Hi guys I have a little problem, I live in a terrace house and have Optus Cable. Up until 2 weeks ago our wifi has been great and uninterrupted, but in the last two weeks, our wifi has randomly been knocked out, requiring a modem restart. I've changed the channel multiple times, and this happens when I'm literally 2 metres from the modem. I have an Optus Cable Netcomm CG3000v2, and I've noticed that the neighbours have an Optus 4G E589 which shows the same signal strength as my modem despite me being a quadruple brick wall away. I believe when they start to use this, they knock out my wifi. Is there anything I can do? How can a puny 4G modem swap my wifi? Turning off and on my computers wifi doesn't fix the problem, neither does a restart, I have to restart the router. The internet is functional through Cat 6. Worryingly, today when I was investigating this, I noticed a Samsung Galaxy S6, which appeared to be on my secured network, as well as a desktop PC. I'm very confused about this, as I have passwords on the wifi access, but we have all Macs and iOS devices here, am I being hacked? (My neighbours are all old, surely someone can't hack me from across the road?)
Neighbours Optus E589 4G killing my wifi
Comments
No, whatever it is knocks out all wifi devices
The built in Wi-Fi on the CG3000 is horrible. I would change to an external WiFi router. Something with 5GHz support, if your other devices support it.
If you want to stick to Apple devices, an Airport Extreme.
If you've got the default Optus supplied password on the Wi-Fi, it is very easy to hack.
I heard Optus has a new AC cable modem coming out, I might try it. I read it's $200, maybe they can give it to me as a replacement considering my difficulties.
I doubt someone else's modem is killing your wifi. I'm not sure what the problem is but I'd reset the Netcomm CG3000v2 and use a new ssid and see if the problem persists.
If you haven't changed the router's username and password, which is typically something like "admin" and "password", anybody could access your SSID and WiFi password if they have your IP address. Note the difference between the WiFi password (originally supplied to you by Optus) and the router password which is the default password for the hardware.
How can they access my router if they can't actually get into my network?
I have an app for my Android phone called Wifi Analyzer which will display all networks in range and thier and channel, including all the neighbours. I use this to pick the least cluttered channel for my wifi. It might help you with choosing a new channel.
Remove all your electronics from your apartment. EMP. Return all your electronics to your apartment and enjoy internet.
Get a stronger network that overpowers theirs. Gotta fight fire with fire!
Gotta fight wifi with wifi
Download inssider, will show you all the wifi channels around you, as to what's within range, and the power of them. Give you an idea of what is affecting you :)
I'll do this
Anyone have a clue as to what the other devices on my network could have been. One was a Galaxy S6 called Shamu, I googled it, and other people have reported the same thing. Could it have been a glitch in Windows which I noticed coincidentally? ( i was in boot camp when I noticed it)
The CG3000v2 has probably developed faults. Ring Optus and report the WiFi problems (don't mention your theory about the neighbours routers, that is mere speculation).
If the CG3000v2 is faulty, they should replace it with a new cable gateway at no cost to you (they may try to charge you for the replacement, but stand your ground). They will probably run some line checks and get you to run isolation tests to confirm the problem isn't elsewhere.
Move house, problem solved…
Without knowing the specifics of the hardware, the few things you can try is
1) change frequency 2.4ghz vs 5ghz,
2) change to the end channels (i.e. 1,2 or 13,14),
3) change SSID,
4) change location of router.
5) re-secure your network by changing the password and using MAC filtering (unwanted devices on your list is a tell tale sign that it has been compromised)
6) it could be something interfering with WIFI like placing the device near washing machine, tvs, speakers, etc.
It is highly unlikely another wifi will knock off your wifi unless both are using the same channels…another possible explanation is that some of your devices may have an IP conflict. It happens if the devices have similar names like, Iphone or Ipad, etc.