Suspect some-kind of jamming or WPA2 cracking

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aardvark2zz

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Aug 14, 2017
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I suspect some-kind of jamming or WPA2 cracking going on but haven't been successful finding the source of the problem with wireshark. For the past 5 years the starbucks downtown has <mod edit> wifi on the terasse. The ISP tech came said everything is ok. Signal is ok inside but not everywhere inside.

I've been checking the real-time signal levels of the surrounding 20 wifi routers and they all turn off for 5 seconds and turn back on after 5 seconds; repeat. I connected to a different restaurant next door and got the same problem with my laptop and smartphone. Many other people have the same problem. This has been going on for years 24/7. Wifi is barely usable.

Any suggestions on how to proceed ?

<Moderator Caution: Profanity is not permitted in these forums>
 
Solution
RealBeast
They need to (a) coordinate a bit, (2) buy newer and better commercial grade equipment, and (3) then raise their prices to cover the costs.

Nice sentiment, but it is a free service that has probably been maintained in a fairly static condition over the 5 year period while usage has skyrocketed and bandwidth demand is now out of sight.

Thousands of wireless users is a significant technical issue unless you have a substantial budget to buy high end commercial access points and controllers, which is rarely done for free unless it is a high cost venue (sports stadium with expensive tickets, and even they are not...
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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May 29, 2013
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I would say it is unlikely that any of the sinister things you jump to is happening. Have you ever considered that the the common thread on 20 WIFI sources going off is your receiver ? That is way more likely than 20 WIFI sources going off for 5 seconds.
 
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aardvark2zz

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Aug 14, 2017
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According to my very good WiFi app on android the resto is on channel 6 and this channel has a low rating. It recommends the extreme low and high channels but I have no control over this. I haven't yet checked the cafe channel # and the channel # recommendations for it. It's pretty wild to see the dozens of routers have massive RF power fluctuations unless they have an extremely high power level. The power levels go from nominal to 0; never in between.

This was seen on 2 very different laptops with vista win8 win10, and my smart phone. Many people have complained about this very well known cafe over the last 5 years. Among others, I've seen a brand new apple tablet not be able to connect and that was inside. The resto waitress told me the wifi is not reliable outside even though they don't have many customers.
 
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RealBeast

RealBeast

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Nope, it's not all of the other wireless radios.

As stated twice above it is too many users on too many overlapping channels with too little bandwidth, just like in apartment buildings or dorms.

And they do not have "extremely high power level(s)." Wireless router/AP radio output power is limited by FCC rules to levels you can see HERE. Wireless radios are usually run at their max power unless they are part of a large wireless network when sometimes you need to turn some/all of them down to minimize interference between them (think of a large hotel for example).
 
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bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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Not to sound rude, but why do you even care? This isn't your problem and there's nothing you can do to fix it.

When it comes to publicly-accessible WiFi, you can bet your bottom dollar that whoever configured it didn't give a damn about interference from surrounding networks and set a channel accordingly. They'd have left the channel on auto and called it a day.

Why does your Android app consider channel six to have a low rating? I assume it's because other WiFi networks in the area are also using that channel, but I'm interested nonetheless. What app is it exactly?
 
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RealBeast

RealBeast

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Sep 13, 2010
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They need to (a) coordinate a bit, (2) buy newer and better commercial grade equipment, and (3) then raise their prices to cover the costs.

Nice sentiment, but it is a free service that has probably been maintained in a fairly static condition over the 5 year period while usage has skyrocketed and bandwidth demand is now out of sight.

Thousands of wireless users is a significant technical issue unless you have a substantial budget to buy high end commercial access points and controllers, which is rarely done for free unless it is a high cost venue (sports stadium with expensive tickets, and even they are not doing the best job of keeping up).

 
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Solution
bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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I admire your willingness to help, I really do. Sharing knowledge with others to improve their own is a valiant thing to do.

But, after five years, it's really time to call it a day. There will be a multitude of factors surrounding this issue that you won't be aware of and have no influence over.

Thousands of users may be frustrated by this issue but it doesn't seem to stop them from coming back, so it can't be that bad.
 
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