NegativeSpace Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 So, I am in range of something like 20 wifi networks at different places in my house, and I'm still using the default router channel because I honestly don't know any better. I believe I actually am getting some signal interference from some neighbors signals, but I can't be sure, and it's not big deal anyway. I have only recently become very interested in network structure, architecture, protocol, etc., and so I don't really know which frequency to pick. Here is the text . Maybe some one knows which frequency I should choose (and maybe the quick and easy way to choose it) Any other cool information, maybe a little knowledge on why I should pick a certain frequency, or any other ways this text file might be useful for my network security would be good too. I tried to upload as a text file but I wasn't allowed to do that. Thanks! SSID : (This is my network) Last Signal : 23% Average Signal : 18% Detection Counter : 9 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : WPA-PSK Cipher : TKIP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:49:13 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:49:49 PM MAC Address : 00-00-00-00-00-00 RSSI : -86 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Cisco-Linksys, LLC Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : NETGEAR Last Signal : 21% Average Signal : 32% Detection Counter : 27 Security Enabled : No Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : None PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:49:48 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:33 PM MAC Address : 00-1b-2f-e5-dc-d2 RSSI : -87 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.412 Channel Number : 1 Company Name : NETGEAR Inc. Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : (Mine again, not sure why its here twice) Last Signal : 100% Average Signal : 100% Detection Counter : 9 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : WPA-PSK Cipher : TKIP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:49:48 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:49:57 PM MAC Address : RSSI : Channel Frequency (GHz): Channel Number : Company Name : Maximum Speed : 0 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : RANDY Last Signal : 23% Average Signal : 23% Detection Counter : 17 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : WPA-PSK Cipher : TKIP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:49:49 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:24 PM MAC Address : 00-1e-2a-4f-ad-34 RSSI : -86 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Netgear Inc. Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Belkin_N1_Wireless_214FC3 Last Signal : 23% Average Signal : 32% Detection Counter : 35 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:49:53 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:45 PM MAC Address : 00-17-3f-21-4f-c3 RSSI : -86 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Belkin Corporation Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : windyhillcamping Last Signal : 20% Average Signal : 34% Detection Counter : 55 Security Enabled : No Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : None PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:12 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:07 PM MAC Address : 00-1d-7e-f7-2c-3c RSSI : -88 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Cisco-Linksys, LLC Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : 2WIRE723 Last Signal : 23% Average Signal : 34% Detection Counter : 36 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:13 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:51 PM MAC Address : 00-18-3f-73-40-a9 RSSI : -86 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : 2Wire, Inc Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : m and d campground Last Signal : 21% Average Signal : 22% Detection Counter : 18 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : WPA-PSK Cipher : TKIP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:18 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:42 PM MAC Address : 00-18-39-b5-2e-bf RSSI : -87 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Cisco-Linksys LLC Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : deades Last Signal : 23% Average Signal : 23% Detection Counter : 1 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : WPA-PSK Cipher : TKIP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:37 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:37 PM MAC Address : 00-23-69-67-4d-af RSSI : -86 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.442 Channel Number : 7 Company Name : Cisco-Linksys, LLC Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 41% Average Signal : 29% Detection Counter : 62 Security Enabled : No Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : None PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:39 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:52:01 PM MAC Address : 00-17-59-db-d5-d0 RSSI : -75 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.452 Channel Number : 9 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 20% Average Signal : 24% Detection Counter : 60 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:45 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:59 PM MAC Address : 00-12-43-35-3e-60 RSSI : -88 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Cisco Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 26% Average Signal : 30% Detection Counter : 58 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:46 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:52:00 PM MAC Address : 00-13-19-85-49-e0 RSSI : -84 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.442 Channel Number : 7 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 11 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 25% Average Signal : 26% Detection Counter : 9 Security Enabled : No Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : None PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:47 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:09 PM MAC Address : 00-19-56-e9-73-10 RSSI : -85 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.462 Channel Number : 11 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 20% Average Signal : 24% Detection Counter : 12 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:49 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:15 PM MAC Address : 00-19-aa-26-74-40 RSSI : -88 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.412 Channel Number : 1 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 20% Average Signal : 21% Detection Counter : 5 Security Enabled : No Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : None PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:49 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:13 PM MAC Address : 00-19-56-e9-66-40 RSSI : -88 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.412 Channel Number : 1 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 21% Average Signal : 21% Detection Counter : 1 Security Enabled : No Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : None PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:52 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:52 PM MAC Address : 00-1a-6c-3c-76-a0 RSSI : -87 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.462 Channel Number : 11 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : DragonFire Last Signal : 18% Average Signal : 20% Detection Counter : 3 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : WPA-PSK Cipher : TKIP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:55 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:29 PM MAC Address : 00-1c-10-4f-59-67 RSSI : -89 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Cisco-Linksys, LLC Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Graham Bible College Last Signal : 21% Average Signal : 26% Detection Counter : 13 