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I just read an article in my Macworld magazine about interference with the signal from my Apple Air Port Extreme.  I wasn't so much worried about interference with my wi fi signal, but got to thinking if the reverse might be a problem.  

 

I have always been disappointed with the range of my Cab 2 controller.  Any number of people in the train room and I loose the signal, and even when by myself operating normally, I get frequent flashings of the signal lost red light.  So, I was wondering, since both my wi fi and the Cab 2 operate at 2.4ghz, could the wi fi signal be interfering with my Cab 2 signal?

 

BTW, I never have signal loss issues with my good old Cab 1.

 

Any thoughts?   

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Short answer - Yes, however the 3 I have in my house do not seem to affect it

 

The Airport and the Legacy base all operate on the same (crowded) frequency. The CAB-1 used a frequency that can no longer be used by consumer devices

 

The simple thing to try is to change the channel that the Legacy Base uses, there are 9 to choose from. The mid-ranges seem to be the best. The owners manual covers how to do it

 

RF is at a specific frequency.  WiFi has 11 channels in the US to pick from, and the Legacy has 9 channels.  Also, WiFi channels can spread to multiple channel slots, depending on the modes you select in your wireless router.

 

Changing the channel is a worthwhile test, try several until you find the best one.

 

I've found that adding a hi-gain antenna on the base helps the range as well.

 

Peter, I've had the exact same issue, and as Gunrunnerjohn said, a hi-gain antenna will definitely help, and in my case switching to channel 2 helped also. There are still signal lapses but not like before. However, I find myself as often as not using the Cab-1 instead of the Cab-2 when I'm not near the cutoff switch because, like you, my Cab-1 never has a signal loss issue.  Rich

Thanks again fellows.  Long time ago, I added a Hawkings antenna and mounted it near the ceiling where it can have a line of sight from my CAB 2 and so it can see around the corner of my L shaped room.  

 

The article I read said you could switch the Air Port to a 5ghz frequency, so I will try experimenting with that to see if there is any benefit.

Originally Posted by PeterA:

The article I read said you could switch the Air Port to a 5ghz frequency, so I will try experimenting with that to see if there is any benefit.

That only works if your connected devices support 5ghz, which many don't.  Of the about dozen devices I have, only 2 support 5ghz.  And half of the dozen are what I would call modern devices.

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