Have you ever had a seemingly strong wifi signal, yet had a slow interrupted connection?
If you can see other wifi networks on your network list, the problem could be that these networks are causing interference on your network.
Interference from a neighbor’s wifi signal can have a real negative effect on how well your wifi network works. However, there are various things you can do to reduce the effect these wifi signals have on your network.
Why Would My Neighbor’s Wireless Signal Affect Me?
If you are experiencing problems with your wifi it could be down to interference from other networks in your area.
If the networks surrounding yours use the same frequency and overlapping channels, it could be causing your wifi to drop packets of data which can slow down your overall experience.
This is especially likely if you live in an apartment block with lots of different competing signals, or if the signal from your neighbor is particularly strong.
As well as other wifi networks, it should be noted that there are plenty of different things that can cause interference on your network. There is also the chance that physical objects are causing interference on your network so you should check this before moving onto the following solutions.
How To Stop Wi-FI Interference From Your Neighbors
Move Your Router
Perhaps the simplest thing to do would be to move your router. If your router is close to your neighbors, physically moving it away from his wifi signal will stop some of the congestion. This will likely be especially effective if you don’t use wifi that much in the area where your router was originally located.
If however, you need to use wifi in a congested area, then perhaps some of the following steps will be more helpful.
Use The 5GHz Frequency
If you have a dual-band router with the option to use the 5GHz wifi frequency, then setting this up could seriously reduce the amount of congestion you experience. This is for three reasons.
Firstly, 2.4GHz is the most common wifi frequency. As such, if you use this frequency you are more likely to experience congestion from other networks also using this frequency (not to mention interference from devices like cordless phones, Bluetooth speakers, etc.)
Secondly, the 5GHz network doesn’t have as long a range as the 2.4GHz network. While it is generally faster, the fact that it doesn’t have as long a range means that even if your neighbor is using a 5GHz network, it isn’t as likely to reach your network and cause you problems.
Finally, the 5GHz network has many more channel options than the 2.4GHz network. We’ll explore this in more detail below, but basically what it means is that even if your neighbor’s 5GHz network manages to reach you, you will be able to change the channel it uses to one that shouldn’t be affected by any interfering networks.
Change The Channels You Use
If you are experiencing interference from your neighbor’s wifi network it could be because you are both using the same wifi channel. This is especially likely to be the case if you are using the 2.4GHz frequency.
Basically, the 2.4GHz frequency has 14 channels. These channels all overlap with the ones they are next to, so most routers are set to automatically pick channels 1, 6, and 11 to broadcast on as these channels are the only ones that don’t overlap.
However, because of this, you may experience interference from other networks that also use these three default channels.
If you want to change the channels you use to see if this reduces interference, first, you should analyze the wifi signals in your area. After that you can choose the channels that have the least interference. Luckily, there are loads of programs that will do all the hard work for you.
Speak To Your Neighbor!
If the above steps haven’t really helped, it could always be worth speaking to your neighbor about the problem. After all, if their network is causing you problems, then yours could be doing the same to them.
If you can both agree to set up your routers at opposite ends of the house, you may find that both you and your neighbor will enjoy a congestion free wifi connection.
Some people say that we don't talk to each other as much as we used to. Neighbors remain strangers, when perhaps in the past, would have become eventual friends. Maybe wifi can bring us all closer together! Whoever would have thought technology would actually get us to talk and integrate more?! (well, we can only hope!).
Ok, we have digressed enough...back on topic!
Use Ethernet
If you are still struggling with congestion even after following all these tips, then perhaps your best bet could be to simply use Ethernet cables in the really bad areas.
Ethernet cables are immune to signals from your neighbors wifi and in fact, even without interference from neighbors you will likely end up with a much better connection by using Ethernet.
What You Definitely Should Not Do: Jamming
Jamming is the act of blocking a wifi signal by sending out disrupting signals of your own. While no doubt effective, it is highly illegal in many countries and will likely result in a fine or more.
Also, it is unlikely that your jamming will last for long before you have an angry neighbor on your doorstep wondering what is going on with their wifi signal!
A better idea is to stick to the solutions above.
Hopefully, after trying out some of these tips you will be able to solve any problems you may have had from wifi networks in your area. If you have any further questions, please ask in the comments section below!
My neighbour is Transmitting sound into my wall cavities.late at night .
