Too many wireless signals! 1

[n3buo]

I have a Dlink access point running WEP 64 Bit. It has been running fine up untill a month ago. The Local hospital, next door is flooding the airwaves with 8 different connections on 8 different channels (2.4 GHz using channels 3 - 11). The signals are so strong that even when I set the access point next to the clients the hospitals signal is over 90 %. My access point is only a signal strength of 92%. I have switched to one of the used channels (2).
I can force the clients to connect, but as soon as the client reboots, he can not connect to my access point untill we force the connection again. I have tried to place the mac address into the access point and had have the same problem. I have disabled WEP and run into the same problem.
I have tried replacing the access point with a Linksys and a Netgear I run into the same problem. I have to force the client connection.
The clients are running Win XP Pro, one has a netgear wireless card and the others are Dell Latitude 500 laptops (Intel 1300).
I have set up quite a few wireless networks but have never run into this problem. How do I set my clients to ONLY CONNECT TO MY ACCESS POINT?

Dave

 

[G0AOZ]

What sort of distance is the hospital from your premises? Could they be running a PA or high gain antennas on their system, which might be contravening FCC regs? How about using highly directional antennas in your own system?


73 ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[paradox17]

well a quick solution is to change bands. Set up a 802.11a network. If they are using the 2.4 ISM band and are running a multi-channel network there are only 3 non overlapping channels not much room for you there. Use the 5ghz UNII band you have 8 channels that are 20mhz wide each. This would avoid the problem.

Also you can switch cards. Use a Cisco 350 or a Proximal gold card. These cards use profiles to connect to a wireless network. Once this is set they do not "roam" outside the SSID. You should see no problem. I just got back from a WLAN class and we had 14 units and avoided this problem in a classroom.

Hope this helps

 

[n3buo]

Paradox,
Thank you for your reply. I will look into the Proximal and the cisco cards. You know how most companies are they try the cheapest solution first!

G0AOZ,
The FCC does not care about this band in the US unless it is affecting broadcast TV or Radio. The FCC can't even regulate 11 meters here in the states!

 

[paradox17]

soory for the typo but its proxim.

the card is here

http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/outpdir.jsp?doSearch=y&search=orinoco gold

let me know if I can be of any help. Good luck!

 

[SunnyByfleet]

Probably too late for you, but I got around this using the software that comes with the network cards. If you uncheck the "Use Windows to configure Wireless network settings" you can then use the software to configure the SSID you wish to use.

Note, it won't work if you have the USB wireless card. The software that comes with that doesn't work properly. It works with PCMCIA and PCI cards though.

 

[bcastner]

It is a serious mistake to use the Client software and not the native XP tools under Windows XP. None of the client software with the exception of third-party selections such as the Funk Software Odyssey Client or equivalent were designed with XP in mind.

Fix XP's native tools. Microsoft has offered several patches/hotfixes/enhancements that should be applied. The most important:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=826942

In this particular instance the problem is likely, (I am not suggesting always) traceable to using the non-standard 802.11b or g "turbo" enhancements on the router, in combination with the need to use and assert the Broadcast SSID, and a channel change.