I think my modem/router kinda got fried in a power surge

120_Minutes

While at work yesterday i got a call from my wife saying that we had no power in the kitchen and a tripswitch in the fusebox had been tripped. by process of elimination we discovered that its our immersion and the element has burned out. but during this process she had to trip the board a few times.

when i got home i discovered my BT voyager 2110 which i've had for years since ive been with BT (now with vodafone) had been completely reset, my custom SSID and WPA back to defaults. i tried my best to cinfigure it again to the way i had it, working from memory, but it had been a long time (correct wireless channel etc). it works fine downstairs but the signal drops as soon as i start walking upstairs....which is strange as its always worked upstairs before.

i'm pretty sure i've it back to the way i had it. but the above problem still exists.

has anyone any ideas? what could be causing this? i have noticed a couple of new wifis from the neighbours popping up, could there be interferance?

Maybe try do a survey on what wi-fi signals are transmitting in your vicinity.

You can use the following tools;

inSSIDer is available on windows or linux.

AirRadar2 for Mac OSX.

These will scan and display information such as channel allocation of WLAN networks nearby, you can then allocate the most appropriate channel for your WLAN setup within your router.

If it continues, and as you suspect if there was a surge which affected the routers functionality, I would then give customer care a call with your ISP who could perform tests on their side.

120_Minutes

Thanks, while walking round the house last night with my ipad, i did use an app similar to the programs you mentioned. it rated the best wifi chanell to use (6) even though if memory serves, i had used 11. i switched and it made no difference. it also showed wifi signal strengh as a numerical value, and upstairs was between -70 and -80.

there seems to be no problem with the connection to the ISP (granted i didnt investigate that too much) so i'm not sure what a call to the ISP will achieve in this situation.

westom

120_Minutes wrote: »

it also showed wifi signal strengh as a numerical value, and upstairs was between -70 and -80.

A signal of -70 or -80 dBs is too low. You have a tool superior to 'five bar' displays. From it, you can learn about radio wave propagation, antenna orientation, and antenna position. Strongest signals are in a direction perpendicular to the antenna. Reorient voyager's antenna as necessary.

Also learn about what masks signals. For example, while upstairs, look (with X-ray vision) at the Wifi signal source. You can see right through wood. Metal ducts will block your 'vision'. Some stone and masonry will also block that 'vision'. Others will not. To have a strong signal is equivalent to what Superman's X-ray vision might see. Certain materials are transparent to your X-ray vision and to Wifi signals. Others are signal blockers (or reflectors).

Position the voyager to not be blocked. Orient the voyager's antenna to be as perpendicular as possible to all Wifi receivers. Measurements in dBs make learning about these concepts easy.

Your signal strength problems may likely be due to movement of the voyager - not due to the power outage.

Second, data erasure implies a dying battery or a transient current passed through the voyager. A solution to that second problem is complex since the entire building is relevant to why that current existed. It is possible but unlikely that voyager used a battery to store that data. In which case the battery is dying. If not a battery, then a current into the voyager on one conductor and out via a different conductor would explain a non-volatile memory reset.

120_Minutes

Interesting response, and i'll adress some of your points.

the voyager is in the same spot its always been in, it hasnt been moved.

the master bedroom is exactly above the living room, so if i'm lying in bed using my ipad, i am almost exactly on top of the voyager with only a floor/ceiling seperation. this is where i was getting the -70 to 80 when i go onto the landing the signal improves

I'm renting, so i have no idea what the building is made of.

here is the layout of the flat [doc brown]please excuse the crudeness of the drawing, its not to scale[/doc brown]

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/downstairs.png

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/714/upstairs.png

westom

120_Minutes wrote: »

the voyager is in the same spot its always been in, it hasnt been moved.

Your post implies the change was inside the voyager. Well, that should become obvious with numbers from your signal strength meter. As you approach the voyager with that meter, then signal should approach (maybe exceed) -60 dBs. And then test both at the ceiling where the signal would have to enter the master bedroom. And at the floor (under the bed) where a signal might rise through the floor. IOW, use each number to determine if the voyager is outputting a proper signal and to learn what / where is eating that signal.

120_Minutes

westom wrote: »

Your post implies the change was inside the voyager. Well, that should become obvious with numbers from your signal strength meter. As you approach the voyager with that meter, then signal should approach (maybe exceed) -60 dBs. And then test both at the ceiling where the signal would have to enter the master bedroom. And at the floor (under the bed) where a signal might rise through the floor. IOW, use each number to determine if the voyager is outputting a proper signal and to learn what / where is eating that signal.

An improvement tonight, it kinda works in the bedroom!

-30 at the router
-45 at the ceiling above router (between 4 and 6ft above it)
-57 at floor level in bedroom above router
-70 in bedroom far corner
-71 at top of landing
-80 in second bedroom
-68 in downstairs hallway
-58 in kitchen
-44 in living room

As I was typing this sitting on the bed the iPad dropped wifi, so it's still not solved.

westom

120_Minutes wrote: »

An improvement tonight, it kinda works in the bedroom!

If I read that right, the router is oriented for maximum power across the living room and minimal power towards the ceiling. Again, the antenna outputs near zero power in the direction it is pointed. And maximum power in perpendicular directions.

Take measurements above, below, left, right, in front, and behind the router. You have a tool that makes possible learning this stuff.

If the ceiling / floor contains metal air ducts, then some parts of the bedroom floor may have an excellent signal. Others are masked. Then you may be learning what Superman can and cannot see with his X-ray vision.