Airport Express (n) signal issues with Powerbook G4

Here is my setup:
1 Airport Express (n)
1 Cradlepoint CTR500 router
1 Lenovo PC Laptop
1 Powerbook G4 12"
I have a printer hooked up to the Airport Express as well as my stereo. I have the AX set to 802.11n (b/g compatible) for the Powerbook. My laptop (PC) is n. The Powerbook is approx 10 feet away from the AX, and there is a wall with a door between the two. No electronics are between in the wall, etc. Its a pretty strait shot, except for the wall.
I have noticed that the Powerbook will show 5 bars for Airport, and after a little bit, go down to 2 bars, or even 1. It will stay there, couple of mins at the most, then shoot back up. Sometimes I have to disconnect (turn airport off) and then reconnect to establish 5 bars.
Now, I have also noticed on my PC that (being 3 feet away from the AX) I will sometimes go from 5 bars to 4, and my laptop will register anywhere from 14 Mbps up to ~150 Mbps connection. It settles around 72 Mbps when the Powerbook is connected to the network. So why under normal web page browsing, does my speed drop to 14, 28, 36 Mbps, yet show signal strength at 4 bars, or even 5, usually when the Powerbook is connected? In addition, and I understand that the 54G rated Powerbook will slow the network down all around, why is it that the Powerbook will drop from 5 bars down to 2, or even 1 in the airport menu? Is the AX changing channels? I have manually set it to channel 8 to see if that was the problem, and it didn't seem to solve anything.
I am kind of at a loss here. Perhaps interference? I do live in an old 100+ year old house, so that might be an issue? I will say that when I set it to N 5GHz, my laptop will connect and maintain a 300 Mbps speed. That's pretty good IMHO. So since that stays connected properly, I can only assume that it is a 2.4 GHz interference issue with neighbors, upstairs phones (this is an apartment) or other devices perhaps.

I think you're probably right that you're getting intermittent interference at 2.4 GHz.
Suggest you try [iStumbler|http://istumbler.net]. Monitor it for a day or so to get an idea of which channels your neighbors may be using. Then, set the AX to one as different from the others as possible. If the interference problem returns, try another open channel.
Also, try activating interference robustness on the AX and Powerbook.

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