I think he has speakers inside flower pots somehow connected to a transmission device into my wall space .
I believe he has a jamming or blocking device to stop me recording the audio waves .
Can anyone explain what is really happening .
You’re crazy.
Are you sure that he’s not just playing the stereo too loudly and it’s reflecting off of your flower pots?
I’ve been dealing with the same thi g my apartment neighbour is playing some kinds of sound into walls
I believe you. I’m going through similar cap from my electrician neighbor. Every metal piece exposed is of the charts from radiation exposure. My hearing affected. He’s got speakers in his concrete border wall and garage. Using his 6 routers and sending wifi from his ORBI FAMILY AND ARLO CAMERAS to illegally and silently harass me for calling cops on illegal fireworks last year.
I have a Arlo camera system and my neighbors have successfully been able to break into my house without detection even though the cameras have alerted me that there is movement and been able to move around my house without being recorded on these cameras now they have been able to steal things and leave and take things without detection even though the camera still sends his movement so somehow they are jamming the Wi-Fi signal I would like to know how to fix this problem fix this problem.
He is jamming your network. My neighbor has jammed mine, so I am well aware that this, although ILLEGAL, happens all the time. My charming neighbor has stolen from me, too. The best solution is to move.
I am experiencing almost the exact same problem but I am still trying to figure it out. Every time I turn my stereo on he hollers through the speaker to turn it down or off and it really is on very low volume. His house is at least 200 feet away from mine and there is no way he could hear anything at that distance with my windows closed. This is not the only thing he has been doing though. This has been going on for months and I am at my wits end with this. The sheriff is not much help either.
Time to get equipment to debug your house or hire it done. You will need to get an RF detector in the high range (around $1,000.00) or find a business that debuggs houses. But as a start try using a plain radio to listen to and turn it up on high leaving the one he is talking through OFF. If you still hear him then what is likely happening is that he does not want the radio on because his listening device is unable to pick up your conversations clearly when the volume is UP. In the meantime turn the volume up and ignore his complaints. Be sure the volume is up if you are trying to get someone to come in to find his bugsl. Bugs are small listening devices that are used for eavesdropping on conversations or listening in.
Why not put him in jail?
tom hanks lives in a mansion with no neighbours
Vhxhfz
I’m guessing you need to find a new meth dealwe cause your guy goT you some bunk sh*t.
Yeah – you are being rogered late at night; this sets up ripples in your cavity which are extra strong because you are full of sh1t. Sometimes, you can think it’s a massive cavity near to you but it’s just yours coming of age.
Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!
i too experienced this.. i have no ” forget this network” option on my iphone n feel its been hacked.. im not able to block network list or make my neighbor”s” stop using the same channel. Do somebody have a solution for this.
I also have a neighbor that has been molesting my inner wall cavities…when it gets really bad ,I have to cut an access hole in my wall on either side or above or below an electrical outlet using a Samurai Sword,then I have my highly trained pet Moggwai (and yes,his 7th cousin is Gizmo) go in and repair any signs of molestation in the cavity…it’s a very complex procedure……..
Haha, there’s a comment never before seen on a site, and no doubt will never be seen again!
I’m going to experiment with metallic interior and exterior paints for my house…
Okaaaayyyyyyyyy 🙂
a mirror will reflect the signal back to the neighbor…
A hat made from aluminum foil usually works.
Its different Sounds very strong, coming from the neighbors, that unable me to sleep, concentrate, I used foil on the wall but it seems that from various parts of the neighborhood, it made me feel sick, I started rapping my head with foil which lessons it but still it’s their, I called my landlord but can’t do any thing about it,
people this is signal intelligence being used to make us all sick and die. I’m suffering from the same thing – neighbor has two dishes put in and now i’m having horrible headaches. Just wait for 5g to come out, we’ll all be dead.
You are a fucking idiot if you truly believe this. People like you should have died off long ago, but no we keep putting warning labels on shit for morons likes you to survive and bog down society.
I really can’t say I disagree. 2 v6 boxes and double routers next door…humming all night long causing sleep deprivation…they don’t hear s thing!!?!!
my neighbor has hacked my wifi password so many times! I am on my 3rd router in 1 year My Apple ID has also been hacked! Neither Verizon or apple will take any blame.anyone else with this situation! Already talk to neighbor what a sh-t show
Where is the info on “How To Block (or Stop) Neighbor’s Wi-Fi Signal Legally”?
