Wireless internet goes down when phone rings

Randymarsh9 · #1 02-03-2009, 10:56 PM

Everytime my house phone rings, it knocks off my wireless internet. I know this is because the router and phones are on the same frequency, and since hte phone signal is stronger it knocks out the internet, but I don't know how I can fix that. I really need to fix it too because they computer I am hosting my server on is wireless.

**trevius** · #2 02-03-2009, 11:02 PM

Hosting a server on a wireless connection is a horrible idea in the first place. It will be plagued with lag and random disconnects almost no matter what you do. And unless you can either buy new phones or a new router that runs on different frequencies, I don't think there is much you can do to help the problem you are having. You might be able to change the channel that your wireless uses in your router config, but I don't know if that will help at all. There should be a good number of wireless settings there though, and maybe some google searching would help. I am sure other people have run into problems like this before and I think I have even had interference from my old wireless phones before I replaced them and later changed my PC back to a wired connection. I don't really know what they were thinking when making phones and wireless routers that both operate on the same frequency... Some phones will let you change channels or frequencies on them as well, but not all.

Randymarsh9 · #3 02-03-2009, 11:22 PM

In my wireless configuration in my router settings, would i change the wireless channel (1-11, its set at 1 automatically)?

LeftRoad · #4 02-04-2009, 06:49 AM

Typically the Linksys wireless routers use channel 6 as a default, I'm not sure about others. If yours is using 1 then I would recommend changing it to 11. With 2.4GHz phones you'd have to check their manual to see exactly what frequency it uses, then compare that to the frequencies on the wireless router. Well, that's the way I solved this issue when I first ran into it and had interference on channel 6 (changing to channel 11 fixed the issue). But, if it is interfering on channel 1 (which is most likely closest to the frequency of the phone) then 11 is your best bet. Otherwise, option 2, you'd have to buy a 5.8GHz phone.

Angelox · #5 02-04-2009, 08:50 AM

I have a wireless router, but don't use the wireless portion - I have everything wired to it, and still my connection dropped when the phone rang. I had to remove the phone and put in a regular wired phone.
I have DSL, and I thought my problem might somehow be related to DSL and my phone. Next time I get some money, I'll try you 5.8GHz phone idea

Yeormom · #6 02-04-2009, 11:31 AM

Angelox, do you have filters on your phones? To operate DSL properly, all analog devices must have a filter installed before them. Your ISP should have given you a handful when you signed up. If not, call and they will get you some free of charge most likely.

As far as wireless and phones go, just go buy a 900mhz phone and be done with it. Most 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz phones today have frequency hoping features which is for security so they're gonna get you regardless of what you configure your access point to use. If you don't use 802.11a, then a 5.8ghz phone will also work wonders much like the 900mhz.

Angelox · #7 02-04-2009, 03:34 PM

I don't think I do have all those filters, but the company here is about to switch me to a brand new fiber-optic network they built, I'm hoping all my problems will be over then (hopefully withing a month). If it's good, then I'll go static ip and buff my self up some more.

Yeormom · #8 02-04-2009, 05:03 PM

Lucky you! The best I will have in my area for the next few years is 16/2 cable which has nice throughput but the reliability can be depressing. Nothing like randomly having a 500ms ping at 7pm on a Monday night.

Valcrist · #9 02-06-2009, 05:23 PM

Does your toilet also flush when your doorbell rings?

**Congdar** · #10 02-07-2009, 03:23 PM

I had the same problem. The phone and the wireless are both 2.4ghz. Additionally, my connections drop when using the microwave oven. As I understand it, channel 6 and maybe one other channel is the only option that works reliably. Changing your phone to the 5.8ghz is one option, but you might want to keep them at 2.4ghz and upgrade your router instead from B,G to N which I believe uses 5.8ghz. I'm thinking the same disconnects would happen if you upgrade your phone now and then your wireless router later.

My solution was to drop phone service to my house completely. I have a cell phone and hated paying for 2 phone bills. Now, no disconnects when the phone rings. Now... what to do about the microwave.

Yeormom · #11 02-09-2009, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Congdar

but you might want to keep them at 2.4ghz and upgrade your router instead from B,G to N which I believe uses 5.8ghz.

Incorrect. B/G/N all use the 2.4GHz spectrum. The only wireless network standard which has gone mainstream that uses 5.8ghz is 802.11a, which supports decent speeds but short distance.

**Congdar** · #12 02-09-2009, 07:19 PM

maybe not 5.8ghz as I mentioned but 5ghz... from wikipedia:

Quote:

Deployment Strategies
To achieve maximum throughput a pure 802.11n 5 GHz network is recommended. The 5 GHz band has substantial capacity due to many non-overlapping radio channels and less radio interference as compared to the 2.4 GHz band.[3] An 802.11n-only network may be impractical for many users because the existing computer stock is predominantly 802.11b/g only. Replacement of incompatible WiFi cards or of entire laptop stock is necessary for older computers to operate on the network. Consequently, it may be more practical in the short term to operate a mixed 802.11b/g/n network until 802.11n hardware becomes more prevalent. In a mixed-mode system, it’s generally best to use a dual-radio access point and place the 802.11b/g traffic on the 2.4 GHz radio and the 802.11n traffic on the 5 GHz radio.[4]

bristle · #13 02-25-2009, 12:05 PM

i have 5.8 GHz phone and 2.4 GHz network. i use a dynamic dns and have no problems even though i have several computers up.

Yeormom · #14 02-25-2009, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Congdar

maybe not 5.8ghz as I mentioned but 5ghz... from wikipedia:

802.11n is nothing more than bonding on a previous standard. Almost every access point/router implementation of 802.11n is using the 2.4GHz spectrum because it's backward compatible with b/g and thus cheaper to make. You get much better throughput if you run 802.11n on the 5GHz spectrum but the range is significantly more limited. I've only see a couple of AP's that support the 5GHz range which we're quite expensive.

You can verify this statement by reading up on the 802.11n specification document or better yet, check out the summary provided by Cisco.