We have a single modem for our Phone, TV & internet. Every time the phone is used I loose the internet signal. Only using Linux,(Ubuntu 10 )there is no problem with my Windows computer ???
Any ideas.
Thanks

Need more information on your hardware and how it connects to the modem.
Is the phone hardwired or cordless?
If cordless is it a 2.4 GHz phone?

Sorry, it's is a wireless connection, with a Linksys router. It is a cordless GE 5.8 gig phone, this happens with both Ubuntu and PC Linux but never Windows. I have also tried switching routers with no luck.

If your windows computer is also wireless how far is from the router with respect to the other PCs.
If your wireless router also uses 5.8GHz then it could be an interference issue. Cordless phones typically have higher output levels and will "overpower" wifi signals.

Both computers sit side by side,approx 40 feet from the router. I can reboot both from Windows to Linux with the same results. When the Linux system drops the signal & can "plug" the computer into the router and it connects via cable.
If either computer is running Windows it is not effected.

Do both PC's use the exact same wireless NIC to talk with the router, or do you have two different make/model of wireless NIC in each PC?
If they are different, try swapping NIC's if possible- put the Linux NIC into the Windows machine and see if Windows is now affected by this problem. And vice versa if possible: put the Windows wireless NIC into the Linux machine and try again.

Sounds like interference (maybe that's obvious? ). I recently learned that apparently many cordless phones, even the 2-5GHz models, still use 900MHz between the handset & base (yes, this seems retarded, but apparently they use different frequencies for base->handset vs handset->base signals) and this caused a problem here at my home because we have 900MHz wireless internet from our ISP. We had to buy a new cordless phone so the internet wouldn't die when the phone was in use.

I don't know off-hand what frequency ranges are used for the various types of wireless e.g. A, B, N, G, whatever, but to rule out interference of this type, try changing your connection to the router, from wireless N to B, or to G or something else, and see if the problem goes away.

If all else fails, try some different cordless phones - if you have to buy them, keep the receipt to you can return them if they don't solve the problem.

Good luck!

GrapefruT Girl - Thanks, These are laptop computers, Toshiba Satellite and Samsung nc10. The interference only effects the computers when they are booted to Linux, never with Windows - indicating to me (I've been wrong before)that the problem is a Linux system issue rather than hardware ??

On that specific subject, what I was kinda thinking was this:

Let's say you have wireless NIC's that are cabable of 80211-B/G/N, and maybe on Windows, the driver in use is capable of using all three of those (B,G or N) but on Linux, maybe the driver only is capable of using B and G. My theory would be that using N (on Windows) avoids the interference problem, but on Linux, using B or G, interference presents itself?

That would make it a Linux problem, yes, (specifically, a driver issue), rather than an actual hardware problem.

Just a theory. And for the record, without going right now and doing some research, I don't know what the difference is between B, G and N.

Thanks again Celine, your theory sounds reasonable, I am using an "N" router, is there some way of updating the Linux driver, I also forgot to mention that this also happens if we are not home and the phone receives a call, so "using" the phone is not part of the equation.

I'm a little confused.. Please explain more thoroughly how you are affected by this problem, and/or how you know the problem happens when you are not at home, if you are not at home?

Do you have wirelessly provided internet to your house? Like, instead of cable or dial-up, do you have an antenna and modem on your roof, and you get a wireless internet from your ISP?

If so, then depending on your particular equipment that your ISP uses, you can still be suffering from the same problem as I had - my cordless phone interfered with the signal that my ISP was sending to our roof antenna/modem. And I don't know for certain, but I suspect that a cordless phone does not actually need to be "in use" to cause this problem.

Well, aside from please clarifying the first question I asked above (about when you're not home), the thing to do here, would be to temporarily get rid of the cordless phone and replace it with a corded model. If the problem goes away, there's your answer: interference.

