WiFi 5 GHz weak signal at lower unused channels

Question

I've got an ASUS RT-N66U running Tomato (Shibby) with three 9 dBi antennas. My adapters on three systems are ASUS USB-N53's. I have my router on 161 @ 40 MHz.

Some new neighbors moved in on opposite sides of my home and I now have competition in the 5 GHz arena. One is using the auto setting on their Belkin router and it frequently flips between 161 and 157 @ 40 MHz. The Netgear the other has is using 149 @ 40 MHz.

My file transfer speeds have dropped by about 50% since they moved in but my SNR is still excellent throughout my home.

No one in the immediate area is on channels 40 or 48 so I tried those. Transfer speeds between systems in my Network have gone up to about 70-75% of what I had before but my SNR is half that when I'm on 161.

Before I go down the street of making strainer antennas I'd appreciate any suggestions to increase the SNR when on these two channels (40 and 48). Thanks!

Answer 1

I seem to recall that the FCC doesn't allow as great of a maximum transmit power in the low band (36-48) as in the upper band (149-161), so this might be expected behavior.

Answer 2

a better choice of antennae may help you - - can you arrange your router for either 180 degree or more narrow directionals? if so, you can physically overcome much of the encroachment by simply tuning your system to a better transmission window...