Strange question about Wifi channels

[poudenes]

Hi All,

I have around 13 devices running on 2.4Ghz channel 8.

Today I plugged in a ADS-B receiver (receive plane information) (https://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B07K47P7XD?ref_=pe_27501951_420426091_E_Asin_Title)
with a Antenna (https://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B07ZH5FJBW?ref_=pe_27501951_420426091_E_Asin_Title)

in my mini PC. At that moment my 13 devices went offline and it was impossible to connect them.
After I changed the channel of the 2.4ghz to 3 I was able to connect them again (auto connect)

But many other routers around me so I changed channel back to 8. All 13 devices went offline again.
Took out the USB ADS-B receiver and check off this worked. Didn't ...

Changed channel to 6 without success. Changed back to 3 all 13 devices come up again.

Can this ADS-B receiver fried my 2.4ghz wifi hardware or specific channels? (sounds weird right)

Reboot of my GTAX11000 didn't help also....

Any way to check of the hardware is still ok, of the channels of the wifi are ok?
Its sounds crazy.... how can a 978MHz 1090Mhz signal fried my wifi 2.4Ghz.... But it is impossible to use the old channel at all

Even my Nest thermostat can't connect anymore on the original channel 8

 

[sfx2000]

If you disconnect the ADS-B stick, does the problem go away?

 

[poudenes]

No. When the devices disconnected and not able to connect I disconnect the dongle (last thing I add in the house). Reboot router. Didn't help, change channel did help. Revert back to old channel all devices disconnected again and won't come up

 

[Crimliar]

This is purely anecdotal!!!! Take the batteries out of the Nest thermostats, turn off any old promiscuous Bluetooth devices (can include sound bars and their subwoofers) and try again! I've a couple of instances now where heating controllers and their Bluetooth abilities have proven problematic. If that works you can try getting the Nest devices reconnected, but don't reintroduce any old promiscuous Bluetooth devices until after this, if at all.

 

[poudenes]

This is purely anecdotal!!!! Take the batteries out of the Nest thermostats, turn off any old promiscuous Bluetooth devices (can include sound bars and their subwoofers) and try again! I've a couple of instances now where heating controllers and their Bluetooth abilities have proven problematic. If that works you can try getting the Nest devices reconnected, but don't reintroduce any old promiscuous Bluetooth devices until after this, if at all.

Thanks for helping out. 1) The devices that are not able to connect are only Wifi ESP. no BL at all. After change the channel Nest Thermostat can connect. The ESP devices can connect. Put channel back to 8 (nobody around me use this one) and everything is offline again.

I figure out that other channels also give this issue. 9, 12 also ...

 

[OzarkEdge]

I figure out that other channels also give this issue. 9, 12 also ...

Maybe the router/AP radio is acting up... maybe you have more radio interference than you are observing... have you tried using channel Auto to see what the router likes? Leave your recent network/household addition(s) OFF. And reboot clients to be sure they try to reconnect.

OE

 

[poudenes]

Maybe the router/AP radio is acting up... maybe you have more radio interference than you are observing... have you tried using channel Auto to see what the router likes? Leave your recent network/household addition(s) OFF. And reboot clients to be sure they try to reconnect.

OE

Thanks for thinking with me. My whole network worked perfect. Yesterday received the ADS-B receiver and antenna. Added this in my mini PC (Dell 3050). within seconds I saw all the ESP modules and NEST Thermostat went offline. ESP modules are wall touch switches and when they become offline the led will flash white. So had a little disco in my house.

Disconnect the ADS-B receiver, changed the channel and everything was back again. But on a busy used channel number. Tried to put the channel back and everything was offline again.

SO my recent new product in months was the ADS-B receiver. Only receive signals from the Antenna on 978MHz 1090Mhz to get plane information around my area.

 

[glens]

What are the chances somebody else nearby also introduced something new to the spectrum about the same time you did?

 

[poudenes]

On exact same time.... Because at moment I plugged in the ADS dongle issues started.

