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Are you roommates also using the network for something? (Bittorrent, streaming video, etc.) Possibly using all the bandwidth?

Are you also resetting the router? I had a D-Link WiFi router that would get... clogged... after a while. Had to power cycle it about once a week.

Since your connection problem is intermittent, then it seems likely that there isn't anything barrier in the way like grounded chickenwire in the walls.

Use a program like iStumbler (donationware) to see what your connection looks like while you have a good connection and compare it to when you have a poor one.

What may be happening is that there is another network in your area which is on intermittently that is overriding your signal from your roommates' network because your room is closer to that source, or that there is some device in your area which is using the 2.4 GHz band (like a wireless phone handset). You can ask your roommates to switch the channel within the 2.4 GHz band they are using to another which isn't being used or only has a weaker (and presumably further) network using it--on the other hand there are some devices which flood the 2.4 GHz band and there isn't much you can do about that.

How do I stop the ping? lol just close the terminal?

galeninjapan wrote:

How do I stop the ping? lol just close the terminal?

Control-C. And please don't say 'LOL'. It's not intelligent.

OK, put down those iStumbler numbers somewhere so you can refer to them when your connection is bad.

Your noise level is a bit high. My primary WiFi station has 30% signal / 15% noise and it is a couple of rooms away from my MacBookPro. My MBP connects via a secondary station which is wirelessly extending my network, and that has 42% signal / 11% noise.

Your network's frequency is 2437 which means that it is on channel 6. Next time you have a bad connection, run iStumbler and see if there are any other wireless networks in your area which may be interfering with yours. Please note that while there are 11 channels in the 2.4 GHz band, because of bleed-through on nearby channels there are really only 3 effective channels: 1, 6 and 11. If someone in your area has set up their network using a channel next to 6 (i.e. 4 though 9), then that may be the problem. You might be lucky enough that the other network name has enough info to identify where it is so you can sit down with them to hash through the problem; if not, then you could ask your roommate to reset his network to use, say, channel 1 if the interfering network is using channel 8.

I should add that there are some devices like some microwaves ovens and lights which "broadcast" across the 2.4 GHz band and may be the cause of your connection problems. Naturally such devices will not supply any network ID info in iStumbler or any other program, which is why you need to note down the iStumbler numbers when your connection is good. If when your connection is poor and iStumbler doesn't located another network possibly providing interference, then you may be a victim of one of these devices which wipe out the 2.4 GHz band.

galeninjapan wrote:

Would the above reasons still exist if my roommates say their connection is fine even though mine is not?

possibly