Funny, that part is missing. This site also did not provide a way to know if your neighbor is using the same wifi channel as your router.
Depending on spares you may have around, it may cost a little money.
How to do it, you will need:
1) a spare wifi router. most people upgrade their routers so you may have an old router laying around.
2) software that scans/identify wifi signal like a spectrum analyzer (expensive hardware) or Wifi Explorer app (much cheaper but only MacOS).
Using WifiExplorer, you can find out your neighbors wifi channel number and set that channel on your spare router and name it identical to your neighbors wifi SSID name. Make sure you’re using opposite channel on your main router, for example, if your neighbor is using channel 1 in the 2.4GHz band, use channel 11 on your main router then set your spare router to channel 1 the same as your neighbors. Make sure you place that spare router real close to your neighbor without showing. That would effectively drive your neighbor bat crazy ?
Like the article says, you should use 5Ghz but doesn’t tell you how to manually do this as most routers broadcasts both 2.4 and 5Ghz under the same SSID. You need to manually set it and add “5Ghz” to the SSID (network name) so you know which to connect, ie main network SSID is named “mywifi”, the 5Ghz should be named “my5Ghzwifi”. Here’s a link on how to set this on Apple’s AirportExtreme BaseStation router: https://www.podfeet.com/blog/tutorials-5/how-to-separate-or-combine-2-4ghz-and-5ghz-bands-with-airport-utility/
How do you know it’s your neighbor? Hell anyone sitting in their car could of hacked your wifi, but then again maybe an idiot like you should have made a hard password that couldn’t be bruteforced, 3 times you said? Of course it’s a shit show talking to your neighbor numbnuts, you are accusing someone of something you have zero proof of. Jesus christ some of you are fucking idiots.
I found my neighbor’s fire stick on my wireless wifi today. Got his name right there. ?????
check and make sure you’re not logged in to your neighbors wifi. People sometimes forget that they may have asked neighbors to share their wifi during service disruption.
And the same with people posting here claiming someone have hacked into their devices. It makes it easy if they know your wifi password or have been given access to your wifi network. Once they have access to your network, they can then try to gain access to your connected devices ie computers, ipcams, AppleTV, FireStick, etc.
The simple solution to this is DON’T SHARE YOUR WIFI WITH ANYONE.
IF you are sharing your WIFI, there are ways to protect yourself but you need to properly set up your router:
1. Change your wifi access password. Change your router set up password. If you forgot the passwords you should manually reset your router. Behind or at the bottom, there is a small button usually labeled reset. Before resetting, you must get your router manual or google what the default set up password and IP used for your particular router model/brand, otherwise you’ll be stuck not knowing the password/IP and you will not be able to connect to the internet. The usual word used in most brands is “admin” for user and password while IP usually is 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 (Apple uses 10.0.1.1 I think). Press and hold for 10 seconds or longer. One warning, don’t leave your router at this default status for a long period of time, someone can easily login in to your network and make their own settings.
2. You should use a different router set up password than the one you use for the wifi access password. The reason for this is, it’s easy to reveal or find out someone’s wifi access password since this is always used by you or members of your household like small kids. Once you give someone the set up password it’s a big security breach, they can lock you out and even monitor your devices use and web activity. #1 is the only solution once this happens, which is to reset your router to default. So separate password to access the router settings prevents this from happening.
3. Only share guest wifi. Most routers can do this by creating a separate dedicated wifi that you can give to your guests. Just remember not to use this guest wifi for your personal devices otherwise you defeat the purpose. Also use a different password or don’t set a password for this guest wifi.
Theres more but this should help in the mean time.