EDIT: And, as for updating the Linux driver: this depends on exactly what type of wireless NIC you have in your machine, and by extension, where the driver comes from. If you're using a driver from a manufacturer, such as Broadcom for example, then you'd need to use the newest driver they supply, and hope for the best. Otherwise, wireless drivers are in the Linux kernel, and may include other components which are either part of the kernel package or part of a separate firmware or tools package supplied by your distro. In short: have the newest driver from the supplier, or the newest kernel & wireless tools & firmware package(s) provided by your distro.

Hi Celine, If we have been away and come home to find the linux computers dropped the wireless, again the windows computer is not effected.All we have to do is check the answering machine or check the recorded calls on the phone. We get our wireless through a cable to the modem, not an antenna on the roof. I'm using the latest download of Ubuntu. Maybe I"ll have to stick with Windows.

I'd like to see exactly what wireless signal is being used (B, G, N, something else...) when you're using the Ubuntu machine(s), compared to using the Windows machine. Like, if the network configurator tools on either OS (or something like the Windows Control Panel somewhere?) can tell you the configuration (signal strength, frequency, etc.) being used for communication between the router and the PC, or perhaps logging into the router, the router will have some kind of status page which shows what exact wireless signal/frequency is in use.

The issue still comes back to the same thing in my opinion: interference.
And I still think it's the B,G,N thing.

And as for the thing about it still happens when you're not home - that makes sense too I suppose. The phone rings when you aren't home, so the phone generates the interference.

So, there's only so much that can be done, knowing what we know about the problem:

-- replace the cordless phone (temporarily for testing, or permanently)
-- update the Linux driver if there's an update that will help the situation (though as yet we don't know precisely what the situation is that we're trying to help with, so what would we be looking for in a newer driver? I guess a different one of N, B, or G wireless signal, and the Linux driver might not support all of them.)
-- try a different wireless NIC with better driver support (maybe one that supports N if N alleviates the trouble).
-- Use Windows.

I'm sorry but I have no other idea at this time. You either have to experiment some more, to determine conclusively that interference from the phone, is affecting the wireless, and which wireless (B,G,N) -- OR, if you aren't inclined to do that, or don't have time or energy for it, use Windows -- OR, ignore the problem, and re-connect the wireless when it gets disconnected.

Best regards.

EDIT - For the record, if you look closely at any/all of the devices in question, including the PC's themselves, the wireless NIC's, the modem, the router, the telephone, etc., you will find on every one of them (or in the manual) a label from the FCC or similar body in your country, which basically explains that the device may cause interference, or be affected by interference, and it's just the way it is. Not always or even frequently do we get a situation like yours, but unfortunately, it looks like you are one of the folks who is having the detrimental effects of interference. Some devices just don't work well around others.

P.P.S - I just had a look at my own wireless router here; it's a "Wireless G router" and operates at 2.4 GHz, give or take a few Hz. I would expect that if I also had a 2.4 GHz cordless phone, the possibility of interference would be significantly higher - but my cordless phone is 5.8 GHz. Perhaps have a close look at your phone, router, and NIC's (and the configurators or control panel etc., in your computers) and compare frequencies. If you've got more than one appliance operating on the same freq, you've got potential for trouble.

Hi,

The OP could change the channel for the wireless router & wireless adapter for the machines. This may just be a over lap of the signal from the phone system. Should not be, but possible if one or the other is not within specs for signal alignments.

I would like to know some equipment specifics: Wireless Router manufacture & model, Wireless Adapter(s) manufacture & model, driver in use for both M$ & Linux and Phone manufacture & model.

Some settings/output for the adapters: 'ifconfig -a', 'iwconfig' & 'iwlist wlan0 scan'

Why don't you just temporarily get rid of the cordless phone and see what happens?

Ok, nothing too technical yet but I rebooted in Ubuntu - unplugged the cordless phone, called the house with my cell phone & Ubuntu disconnected/dropped the wireless signal..............the Windows laptop sitting 3 feet away still running, so I don't see the phone as part of the issue.
The wireless router is a Linksys WRT310N V 1.00.4
The cable Modem is a RCA Mod DHG535 ........
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