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You are barking up the wrong tree. Unless your rabbit ears share a common wall with the neighbor's rabbit ears...
That means it has to be the wall street banker to the right of me! Thanks for the tip, now I know who to go after.
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When you stand next to them to adjust them there is enough coupling between your body and the conductors to provide reception.
I don't know what the heck you're trying to suggest, but I can assure you I'm not doing any "coupling between my body and the rabbit ears". I'm happily married.
This, and only this! Jesus Wept. I am not even going to read any other posts. I despair for America when threads like this get started and go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theory madness.
You want me to put tinfoil all over my walls? I'm surrounded by neighbors to the south, east, and west, 15 total, and there's 18 routers in range; would you enjoy having people come over and seeing the tinfoil all over your walls? Me neither. As far as me interfering, sure, but it's been fine for the last 2-1/2 years; as I stated in the original post, the problem started manifesting several weeks ago and I've troubleshooted everything I could think of to see if it's my fault (since I can fix it if it is) and it's all pointing to someone else's interference, especially considering there's more routers in range here than there are surrounding apartments (at the very least indicating someone has an over-powerful router).
While this may not be an uncommon problem, it hasn't been a problem over 2-1/2 years until the last several weeks. Yes, I've rarely had issues driving where two stations interfered, and this has usually only happened when crossing city boundaries or being in the boonies.
I can speak with the neighbors, but they've reported me to management for doing that with other problems (like noise), they deny everything, say everything's fine, and the management says to contact them first; well, I did, and they didn't understand the difference between internet and wifi and said "pay Comcast to fix it for you", which they can't do if someone else's WiFi is interfering with mine, that is primarily the responsibility of the landlord, who thinks it isn't because they've obviously not dealt with WiFi interference issues.
It is the responsibility of the landlord to ensure people's WiFi/electronic devices/routers are not interfering with other people's WiFi/electronic devices/routers, otherwise the resident has to deal with disputes which can get nasty. It's the whole reason they put rules in the lease; so they can deal with it, such as the rule to have pets on a leash outside. If that weren't in the lease, chaos would ensue and someone's pets or neighbor would get hurt or shot.
1st world woes.
In 57 years of life I have never seen tin foil and doubt you have either. Maybe you need a Tempest room.
Does your lease have that particular wording in it? The only entity you can legally take it up with is the FCC as it is they who regulate such things. I doubt your neighbors really care.
Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
3,785 posts, read 2,694,775 times
Reputation: 1609
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Originally Posted by dhinged
It is the responsibility of the landlord to ensure people's WiFi/electronic devices/routers are not interfering with other people's WiFi/electronic devices/routers, otherwise the resident has to deal with disputes which can get nasty. It's the whole reason they put rules in the lease; so they can deal with it, such as the rule to have pets on a leash outside. If that weren't in the lease, chaos would ensue and someone's pets or neighbor would get hurt or shot.
That seems a little unhinged. You have not made a compelling case that the onus should be on the landlord. Can you cite some sort of legal precedent? Have you taken your case to the FCC? I'd love to hear their response.
You're obviously upset and inconvenienced by it but it doesn't seem like the landlord's responsibility to me.
Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
3,785 posts, read 2,694,775 times
Reputation: 1609
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Originally Posted by Green_Mountain
Hey guys and gals, I'm glad I found this thread. I'm having a similar but related problem and this seems like a good thread to post in to get help. I have a TV with a set of rabbit ears on top and I have to fiddle with them to get channel 27 to come in, but as soon as I get a signal and then sit down it goes out again. I'm convinced one of my neighbors has a bigger set of rabbit ears that is interfering with mine.
That just doesn't seem fair to me. I got the best rabbit ears I could find, so if someone else has a bigger pair there is no way they can be legal, I suspect they have non FCC approved rabbit ears! I've narrowed down the set of possible high powered rabbit ear offenders to 3 other tenants, the drug dealer in the apartment to the left of me, the wall street banker to the right and the big ego doctor across the hall. There are three other tenants in range but two are nice old ladies and the other is a minister, so I don't think they would use illegal rabbit ears.
So now I've demanded that the landlord enter and search the 3 suspect apartments for the illegal rabbit ears. But you know what the landlord told me? That I should call the rabbit ear association! How stupid can they be, there is no rabbit ear association!
How do you think I should escalate this? I'm so angry I'm almost ready to hire a rabbit ear private investigator.
I agree it does seem completely unfair and you should not have to accept unfairness in life. I don't blame you for getting your antennae up about it. My advice? Before you do something rash and escalate the situation by hiring a rabbit ear private investigator, have you thought about what the potential implications of that are on your life? And what's your end game? I mean, rabbit ear private investigators are highly specialized investigators and they do not come cheap. And what if you don't hire the best rabbit ear private investigator? Maybe they'll hire a better one! You could be looking at thousands of dollars and months without tv!
Oh, but I have a solution you can try. It's Channel 27, right? Try a bow-tie, instead of rabbit ears. Report back.
It's new service Comcast is providing, you can turn it off in your account. It's completely separate than your own service, the only real issue here for the person with the router is Comcast using your electricity to provide the service.
