HELP! Neighbor producing 2.4GHz a/b/g interference for weeks!

[thelastcenturion]

The past 7 weeks have plagued me. Between 5pm-11pm, my router's wireless decides to go insane.

Router
- Netgear WNDR3400v2, Belkin N+ wireless router
- (Belkin originally thought to be culprit, bought the netgear, same problem)
- ISP speed 10mbps down, 1.1mbps up

Devices that DO NOT have problems
- Devices wired directly to router or connected wirelessly via 5.0GHz N to router
- (During such times, drops from avg 10mbps to avg 8mbps)

Devices that HAVE problems
- Devices connected wirelessly via 2.4GHz a/b/g (During such times, drops from avg 10mbps to 0.10mbps)

I have performed 5 major virus scans, several registry tuneups, some formats of machines, driver uninstall/reinstall of components, and even ISP to come and replace the modem and the cable leading outside to inside the house to the modem. NOTHING in the house was added or changed in the past 8 months so why start 7 weeks ago?! I've changed the channels from 1 to 6 to 11 and whenever I see the fewest on using inSSIDer to see the wifi signals around me.

I have: (1) ASUS laptop connected via n wireless, (1) Dell laptop connected via g wireless, (1) sony bluray player connected via g wireless, (1) iphone 4S connected via g wireless, and (1) Netgear range extender connected via g wireless. As such, during these times, only the Asus is relatively unaffected.

Please. END OF MY ROPE.

HELP!

 

[RealBeast]

Yup, it sounds like someone is doing something like using a 40MHz wide 2.4GHz N connection to stream movies and wiping out the whole 2.4GHz band by doing so. The only thing that you can do is use inSSIDer during the time of the problem to see the SSID and channels being used. If you see some big increase in signal covering many channels your only real options are to go wired or convert to 5GHz, which of course means upgrading all your old G devices.

 

[thelastcenturion]

Definitely cannot convert to 5GHZ and wired doesn't really help with tablets or smart phones.

Anyone have a solution? How to pinpoint who this is so I may speak to them or have a way to defend against this?

 

[RealBeast]

Yeah, use inSSIDer from: http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/ to find out what is going on with the radio channel in the 2.4GHz range during that time, and other than avoiding those channels or convincing your neighbor to cooperate there is not a way to over come the 2.4GHz interference unless you can use a different channel than the strongest ones at that time. You will see the SSID of the offending channels and can ask around to see who uses that.

 

[thelastcenturion]

Best answer selected by thelastcenturion.