Wireless frequency question

[clidx]

I have a 2.4ghz wireless router for another pc, which is almost always in use. if i buy 2.4ghz wireless headphones, 2.4ghz mouse etc will there be any problems? i remember back in the days of the remote controlled cars that having the same frequency cars on at the same time would cause interference, if you chose to go right on 1 remote, the car you're trying to move right, might not move right but any other car (in range of the remote) of the same frequency might... i've found mixed experiences with wireless devices of the same frequency on google..

Thanks.

Edited October 24, 2007 by clidx

[Zxian]

You might run into some interference problems, depending on the device, and what you're doing with it. I know that with my G7 mouse, the pointer would sometimes be slightly unresponsive or slow when I was doing lots of wireless data transfer. I've never had any troubles with cordless phones, but I know of others who have.

The 2.4GHz band that these devices are given is actually a range of frequencies. With most wireless routers, you can select the channel (i.e. the frequency) that the device works on to minimize wireless interference.

[nmX.Memnoch]

There can be some interference but, as Zxian said, often times you can change the channel on wireless routers. There are usually around 10 or 11 different channel selections. I did have the occassional problem with my wireless phone, but I solved that by moving to a 5.8GHz phone...no more interference.

Bluetooth also runs on 2.4GHz. If I'm not mistaken, non-Bluetooth wireless keyboards/mice also use 2.4GHz, but their range is shorter so they wouldn't have an effect on the entire network, just on the devices closest to them.

Again, it's all trial and error. 802.11a (which is 54Mb/s and uses 5.8GHz) was supposed to fix a lot those problems...but it was expensive to implement and had several problems (range and throughput) so it never caught on. All in all, most 2.4GHz wireless networks (802.11b, 802.11g and the upcoming 802.11n) will work with other 2.4GHz devices in the area, you just have to find the right mixture of channels so they don't interfere with each other.

Also, those cars you were talking about working in the lower MHz range and there were only two standard channels available (27MHz and 50something if I recall correctly). Wireless networks operate in a much higher range of frequencies, not just a single frequency.

[clidx]

so if i also buy a hi gain antenna and point it away from the head phone receiver, and change the channel on my router if there's interference, it should be fine? the receiver and transmitter will be at a 90 degree angle to the hi gain antenna on the router and they'll be about 1m apart.

and thanks for the info about the RC cars, hard to believe that manufacturers would know about interference and still only market cars with a small frequency band.

Edited October 25, 2007 by clidx

[Zxian]

As long as you change the channel on your router, you should be able to avoid problems.

[clidx]

Ok, thanks for the info zxian