Seeking advise for WI-FI connection suddenly gone bad?

Question

I had been using this wi-fi setup for almost 4 years without any issues. Although I was connecting between two ends of my apartment home, I'd always been able to connect reliably at 11Mbps. All of a sudden, the connection has gone bad these few days. I can see all five bars on the list of access points but I can barely connect. I'm either disconnected or degraded to 1 or 2 Mbps. I'm suspecting interference from my neighbors in my apartment (I can see many other secured networks) and have tried all 11 channels on my Netgear router but none of the channels seem to have better connections over the other.My Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 on my Sony Vaio has no channel settings in advanced properties but I can connect if I move closer to the router (at any channel). I have power saving turned off on my Vaio. I'm not being connected to my neighbor's networks. All of my wi-fi equipments including router only supports 802.1b. I've tried turning on/off the router and moving it around.

Answer 1

This is caused by radio interference from devices that use the same frequency as 802.11B (2.4ghz). Cordless phones, microwave ovens, refrigerator compressors, etc. all can be the culprit.

They can be in your home or elsewhere in the building. If in YOUR home, try unplugging your cordless phone, if it's 2.4ghz.

Have you tried connecting to your router using an ethernet cable? If so, do you have the same problem? If yes, call your ISP.

Answer 2

Probably due to the increase in numbers of wireless units recently. Your best answer might be to buy a range extender. This only requires power, no network cabling. Positioned to overlap the existing router, this will increase your performance greatly. Any type G will work, they are all retro compatible.