Ask Slashdot: Overcoming Convention Hall Wi-Fi Interference? 251
bbowman writes "One of my job responsibilities is to set up the small network for our company's exhibit at the trade shows we attend. The mobile demo devices we use depend upon a reliable Wi-Fi connection to a router I have in the exhibit. In the days leading up to the opening of the trade show, W-iFi connections are reliable and work as expected. However, as soon as the show opens none of our devices can reliable maintain a Wi-Fi connection to the router. The devices we use at the trade shows are Windows-based laptops, iPods/iPads, Android tablets, and a variety of Wi-Fi enabled cell phones. I have tried using channels 1, 6, and 11 (as well as the others) and used different routers (Linksys, D-Link, Netgear) without success. I'm sure it is likely that there are poorly insulated electrical cabling, fluorescent lighting, and other issues that would contribute to Wi-Fi interference in the convention hall. A quick scan shows dozens and dozens of discoverable Wi-Fi networks nearby. If I take the router back to my hotel room, I have zero connection problems. How can I overcome this so that Wi-Fi works reliably in the convention hall?"
FYI Steve Jobs routinely uses out of spec channels (Score:5, Interesting)
FYI Steve Jobs routinely uses out of spec channels. For WWDC, this used to be channel 13, which is not licensed for use in the US, but is in Japan.
This got to be a problem (leading to the famous "you've got a choice..." speech) when enough Japanese Mac developers attended without changing their locale, and all the Japanese machines ended up on channel 13 because it was "less crowded" (for obvious reasons).
-- Terry
i work at a convention hall (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:FYI Steve Jobs routinely uses out of spec chann (Score:4, Interesting)
"For WWDC, this used to be channel 13, which is not licensed for use in the US, but is in Japan."
Does he have special WiFi firmware to go with it?
Channel 13 stops working on my MacBook if any access points with the country code set to 'US' are nearby, even though I'm clearly in Australia (where 13 is allowed).
Re:FYI Steve Jobs routinely uses out of spec chann (Score:4, Interesting)
13 is allowed in Australia and Europe as well, but overlaps significantly with channel 11 and a few of the other higher channels.
There is a channel 14 that is only allowed in Japan and it is far enough above even channel 13 that there's virtually no overlap.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels [wikipedia.org]