I heard that cordless phones on 2.4 gHz cause interference with wifi and

[xultar]

cell phones.

Is that true? Have any of you gone from 2.4gHz to 5.8 gHz and noticed a difference in interference in your wifi and cell phones?

edit: oops I had cell phone instead of cordless phones in subject. sorry.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

1. I've heard they do from some reliable sources.

[emulatorloo]

2. 2.4 knocks me off my WIFI - I went back to 900mhz

sorry no data on 5.8

[soothsayer]

3. my 2.4 is fine with my wireless g. no probs at all

[ghostsofgiants]

4. "Disadvantages of Wi-Fi"

"The 802.11b and 802.11g flavors of Wi-Fi use the 2.4 GHz spectrum, which is crowded with other devices such as Bluetooth, microwave ovens, cordless phones (900 MHz or 5.8 GHz are, therefore, alternative phone frequencies one can use if one has a Wi-Fi network), or video sender devices, among many others. This may cause a degradation in performance. Other devices which use microwave frequencies such as certain types of cell phones can also cause degradation in performance."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi

[xultar]

5. WOW! Now that is some kickin information. Thanks! I didn't know

about Bluetooth too!

Maybe switching will help my tivo transfer rates!

[ghostsofgiants]

7. No problem

Wikipedia is your friend, haha.

[necso]

6. I have DSS

on my 2.4 cordless phone and have never had a (noticeable) problem with the WiFi (although since they say the phone is frequency hopping, I probably should be taking some hits -- but I haven't noticed). And transmit/receive channels can typically be adjusted on routers, adapters, phones (although sometimes pretty crudely here), etc.

My neighbor had a 2.4 that wasn't DSS and it was murder on the WiFi(b) that I hooked up from mine. I built a little reflector box (which also acts sort-of like a directional antenna, although it is not attached), aimed the open side at my router and the link worked better (the phone was conveniently placed).

There was a post here a few days ago about 5.8(?) interfering with WiFi, but I no experience with that. And this seems strange, since typically (as I understand it) b and g use 2.4 and a uses 5 (but I have no experience with a).

[usedtobesick]

8. The 5.8 GHz should not be an issue

as it is out of band. By the time WiFi goes to 5.8 GHz all of the devices should be fine. Only early 2.4 devices should be an issue as almost all of the new phones let you know there is no WiFi interference, they sense any interference and should skip over the band in use. Blue tooth should not be an issue with any age device.

[UCLA02]

9. My microwave knocks out my XM

The antenna is a few feet away from the microwave and my XM goes out as long as the microwave is cooking.

Time to get the tin-foil boxers... ;-)

[Xithras]

10. It depends on how "cluttered" your area is

I have 802.11b and a 2.4Ghz phone. My neighbor has 802.11g and a 2.4Ghz phone. If I'm on the Internet and the phone rings, no problem. If I'm on the Internet, he's on the Internet, and my phone rings, one of us will very occasionally lose our connection. If I'm on the Internet, he's on the Internet, and I get a phone call while he's chatting on the phone too, one of us will ALWAYS lose our network connection. The devices are all spread spectrum and use multiple channels, and they simply run out of channels with four devices being used at the same time. To be honest, we suspect that our occasional drops when we receive one phone call when we're online is being caused by a third neighbor with a 2.4Ghz device, but we haven't found him or her yet.

Of course, I don't want to make it seem like this is a constant problem. 2.4Ghz collisions that knock us offline rarely happen more than two or three times a month, and only last until the phone is hung up. It's really not a huge deal for me, but if you lived in a highrise with 20 2.6Ghz using neighbors I guess it could be.

Also, I should point out that the interference works both ways. When the phone interferes with the WiFi signal, you can HEAR the interference on your phone...it sounds like a fuzzy old long distance connection from the 1970's.