It is generally true that fewer devices are currently working on 5GHz and causing interference, compared to 2.4GHz devices. But this is changing over time. It wasn’t that long ago everyone moved from 900 MHz to 2.4GHz to avoid interference, and this ‘band jumping’ effect will catch up with 5GHz eventually.

It’s not just wi-fi based devices that are operating at 5GHz, cordless phones, radar, perimeter sensors and digital satellites already are.

On Friday, we visited a client in London, and when conducting a survey found 30 devices working at 2.4GHz in the immediate area causing interference, but only 3 working at 5GHz. Interestingly, they were all using the same channel, so it made sense for our smart router to find a free channel to work from which has increased the strength of the network significantly in their offices in a crowded part of the city.

Changing the channel of your wi-fi router can often be one of the most effective fixes for wi-fi problems that you are experiencing.

When helping to fix wifi problems in London offices, we always try to get at least five channels away from the source of interference. So we use channels 1 and 11 quite a lot, but look for the clearest channels on the spectrum (difficult in a built-up area!).

Your cordless telephones, microwaves and wireless games console controllers can often be a large problem too, and most tend to interfere with channel 11 of your wi-fi router. The telephone solution here is to use a DECT 6.0 phone which works at 1.9GHz frequency, far enough away from the likely 2.4GHz your wifi works on.

Your wi-fi router may not be pretty, but don’t hide it away in the corner of your office or your shop. The ideal placement is centrally, high up. Make the router a feature of your home, or install between the floors or in the attic for the strongest possible signal.

If you’re looking for more wi-fi help in London, Surrey and Hampshire offices, please feel free to give us a call and we can assist with some free consultation.

Have you seen the amusing screenshot image that shows where someone has used their wireless network name to moan about their neighbour’s loud music? The neighbours have then used theirs to highlight the bad grammar in the first network name… We spotted it again this week, and it made us laugh as much as it did the first time we saw it, but it also made us think about wi-fi network names, and how they might impact your network security.

Many people don’t bother to change their network name or password at all, which leaves your network vulnerable to hackers, but what about those who change the network name to something to do with their address or personal details?

It might sound rather silly, but many people do this, not least because it means friends or family who drop by and want to connect to their network can easily identify which network is the correct one. But if you make it too easy for hackers to figure out which network belongs to which property, they can then use social engineering to get your password and gain access to your network.

If someone is gaining access to your wi-fi network and hacks into your computer, anything they then access on the internet could be traced back to you. So ensure you call the network something that doesn’t connect it to your property, and make sure you change the network password to something that couldn’t easily be guessed by looking at your Facebook page!

Here at Geekabit we just love to talk about wifi. Bad wi-fi, good wi-fi and where there is access to free wi-fi that you just would not expect to find it (there is wi-fi in some graveyards in the States…honestly), but this week we got thinking about public wi-fi right here in the UK. Research released recently has shown that the UK now has at least 1 public wi-fi spot for every 11 people… Pretty impressive growth considering the Office for National Statistics conducted a survey in 2011 which stated that 4.9 million people connected to the internet through wifi hotspots – there are now over 5 million BT hotspots in the UK – let alone from other providers!

Global hotspot numbers are expected to reach more than 340 million over the next three years, which (accounting for population growth) is the equivalent of 1 wi-fi hotspot for every 20 people on the planet. But the distribution will not be equal, of course – in the States this is thought to be 1 hotspot for every 4 people, in African states the average would be 1 for every 408.

A quick read of an online report from the BBC in 2011 on the proliferation of wi-fi in public places reminds us how far businesses have come, as we are reminded that The Cloud offered free wi fi in restaurants such as Pizza Express and Pret A Manger, but only when you were eating a full meal – no wi fi for those dropping in for a coffee! Progress has been made, and most places offer free wi fi to all customers, but those who have the most fans are the companies with the most straightforward log-in process… who wants to be faffing with too many details and passwords?

