Bluetooth/internet Conflict

[ro2124]

Will there ever be a day 30 odd years after internet /computers were invented where you can actually switch something on or connect something  and it actually works without having to spend half your life trying to fix it.  Sure don't look like it. well recently decided to invest in some Bluetooth devices being tired of cables getting tangled up  all the time. so bought  some Bluetooth Philips headphones  with active noise reduction which are actually very good  and work without problems.  just one little flaw with that, soon as you turn them on the Internet  drops to such a low speed it is unusable. At first I blamed Windows which is usually the problem but it now happens on my Android phone too. . Looked it up on the internet and it seems many people are having the same problem.
apparently seems the problem is, internet and Bluetooth are on the same frequency which can cause conflict.
Christ , didn't it occur to someone who designed this crap that this could be a problem? unbelievable!

And also surprised there isn't that much known about this problem,  never seen any articles about it, if I had known it I would never have bought expensive Bluetooth stuff.
And nobody seems to know any way to fix it.  someone did mention trying to change channels on the router but I don't know to do this.  Router is supplied by the internet provider and has no makers name on it or anything.

[hc4361]

I currently have headphones, mouse and keyboard connected by bluetooth and it hasn't affected my speed at all.
I don't know what to suggest.

[Fitzer]

I suspect you mean it is interfering with the Wifi you use to connect to the internet, if so, there are a couple of options depending upon what router you have. If it is capable of both 2.4 & 5Ghz connections you should try connecting your computer to the 5Ghz network, in addition you should try selecting a different channel on the router to connect to, again, how you do this will depend upon your router. Two radio based devices are always going to stand a chance of interfering with each other, there is only so much spectrum to go around.

[ro2124]

yeah I re the channel change that's what I mentioned already but I cannot access the router was supplied by the internet provider ..and doesn't look particularly newish so I doubt if it will have 5 ghz either. guess the only thing to do is contact the provider and see if they can change it or do something about it.

[Buenchico]

Which ISP supplied the router?

[ro2124]

Well it's a bit complicated, as I am currently in Caribbean and using a local provider but the actually company is called Comcast which I believe is American. they Supply a service via Florida but at this end its bloody awful , expensive and extremely slow..a lousy 1.5 mbps for over 30 quid. which is probably why Net cuts off, I expect people to have the same conflict problem, but a fast internet connection may experience slower speed,but not a complete internet cut off

[Buenchico]

Connect your PC/laptop to your router with an Ethernet cable.

Type the following into your browser's address bar:
10.0.0.1
Press 'Enter'

With a bit of luck that will get you into the Admin Tool used by Xfinity (which is what Comcast now seem so trade as). If so, try entering the username as 'admin' and the password as 'password' (because they're Xfinity's default settings). Click 'Login'.

If you can get that far you should be able to find the option to change your router's channel somewhere.

If you can't get in by using 10.0.0.1 as the address, try the following in turn:
routerlogin.net
192.168.0.1
192.168.1.1
One of those should work (again with 'admin' and 'password' as the default username and password).

[Buenchico]

PS: If the above addresses don't work (or you simply want to know the correct one straight away, instead of using trial and error), do the following:

Click Start
Type 'cmd' into the box.
Above there (under Programs), click on 'cmd'
Type 'ipconfig'
Hit 'Enter'
Read the address next to 'Default gateway'.

[ro2124]

Well you certainly know your stuff, guess the Einstein of Answerbank so to speak.

[ro2124]

Tried the various options you suggested and eventually got into the router using 192.168.0.1. although the suggested username/ password did not work, eventually figured out it was a simple combination user/user and got into the Router. looked at the Wi-Fi and it was set at channel 6. well looks like it has 14 channels to choose from so tried to couple of others 1and 11 but unfortunately nothing was solved still the same problem. lot of channels not sure which one to use. apart from that look at some of the settings and came across Advanced Gateway options with some items enabled and disabled, but I didn't want to mess around with that because then I might screw up the whole Internet. and being pretty clueless might not even have anything to do with the problem. but just in case, brief rundown :

wan blocking - disabled
ipsec passthrough -enabled
PPTP passthrough -enabled
Multicast enable - disabled
UPnP enable- disabled

of course there are tons of other settings too so pretty much a nightmare for the uninitiated.

[Buenchico]

I'm beginning to get a nasty feeling that you'll need to replace your router with one which can use 5Ghz frequencies, rather than 2.4Ghz.

However a bit of googling suggests that, once you've got back into the router's settings, it might be worth trying a change of the security method. That will involve hunting around within the router's wifi settings but what you're looking for will currently be shown as either 'WPA' or WPA2'. Whichever one you find, try changing it to the other. (If you find that 'WEP' is currently shown, definitely change it to something else, as it's the least secure setting. Try 'WPA2', which is the most secure, first).

[hc4361]

Just a point, buenchico, will the laptop be able to connect to 5gh router? Some of my equipment can't.

[ro2124]

Well had a quick look at my mobile re wi fi settings, it seems the setting is WEP. so will try and change it to the other one later, although I have my doubts that will work either. I think I'm stuffed ..as for​ 5ghz which as you said may be the only solution ..mmh yeah..well this bunch in the Caribbean can hardly manage internet never mind 5 Ghz. stuck on a laughable speed of just over 1 mbps. if I wanted European type speed here would cost me about 200 pounds a month which is of course ridiculous. And of course as Hc said computer may not be able to handle 5ghz, especially considering its older netbook i am using temporarily .

[Buenchico]

Any computer can access a 5Ghz WiFi signal if you plug one of these into a USB port:
http://www.argos.co.uk/product/3389780

However, simply switching your security protocol from WEP to WPA or WPA2 might be all that's needed.

[Tuvok]

I would recommend connecting to the router with a cable before you start changing settings - if you inadvertently change something that affects the wifi you need to know that you can get back into the router. (Been there done that! - luckily I had a cable!)

[Old_Geezer]

The more sophisticated and leading edge tech is the more complex it is and the greater the number of conditions it has to try to work well in. Specifications should isolate environment from function but it rarely seems to, so things are more likely to have problems now than when things were simpler.

If many are having the same issue maybe look for answers on the Philips site ?

Meanwhile beg, steal, or borrow another router to see if the problem goes away.

[ro2124]

Well found the security settings on Router and changed to WPA2. or at least I think I did, rather confusing. after changing settings, at the bottom there is a box which say Apply, which I assume has to be clicked to change the settings permanently, but when I did that I got message 'Radius server IP address is invalid'
anyway logged out and log in to router again and it was still on WPA2, so maybe it did accept the settings without pressing apply. all very confusing for novices. anyway if it is on WPA2, sadly have to say still the same problem with Internet cut off, so back to bloody square one I'm afraid.

[ro2124]

Well slowly working toward ending the mystery.. after a lot of messing about I finally got the WPA2 back again and this time I noticed the internet speed was okay with bluetooth on. so looks like it definitely has something to do with that. But of course life is not that simple, it seems I cannot keep WPA2 working, after changing to WPA2 I clicked apply but then get an error message saying something about router radius, whatever the hell that is , so later router reverts to WEP and its back to internet cut.Ahhhrg!!!