Wifi conundrum

[AF]

I give you the following problem Im facing:

I access the net over a wifi network. I've put the network into 802.11b mode to make it as reliable as I can. There are no vacant wifi channels, every non-overlapping channel has interference from at least one network, giving shitty net on all 3 of them. None of my equipment supports the 5Ghz band, and running an ethernet cable is not an option.

I will have to stress that last part again, a cable is not possible, if I put one in, assuming I had the 30-40m of cable to run up the 2 flights of stairs it would be promptly taken down by other people complaining about it. I cant drill through the floor either as my computer isnt directly above or across from the router and again it would mean Id get into a lot of trouble for it. Cables are not an option unless they can be concealed (under the carpet is not an option, its nailed into the floor, and there is a long way for it to go, I couldnt do it without being noticed.

I dont have the money to buy stuff like LAN power sockets.

So how do I reduce or counter act the interference?

[Peet]

g/n mode is not necessarily less reliable - the connection speed will be reduced if interference is an issue. Buy a crappy directional antenna for the pc...try an overlapping wifi channel; I get much better reception on channel 8 than 6 or 11, and there are 5-6 networks in my building on those two.

[SinbadEV]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIMO

[Mav]

Can you run a cable?

[Beherith]

Cantenna is a good solution.

[lurker]

Have you tried channels 3-4 and 8-9? It really can make a difference to have weak interference even if it's from more networks. Can you convince your hardware to use channel 14? n will probably have better reception than b.

[AF]

My routers a shitty ISP provided router, since the linksys router I had refused to accept a blank field as the username/password as required, and its not a model you can flash with custom firmware, so its channels 1-13

Some body suggested I take a cardboard cut out parabolic card thing with foil, and that seems to have stabilised things once placed over the antennae.

I switched from b/g to b because it made my connection more reliable, as in it would stay connected rather than dropping completely and needing me to open up network properties, scan and then reconnect.

[aegis]

you can disable dhcp on the linksys router and run a network cable from a port on the isp's router to a switch port on the linksys router (not the uplink/internet port)

[hoijui]

use network over power line, works great here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_line_communication

a set with three adapters costs about 100 - 130 Euros here.

[aegis]

I dont have the money to buy stuff like LAN power sockets.

[AF]

I dont have 130-140 euros fullstop, nm that much spare for network over power line else I'd have bought that already or a premade cantenna

[Forboding Angel]

Well you can make a cantenna pretty easily. All you need is a pringles can, a coat hangar that you can destroy, and *optional* a rubber band and 3 pencils (for making a tripod for it to sit on).

[SinbadEV]

Well you can make a cantenna pretty easily. All you need is a pringles can, a coat hangar that you can destroy, and *optional* a rubber band and 3 pencils (for making a tripod for it to sit on).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WokFi looks cool.

[Beherith]

That wok-fi looks even simpler than a cantenna, I really like it.
These antennas not only have the advantage of boosting your directed signal by 12-15 dB, but they also attentuate signals outside of the focus point. So they are extremely useful in a crowded wifi area.

[AF]

My current solution:

[Caydr]

Anything less than WPA2+AES can be cracked in a matter of minutes, just steal someone else's and BAM you've got some extra cash every month.