We end today’s mini round-up of wi-fi facts with a quote from the digital advisor to Boris Jonson in 2011 “Wi-fi is not something we would put money into. We put money into things with a direct application to public service, like transport.” No wonder private companies such as BT and Google are pioneering free wi-fi hotspots to the masses!

The Christmas decorations have gone up at our Winchester HQ ready for the festive season, dragging a tree in a slightly muddy pot indoors and festooning it with colourful lights and baubles. But could our newest addition to the office slow down our precious Wi-Fi…?

Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has warned that Christmas lights could cause interference within home networks if they are not set up correctly. The story was released to publicise the release of their new Wi-Fi checker app, but the advice should not be written off by cynical scrooges as PR waffle, as Wi-Fi interference is something that the majority of the public are not aware.

Here at Geekabit we are well versed in the ordinary household items that can interrupt the proper function of a wireless router and slow internet speeds – microwaves, baby monitors and Bluetooth devices are all on the ‘naughty list’, but fairy lights..? Well, any electronic device which emits radio waves can affect Wi-Fi transmission so we would advise a quick check of the area around your router to see if there is a way you can rearrange electronic devices or remove them completely. Many people have their home router plugged into a corner of their living room, so perhaps check that the fairy lights have not gone into the same corner!

Given that broadband and mobile services are now seen as ‘essential’ to our wellbeing alongside gas water and electricity, and perhaps to keep the peace in a busy family household or office over Christmas, this is time well spent.

Merry Christmas from the Geekabit team!

We were interested to read about an ambitious plan called LinkNYC, which aims to roll out free wi-fi and domestic telephone calls to residents and visitors to New York City. The plan, which is a partnership between public officials and a company called CityBridge, will be free to access and not cost the general public anything extra in taxes. It is claimed that targeted advertising will raise $500 million in revenue over the first 12 years, which will pay for the infrastructure and maintenance of the networks and be channeled back into NYC , as well as provide revenue for CityBridge.

The problem that has emerged with LinkNYC is a common one when private companies who (quite rightly) need to make a profit, become involved with community issues. The network is being launched as a three-tier system, where busy and well off parts of New York such as Manhatten, will have super fast (think around 100Mbps download speed) wi-fi that is easy to access from within apartments and homes. The kiosks in other neighborhoods, such as Brooklyn and the Bronx, will be spaced further apart, have slower download speeds and the signal is unlikely to come close to covering all the homes in between them.

As LinkNYC will be funded by advertising, it makes sense that CityBridge have focused first on ensuring the best wi-fi service and access to those who demographically have the most to spend – including tourists. But as one of the main aims of the project when it was announced by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, was to provide accessible and free wifi to all New Yorkers, has this project highlighted the digital divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, rather than helping to bridge it?

If an internet worm got through your computer network firewall and was using around 50% of your corporate or office bandwidth as it spread from machine to machine, would you consider that a security risk or a performance problem?

Anything that impacts mission-critical corporate IT systems is a security concern. As your business Wi-Fi network becomes more and more mission-critical, any possible interference device, whether the interference is malicious, as in the case of a jammer, or accidental, must be viewed as a potential security issue.

In addition to RF denial of service, there are several other risks related to non-Wi-Fi RF devices, including:

Multi-protocol devices.
Wi-Fi networks are typically locked down with secure access controls, but devices that run on non-Wi-Fi networks, such as Bluetooth devices, are not. A notebook, computer with wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity may act as a bridge, allowing an intruding device onto the business WAN or LAN.

Non wi-fi rogues.
Most enterprises implement a form of wi-fi rogue access point detection to find unauthorised and unsecured access points on the corporate network. But there are non-wi-fi devices such as Bluetooth access points that can open up a similar security hole. Like wi-fi rogues, these devices must be detected and eliminated.

Leakage of sensitive data
Certain non-wi-fi devices such as cameras and cordless phones can be used to carry sensitive data out of a restricted area, bypassing security policies. When this is a concern, a zone of restricted wireless operation should be established, and that zone should be enforced through monitoring of the spectrum.

RF security doesn’t just stop with wi-fi. Do you know who is using your spectrum?