But yes it's not impossible... I check channels with wifi Explorer on Mac and channel 8 isnt used by other wifi ssid's around me.

Is there a way to check if there is interference? Only with special tools I guess?

 

[glens]

I understand the rationale which says "this channel isn't being used by anyone else so I can have it all to myself". I really do. But the skeptic in me has to wonder why nobody else is using the channel. If their routers are set to Auto channel (which I would suspect to be likely) then maybe there's a reason that channel is always free.

Do you ever let the router decide which channel to use or do you always assign one manually? Wireless environment is usually not a constant, and the router "makes its living" listening to what's going on around it. Might well work better for you over the long term using "Auto". Might not, but it's worth a try, I'd think.

 

[poudenes]

I understand the rationale which says "this channel isn't being used by anyone else so I can have it all to myself". I really do. But the skeptic in me has to wonder why nobody else is using the channel. If their routers are set to Auto channel (which I would suspect to be likely) then maybe there's a reason that channel is always free.

Do you ever let the router decide which channel to use or do you always assign one manually? Wireless environment is usually not a constant, and the router "makes its living" listening to what's going on around it. Might well work better for you over the long term using "Auto". Might not, but it's worth a try, I'd think.

In past I had AUTO on. What happen then is always it pick a channel that most of the other routers using. What I know that this will have impact on the wifi speed also.
That's why I check every month what channel is less used. Here a screenshot of all wifi signals around me. As you can see channel 3 is used many times also

The 2 blue lines is my 2.4Ghz and below 5 Ghz.

In my GTAX11000 there is a Wifi channel statistics ( https://192.168.100.1:7443/channelcapacity.asp )
Now start a test to see everything

 

[poudenes]

Here some results.

Seems channel 3 has more capacity then 8 and below. channel 3 has almost no non-wifi traffic interference and channel 8 much more on 40mhz.
So what you saying about let router choose is own channel can be an option. But ESP devices don't like channel 12, 13 and 14. So that was also the reason I did it manual.
But below tests shows me now that channel 3 is much better even there are more other routers using this channel.

 

[bbunge]

WIFI scanners are not always a reliable tool. As others have said, your WIFI environment is dynamic. In an ideal world channels 1, 6 or 11 would be the best choice. But the world is not ideal. In a crowded WIFI environment I feel auto channel is the way to go. There are only 14 routers on 2.4 GHz that show up on a scan in my area but half of those are hogs pushing 40 MHz. So I let my router choose the channel and bandwidth it wants to use and do not worry about the neighbors.
And, why did you spend bucks on a radio to monitor air traffic when there are plenty of web sites and aps that already do that?

 

[poudenes]

WIFI scanners are not always a reliable tool. As others have said, your WIFI environment is dynamic. In an ideal world channels 1, 6 or 11 would be the best choice. But the world is not ideal. In a crowded WIFI environment I feel auto channel is the way to go. There are only 14 routers on 2.4 GHz that show up on a scan in my area but half of those are hogs pushing 40 MHz. So I let my router choose the channel and bandwidth it wants to use and do not worry about the neighbors.
And, why did you spend bucks on a radio to monitor air traffic when there are plenty of web sites and aps that already do that?

The dongle was $30. There is an add-on for Home Assistant to implement the info. But already send it back. Because not everything was shown if I compare with Flightradar.
Let me change the route to AUTO and see what this will do. (on a day when im off haha... So I can revert back if needed)

 

[OzarkEdge]

Let me change the route to AUTO and see what this will do. (on a day when im off haha... So I can revert back if needed)

If you like a channel used on Auto, fix it on that channel and leave it there.

OE

 

[Piotrek]

In an ideal world channels 1, 6 or 11 would be the best choice.

In an non-US ideal world channels 1, 5, 9 or 13 would be the best choice.

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[L&LD]

Wi-Fi 'apps' are useless. They give you numbers, not information.

For instance, they don't give any info on non-WiFi sources of interference.

Test each Control Channel and pick the one with the least compromises. It won't get better than this. No matter what 'data' an app may seem to provide.