External monitor downgrades signal strength

TuckerdogAVL

TuckerdogAVL

Registered
Okay, has anyone seen this? It fits into the "oh, you don't know this and it's a secret until you discover it because no one will tell you this until after the fact" category" if it is the case.

I purchased a Netgear Extender because my signal strength sucks in the back of the house.

However, in the attempt to find where there is no signal - which is what you have to do to set up the extender - I have discovered if I use the MacBookPro as a laptop in the room I have crappy signal strength in...it is 16m which is fine. Great.

If I connect to the ancient, 2002 $2000 Cinema Display, my signal strength drops from 5 bars to 2 and I have a connection of 1 -2 m. No really.

Sitting in the chair as a laptop 16.
Connected to the external monitor. 2. At best.
Spin spin spin.

So,
1) is this possible?
2) why is this not anything that is posted? "Old monitors can wreak havoc with getting online and your speed?"
3) Can this be possible?
4) Can I fix so I can get my $70 back?

I am going to move the newer 2007 monitor to the back room though it's quality is no where near as good as the 2002 $2000 Cinema Display. And will do a test.

And if it is the case, I'll let you know. Anyone out there that can share any info would be appreciated.

No. I haven't set up the NetGear Extender yet.
No. The cinema display works fine with the MacBook Pro.
Yes. The signal strength goes from 16 while sitting in the room staring at the blank Cinema display vs. 2 when hooked up.
Yes. I have been hooked up to the display in this room for 5 years.
yes. The signal strength has always been a problem.
Yes. There is no problem with the signal strength as a laptop in the same room.
 
It's very common for electrical interference to cause a loss of wireless signal.
There's some info here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1365
Look under Sources of Interference for "Certain external monitors and LCD displays:"
Certain displays may emit harmonic interference, especially in the 2.4GHz band between channels 11 and 14. This interference may be at its worst if you have a portable computer with the lid closed and an external monitor connected to it.
Click to expand...
The recommendation is to try changing your wireless router to a lower channel, or to 5 GHz band - if your router supports that, too.
 
Says, "Try changing your access point to use 5 Ghz or a lower 2.4 GHz channel."
and
"you may be able to reduce the effect of interference by changing to a different channel on your wireless network. Less-than-optimal performance may be characterized by low signal strength in the AirPort menu bar, slow connection to the Internet, or slow file transfers between wireless computers. Simply reset the AirPort base station and it will attempt to use the 2.4 and 5GHz channels with the least interference when it starts up.

I know how to do the airport thing. Don't it 1000s of times and attempts with all other kinds of problems. But, how would I make that change with a NETGear 300 Router?. What is the access point that is refererenced? I gave up with the Airport though it is still set up. I could easily change that to a different channel, and will check to see what it is set at now. If that works, I can simply sign on with the AirPort whenever on this computer.

Thanks for your help. If you have any idea as to how to work the netgear, I'd appreciate it
 
Connect to your Netgear router through your web browser. You can change the transmit channel on the configuration page where you would change the wireless security settings; for example, your wireless network password.
You can access your netgear by typing in 192.168.0.1 in your web browser.
user name is just admin, and password is password.
That should take you to the router configuration. Then, look for the channel setting. Set if for something low in number, maybe 1 to 5.

That info page that I linked for you can be interpreted for whatever you have.
If you only have the wireless router, then that can also be your access point (probably is!)
This may be a little simplistic, but a router is almost always an access point. An access point is not necessarily a router.
 
Here's what I did. I went ahead and set up the extender and I'm getting on at about 16 now (vs. 26 in the den next to the router and 2 before).

Curiously, though, when setting up the extender and it "searched my neighborhood for wifi" I discovered that my next door neighbor and I are both on channel 6, and probably both using netgear. So, I'm going to look over your info and see if changing my channel will matter without the extender. And, interestingly, I changed my airport base station this morning after I read the info on Apple, but it didn't take. Changed it three times. And assumed one of those took as the window afterward showed that I was on a new channel.

When I set up the extender, it was indicating I was still on channel 11.

Tech is great. When it works.

Thanks for your help. Could the fact that being on the same channel could also be affecting the signal?

In any event, by putting the extender up it at least has helped with the monitor interference. It is definitely the monitor. If I keep everything else as is, and sit with the laptop in the room, I'm on between 16-20. As soon as I hook up the monitor, I get five bars for about 10 seconds, than 3 or 2.

Now, I need to reconfigure the siilly wifi printer for the extended network. :-)
 
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