John Robinson the swine running the West Yorkshire police they are hackers, as well as the NHS Yorkshire ambulance the region is so bad the actual ambulance staff waste their service intercepting peoples computers than speeding around in their vans blaring sirens instead of saving lifes, the neighbours have been reported 15 times
I feel so sick with my neighbour causing cavity wall noise through wifi does anyone know how to stop it can’t sleep children very sick headache neighbour does not care
Wifi doesn’t cause noise you fucking retard. Your kids are sick because you probably don’t fucking take care of them right, especially if you think Wifi causes headaches and kills people. Mongoloid Retard Fuck.
i live in a apartment building and my apartment wifi interference picks up a women yelling and screaming like a crazy person at someone and saying go home all day and other non sense it sounds exactly like my upstair apartment building dewelers voice but when i confront her she says she never said it as if she lied and it says some swear words whispers mostly but dose and it mostly happens when wifi is on and or if the wifi signals is strong it stops completely when wired internet is used it also has something to do with the way the potts filter by telus is wired its really weird and creepy and shocking and inappropriate its like listening to road ragers honking there horns all day or police sirens going by thats a comparable equivalent of how annoying it is. .
sometimes i would type something in my computer and a voice in my apartment would just repeat what i typed like a narrator its more so with a ac2900 router or ac1700 but less frequent but still mildly present with a ac750 router you should make sure u have auto Chanel scan not set to one channel although Chanel 1 6 and 11 are good for interference it still presents at it better to get something less powerful and auto chanel scan or i pick up my upstairs lady screaming and yelling at someone verbal abuse physiologic torture .
my apartment so called wifi interference at points dose make police siren noises honking noises but mostly on the roof from above artificial banging jumping stomping noises like loud bangs and people kids talking offensively i have hardwood floor not carpet it sounds kinda mimicy and like its spying on me sounds crazy im in a concrete building with 10 units on 7 floors so its quite bad common sense says no wifi in a place like this only wired internet unfortunately .
Hi Michael,
This reply is coming to you in 3/21, though I just run across your problem. I hope by now it’s resolved. We have a similar problem though it’s a residential house and when the neighbor runs “stuff”, talks, we hear it in our house. An acoustical engineer was what I’m thinking might be needed to determine the source of the noise. Also, look up your noise ordinance in your area. There are laws for disturbing someone’s “peaceful existence” rights. My situation may be slightly different but it causes us noise/vibration and a strong energized feeling when it happens to us. No one seems to figure out the trouble, but I hope your trouble has resolved or you are on the way to resolving it. Good luck and let me know your status.
iv had wifi interference like if it hears anything in the room it just repeats it like a parrot bird.
you might be able to get rid of ur wifi interference by switching ur phone service to a magic jack line and using cable internet and not a land line or dsl and using a amplifier cable splitter by cable master or rocket fish and a dlink ac750 router on low strength and placing it close to where you use wifi that would work alot but maybe not completely you can probably watch netflix on 3 computers at once your potts filter ur phone wiring might be wired pre existent of wifi so it picks weird sounds cuz it need to be rewired ur phone line that might get rid of most of the noise but not all.
florescent tube lights might wifi interfere when on .
such taboo stigma !
cool sounds like the Sci-Fi movies!
sounds like paranormal activity call ghost busters could be haunted or better yet stop using wireless internet in a apartment its not meant to be used in places like apartments i think the article explains why.
Go see a mystic eye psychic fortune teller to read you your future over a tarot card game and ask to see your future ahead of time in a crystal ball.
Is this like when airplanes say no cell phones on plane because they interfere with airplane equipment or like when hospitals say no cell phones allowed and its also because the cell phones interfere with hospital equipment making them work improperly by malfunctioning in both these cases.
Phones interfere with Airplane Instruments very seldomly and it’s so minimal that you’d have to be a complete retard of a pilot to not notice what it was. Hell the majority of the time everything is autopiloted anyway. I always still use my phone, I just tell them its in airplane mode when it’s not because I know for a fact it does not matter.
2.4ghz interferes with practically anything best to disable it and use wifi 5ghz or wait for the wifi 6 to come out soon if that is u favor wifi.
so wait is this wifi interference problem as bad as it sounds if so why is it not on the news and dose this problem happen in apartments homes or town houses or all three and if there is a wifi problem what are the various symptoms and can a expert tell us of a great way to fix this problem .
Upgrade to a Modem/Router that gives you a strong 5ghz signal, anything with a 2.5ghz can be messed with. Even your Microwave if the shielding is even slightly faulty releasing the same waves can cause your Wifi to drop. 2.5ghz Wifi is the AOL Dial-Up Era of Wifi, get rid of it as soon as you can upgrade. You will thank yourself later.
My neighbor has the router, but is supposed to be for everyone,
I love how the comments went from 0 to crazy in less then a second