The bigger issue as far as I can tell is those connecting, I don't see anyway to verify it's actually a Comcast service. Looks like someone can easily spoof it and you do have to provide your account login credentials. The other thing is if you have set to auto connect.... Security wise this seems like a really bad idea for those connecting to it.
If anyone can spoof it it needs to die, and I'll bring up the issue with the senior Comcast tech when he comes by Tuesday.
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Originally Posted by Don in Austin
You are probably contributing to the overload of Wi-Fi as much as any one of your neighbors.
i can easily understand management not wanting to get involved in this.
Kind of like driving on a congested freeway and its everybody else's fault.
I would use wired connections as much as possible.
Don in Austin
It's not overload (if that's what the problem is) until there's too many in range, and I can't interfere with myself, so if there's just too many in range, it's still up to the landlord to determine the solution.
It's been working fine for the last year and a half, I can't blame myself for just being here.
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Originally Posted by eok
Why not put a router in each room, and two in big rooms?
This adds to the problem; my guess is some apartments already have multiple routers in the home, needlessly.
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Originally Posted by JasonF
Change the channel. Problem solved.
Expecting the landlord to impose regulations on residents' use of radio devices is pure lunacy.
Changing the channel didn't solve the problem, even at Comcast's instructions.
The landlord regulates pets on leashes, whether they allow pets, noise levels, ground rules, outdoor rules, how many nights a week or month non-renters can sleep there, that harmful science experiments not be run, that people don't pile up reeking garbage that disturbs other residents, swimming pool rules, children, modifications to doors and walls, what can be on the balcony or porch, you name it; anything that could cause a problem for them or another resident, they don't want, so why wouldn't they regulate on router interference?
They would want something done as well if they were in my shoes, and my guess is you would too.
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Originally Posted by SalamanderSmile
Isn't only over the last couple weeks that comcast has been activating these hidden second ssids it's put into everybodys routers? Part of rolling out their public hotspot service? If I were you I would make up a flyer and flyer everyone's doors telling them how to turn off the hidden second network. They'll probably thank you.
They already told me they would evict me if I put up any other flyers on people's doors since I did it after they refused to do anything about a noise problem except put up a generic rule list with the noise rule on the bottom.
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Originally Posted by jaypee
Also disable xfinity wifi public hotspot on your router.
It's not enabled on my router.
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Originally Posted by chuckmann
OK so what does the lease specifically say about internet connectivity and wireless?
You have stated that you are a troublemaker. If I were your landlord, depending upon the terms of your lease, I would give you 30 days notice.
I did look over your report on visible access points. OMG! You people must be stamping all over each other! I left the industry prior to the introduction of the dot 11n protocol was released, but I did a little reading to try to gain an understanding. You have a lot of access points within range. The dot11 protocol requires that your device connect to the access point with the best signal. With so many AP's visible, that may lead to ambiguities. I can remember a particular client I was trying to work with, and my connection to their wireless network oscillated among three different AP's. Fun.
Good luck to you.
There's nothing in the lease about WiFi because it hasn't been a problem apparently for them; like I said, when I first moved in, there was like 1-3 routers around me; now there's 18.
Where did I state I'm a troublemaker? Why would I post here to state I'm a troublemaker when I'm trying to solve a problem? The main reason I posted here was for advice/opinion on the landlord. If me asking the landlord to fix a problem with a neighbor that I can't fix is troublemaking and you'd kick me out for it, you'd be a slumlord, which is illegal in some states.
The access points are not mine, they're other people's routers. I only have one access point I can and will connect my devices to: my router. I neither need nor care to use three different APs. I'm just some regular guy in an apartment trying to get good internet speed on my devices.
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Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell
Bingo. Of the 18 routers within range, chances are all of them are on the default channel, because most people have never launched their router setup page. It's not surprising that he is getting interference, but it's his problem. If he bugs the neighbor, they might change their channel too.
Channel 1 has the most routers; the rest are scattered, and I'm on a channel by myself. If someone else is interfering with other residents' routers and that person is doing something wrong, it's that person's fault.
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Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell
Wifi frequency is not the same as wifi channels. At 2.4 ghz you have the choice of channels 1-11. Channels 1, 6 and 11 do not overlap, so those are the best ones to try when sleuthing interference. There can also be interference from microwaves and cordless telephones.
Most modern equipment can use the 5 ghz band, and there are many more channels there, which almost eliminates interference, so it's a good bet that the OP is using 2.4 ghz.
Actually channels are just smaller frequency differences than 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies; your router might actually show you the difference, which mine do. All 2.4GHz channels are sub-frequencies; the overlapping is just because the differences are so physically small.
Nothing's changed in my apartment except WiFi speed. It could be a microwave or some other device, but I have no idea how to tell, and it seems to be burst interference, which is likely an over-powered router or a congestion of Comcast routers/SSIDs.
