In addition to the following, I have found with both Charter Cable and 
with Verizon FIOS that any wireless inconsistencies in quality and 
strength of signal was not in my equipment, but in the modems/routers 
provided by the companies. In both cases I connected my very cheap 
wireless routers which were/are connected via wire to the company 
modems. In both cases the signal strengths, quality and reliability 
significantly increased. I do not know why, just my experiences. BTW The 
Charter modem/router had to have a security code manually installed and 
the Verizon FIOS modem/router (current service) has a security code 
factory installed.

I am now happily using a generic (no ID on it) wireless N router with 
hardware firewall, its own manually installed security code and 
backwards compatibility with B & G. Purchased it about 4 years ago for 
about $10. I have a relatively large house with the router at one 
extreme end of the house. The signal reception throughout the house is 
normally "good" or better depending upon where the laptops are being 
used. I used to have signal boosters, special antennae, etc. until I 
came upon my real cause of very poor signal strengths and frequently 
dropped signals. As mentioned, I am now down to one cheap router and all 
the other "stuff" is in the garage collecting dust.

Not too technical of an answer, but I hope it helps your search for a 
solution.

Tom


On 10/10/2012 10:21 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>    Reliability of wireless connections can be affected by a number of
> factors, some of which you have no control over....
>
>
>    The popular 2.4GHz band provides 11 channels.  But at full
> power/bandwidth, a signal "spreads out" to adjacent channels -- two
> channels to each side, for a total width of five.
>    This means that in a small area, you can only fully use three
> channels:  1, 6, and 11.  Anything more, and you either have to reduce
> power (reducing range and bandwidth), or deal with interference between
> the devices.  So one of the first things to look at is how many of your
> neighbors also have wireless routers.
>    With the router on the first floor and the client on the second,
> you're trying to pass signal through the floor (and maybe some walls).
> Even wood will cause some loss of signal strength, but this can be a lot
> worse if there is a lot of steel in the structure.  And of course there
> is electrical wiring and water and gas pipes....
>
>
>    Even if your neighbors have their own WiFi routers, they may be
> (accidentally or not...) connecting to yours.  It's estimated that a
> router (or access point) can probably handle up to about 20 client
> devices -- but only one can send or receive at a time!
>    There may be a nearby non-WiFi source of interference.  Some microwave
> ovens and older cordless phones can create interference in this band.
> About the only way to track down something like this is with a "spectrum
> analyzer" -- most are expensive, but the "Wi-Spy" plugs into a USB port
> and is only about $100...  And again, the source of the interference
> might be inside a neighbor's condo.
>
>    Many wireless clients, especially laptops, can also use their wireless
> capability to share their Internet connection with others.  Even if you
> haven't configured this -- there's a virus that turns on this
> capability, advertising a name like "Free Public Internet"....  Most
> people whose machines are infected with this never know it, unless it
> leads to problems similar to what you describe.
>
>
>    Your wireless gear is *probably* using the 2.4GHz band and the 802.11g
> WiFi standard.  Two alternatives you might try are:
>    - 802.11a, which uses the 5.0GHz band -- lots more channels, and it
> gets you away from interference in the 2.4GHz band.  It tends to be a
> bit more expensive, and you'd need to both replace your router and
> provide USB or PCMCIA wireless cards for your laptop(s).
> - 802.11n uses radio technology differently in order to handle
> obstructions and reflections off of walls, etc -- this nay also allow it
> to cope with interference more successfully.  Again, hew router and WiFi
> cards....
>
>    The "power line" networking gear that I've seen avoids wireless
> altogether.  You router plugs into ComCast and "injects" a signal
> modulated onto the household AC current that it is plugged into; the
> client plugged into the same household current detects and demodulates
> the signal (and reverses the process for traffic the other way).  This
> should sound a bit funky -- both devices may need to be on the same
> circuit for it to work at all well -- and if they're on different
> floors, I wouldn't assume that.  I don't know of a good way to test
> before you buy to make sure this option will really work.
>
>    IP addresses have to be unique within a network for traffic to get
> where it's supposed to go.  So the message you're seeing does indicate a
> problem -- it's just hard to guess what's causing it.   In a dynamic
> environment, you might see it briefly about once a year before it gets
> automatically corrected -- any more often, and something almost
> certainly needs to be corrected.
>
> David Gillett, CISSP CCNP
>
>
>    -------- Original Message --------
>   From: Gordon Totty <[log in to unmask]>
>   Date: Wed, October 10, 2012 5:02 am
>   
>> Now, D-Link is advertising a new PowerLine AV + Mini Adapter Starter Kit. I'm wondering if I should buy it
>> to replace the Netgear range extender, or if it would be wiser to just find a far better wireless router.
>> Or...?
> ..
>> Last question: what should I do when I get a message about an IP address conflict? I've ignored these
>> messages because I have no idea what I should do. I get this message about once a month.
>   
>
>              

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