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:57 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:12 PM MAC Address : 00-0d-3a-28-da-51 RSSI : -87 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Microsoft Corp. Maximum Speed : 54 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 20% Average Signal : 26% Detection Counter : 8 Security Enabled : No Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : None PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:57 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:14 PM MAC Address : 00-19-56-e9-aa-e0 RSSI : -88 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 20% Average Signal : 20% Detection Counter : 16 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:50:58 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:52:01 PM MAC Address : 00-19-aa-14-80-00 RSSI : -88 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 21% Average Signal : 22% Detection Counter : 12 Security Enabled : No Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : None PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:02 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:52 PM MAC Address : 00-19-56-e9-65-b0 RSSI : -87 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.412 Channel Number : 1 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 28% Average Signal : 23% Detection Counter : 47 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:04 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:52:01 PM MAC Address : 00-19-56-e9-69-d0 RSSI : -83 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.462 Channel Number : 11 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== ================================================== SSID : Last Signal : 16% Average Signal : 18% Detection Counter : 2 Security Enabled : Yes Connectable : Yes Authentication : 802.11 Open Cipher : WEP PHY Types : ERP First Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:12 PM Last Detected On : 1/16/2010 6:51:58 PM MAC Address : 00-19-56-e9-65-c0 RSSI : -90 Channel Frequency (GHz): 2.437 Channel Number : 6 Company Name : Cisco Systems Maximum Speed : 2 Mbps ================================================== Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Best bet is probably channel 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeSpace Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 Best bet is probably channel 8. Cool. Do you know of the best and or easiest way to change it permanently so that the (awful) Linksys software won't try to change it back? I don't evne know if that is a possibility or not, but as a general rule, I don't trust anything made by Cisco-Linksys to do what it's supposed to do and not do what it's not supposed to do. Like I said, i'm pretty new to network tweaking, so it would help a lot to have instructions from someone who already knows rather than to figure it out myself, even though it would probably be very easy. I fond the linksys software to be very flaky in assuming that I want it to do certain things for me when I actually don't want it to do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlit Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Ideally, everyone should use channels 1, 6 and 11 because they don't overlap with each other. Not everyone sticks to that advice though, as your scan shows. Regardless, I'd recommend 11 because fewer people are using it than 6, and there's only a couple of APs overlapping it. Failing that, go for 1, there seem to be less overlapping APs down that end of the spectrum. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Use Inssider to give you a pretty picture of the spectrum and where it is clearest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeSpace Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 Ideally, everyone should use channels 1, 6 and 11 because they don't overlap with each other. Not everyone sticks to that advice though, as your scan shows. Regardless, I'd recommend 11 because fewer people are using it than 6, and there's only a couple of APs overlapping it. Failing that, go for 1, there seem to be less overlapping APs down that end of the spectrum. YMMV. I think I read somewhere about that overlapping issue. I wanted to choose 11, but unfortunately it was already being used by someone who is pretty close, but now it's looking like 11 is still the best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeSpace Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 Use Inssider to give you a pretty picture of the spectrum and where it is clearest. That looks like a very cool utility, however, the website says that it doesn't play nice with 64 bit windows, which is what I use on my laptop. I have 32 windows on my desktop, but it's not quite in range of all of the networks. It doesn't say anything about the compatibility of Windows 7 (laptop), but I assume that if it doesnt work well with vista 64 bit, that it probably won't work well with 64 bit Win7. I haven't tried out the cool XP compatibility mode in 7 yet, maybe now i s a good time because I really want to try this tool out. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netshroud Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Inssider worked fine for me under Vista 64-bit and 7 RC 64-bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 That looks like a very cool utility, however, the website says that it doesn't play nice with 64 bit windows, which is what I use on my laptop. I have 32 windows on my desktop, but it's not quite in range of all of the networks. It doesn't say anything about the compatibility of Windows 7 (laptop), but I assume that if it doesnt work well with vista 64 bit, that it probably won't work well with 64 bit Win7. I haven't tried out the cool XP compatibility mode in 7 yet, maybe now i s a good time because I really want to try this tool out. Any thoughts? What's Unique about inSSIDer? * Use Windows Vista and Windows XP 64-bit. Yes, download and try it yourself. I've not used Windows x86 for some time now and it plays fine with Vista x64 and 7 x64. FYI the XP compatibility mode is just a copy of XP running inside the latest version of Virtual PC with some desktop integration stuff over the top. Its far from idea for this type of stuff. Lastly, if this doesn't work then you will need to look at a spectrum analyzer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlit Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Virtual XP in Windows 7 works just fine if you have a USB wifi card, I used to use a USB wifi card in VMWare too, you just connect the device to the VM, it's pretty easy, you'd hardly even know you were in a VM half the time, all this wireless stuff works just great in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeSpace Posted January 18, 2010 Author Share Posted January 18, 2010 Yes, download and try it yourself. I've not used Windows x86 for some time now and it plays fine with Vista x64 and 7 x64. FYI the XP compatibility mode is just a copy of XP running inside the latest version of Virtual PC with some desktop integration stuff over the top. Its far from idea for this type of stuff. Lastly, if this doesn't work then you will need to look at a spectrum analyzer. Eek. Didn't know that the XP compatibility mode was just a VM running XP. That raises a lot of questions. I've never used VM's extensively, hopefully I won't need to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beakmyn Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Eek. Didn't know that the XP compatibility mode was just a VM running XP. That raises a lot of questions. I've never used VM's extensively, hopefully I won't need to... For the latest version of XP mode your hardware has to support virtualization. Mine didn't. There's an app called securable that will check. Instead I use VMWare Player. The latest version allows you to create blank VM to load an operating system on. It didn't previously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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