installing it.

[mjzee]

Exactly. I couldn't stand hearing my 10-year old complain that Netflix was choppy on the iPad. We first bought a Netgear extender, but performance was too erratic (and when it was failing, you couldn't figure out why). We've since switched to an Almond, and are generally pleased. The nice thing about the Almond is it has a screen - you can actually interact with it to troubleshoot.