The Comcast tech said as much, so I likely will have to buy a 5GHz router, though I have some devices that only work with 2.4GHz, so it will have to be compatible. I have 2 dozen wireless devices in here, more when people are over, and haven't had a consistent problem with WiFi until several weeks ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Green_Mountain
Hey guys and gals, I'm glad I found this thread. I'm having a similar but related problem and this seems like a good thread to post in to get help. I have a TV with a set of rabbit ears on top and I have to fiddle with them to get channel 27 to come in, but as soon as I get a signal and then sit down it goes out again. I'm convinced one of my neighbors has a bigger set of rabbit ears that is interfering with mine.
That just doesn't seem fair to me. I got the best rabbit ears I could find, so if someone else has a bigger pair there is no way they can be legal, I suspect they have non FCC approved rabbit ears! I've narrowed down the set of possible high powered rabbit ear offenders to 3 other tenants, the drug dealer in the apartment to the left of me, the wall street banker to the right and the big ego doctor across the hall. There are three other tenants in range but two are nice old ladies and the other is a minister, so I don't think they would use illegal rabbit ears.
So now I've demanded that the landlord enter and search the 3 suspect apartments for the illegal rabbit ears. But you know what the landlord told me? That I should call the rabbit ear association! How stupid can they be, there is no rabbit ear association!
How do you think I should escalate this? I'm so angry I'm almost ready to hire a rabbit ear private investigator.
I haven't had adequate TV reception since I moved in, and even though friends and family have complained about it, I didn't report it to management, because I don't require good TV reception to do my job or take care of my personal business, so your sarcasm is lost on me.
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Originally Posted by stanley-88888888
good point. whats the hwaddress of your router and the hwaddress of the router your devices are connecting to.
i sometimes use the wifi hotspot on my cell-fone and it broadcasts a generic samsung wifi ssid. if someone 100 feet away has the same model fone then my laptop mite get confused and connect to the wrong one. and when that person leaves the area i will get connection not found errors.
I've tried using mobile hotspot on my cell phone but the reception there is worse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ormari
That seems a little unhinged. You have not made a compelling case that the onus should be on the landlord. Can you cite some sort of legal precedent? Have you taken your case to the FCC? I'd love to hear their response.
You're obviously upset and inconvenienced by it but it doesn't seem like the landlord's responsibility to me.
Does common sense, logic, or rationality need legal precedent? It had to start somewhere.
The landlord is responsible for preventing and dealing with problems between residents, such as noise complaints, unleashed pets, and unsupervised children. If your neighbor was parking in your spot repeatedly and won't leave, is that not compelling enough to expect the landlord to do something about it?
If a neighbor is interfering with WiFi, they are encroaching themselves unfairly on other residents, causing problems. Just because it's a radio signal causing a problem and not a soundwave or a parked car doesn't mean it's not a compelling-enough problem for them to step in and resolve a problem between residents. There's many things that weren't in leases that were added because there were problems, and WiFi interference should be added too.
Last edited by Yac; 02-24-2015 at 03:30 AM..
Reason: 12 (!!!!) posts in a row merged. Please learn to multi quote
What if you lived in a house and the problem was caused by your neighbors? Then you would have no landlord to be responsible for it.
Why not move the router to the place where you do the most wifi access, such as near your sofa or desk or wherever, and use wires for most of your other connections? Be pragmatic, because the world keeps changing way faster than anyone can do anything about. By the time you solve the problem the hard but proper way, the technology is likely to change enough to make your solution obsolete.
to me this is like cell-fone reception. i've had friends whose cell-fones didnt work well in certain apartments so they eventually moved out...
nothing the landlord was responsible for although it would be to their benefit to ask the cell-fone company to either install a tower or provide one of those temporary portable broadband airwave solutions to prevent future renters from leaving.
If anyone can spoof it it needs to die, and I'll bring up the issue with the senior Comcast tech when he comes by Tuesday.
I don't see how it can't be spoofed, you're looking for wifi name. Anyone could name their wifi "xfinitywifi" They have map you can look at to see where the hot spots are. None are in the vicinity of where I'm at but I can see one in the listing for wifi's. Either the map is inaccurate of I have someone already spoofing it next door. If I go to connect you get this:
If you click yes you need to sign in with your Comcast username and password. If you click the browser option it takes you too a Comcast page.
We don't know for a fact this is Comcast WiFi so if I enter my credentials and it's being spoofed now they have my credentials, yes? The browser page is no better because that can be spoofed complete with a comcast.com URL.
Beyond that if you are using the autoconnect option you can be walking around town with device auto connecting to any Wifi named "xfinitywifi" giving a hacker an avenue of attack.
Am I missing something here? I don't see any authentication to insure it's a legitimate Comcast wifi.
its called war-driving. any broadcasted ssid can be spoofed (thats why its slightly more secure to keep the routers name hidden).
basically i park my grey van outside an expensive house with a nice big lawn and see what the router name is. then i set my laptop to share its wifi connection using the same ssid as inside the house. if the victims devices are set to automatically connect to the routers name then there is a 50/50 chance some of them mite connect to mine. using programs like ethereal/wireshark/airsnort/... you could analyze packets for email passwords, html browsing, credit card numbers, ...
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