The idea is that new technology should make our lives less stressful but this is not always what happens.

Take household wireless access to the internet, for example. It is shaping as the new fence squabble between neighbours.

Arguing with your neighbours used to be simple. Dogs barking at night, paying for half of the fence, overhanging tree branches or teenagers with blaring music can all be annoying but at least those issues are clearly identifiable.

You could even get angry at someone and shout about it. But now we have insidious computer network gremlins that leap over the boundary fence.

Using wireless networks for accessing the household internet was a wonderful convenience when it first started to become popular. Browsing was not confined to the study any more and it allowed walking around, sunshine surfing or browsing in bed. But then came Next-Door-Net.

My wife and I live in a quite dense inner-city location and more and more people are installing their own wireless networks. I know, because my laptop sniffs them out and gives me a list - I can see you, Mr Netgear, Dobbins House and Private Network! The problem is that their networks cause mine to fail.

I don't claim to be an expert techie but I do have a little experience. There are only a limited number of "channels" (10, I understand) that can be used and I have had to change mine three times to avoid constant dropping out of the signal. This is because those nearby signals obscure mine.

There's nothing more maddening than sitting down to a quiet bit of surfing or checking for emails, then finding the signal has dropped out again. I don't know where you are but you're invading my household frequency space!

I foresee that this problem is going to get worse as more and more folks adopt this type of internet connection. I think I'll have to get some sort of super booster to make my signal overpower the others. Now, that sounds like a recipe for neighbourhood escalation.

Perhaps councils can allocate frequency ranges along with parking permits. I can just see rangers walking up and down with signal readers looking for transgressors as a new source of revenue, just like the TV licence police used to do in Britain.

Readers are invited to send 450 words on what makes their blood boil to heckler@smh.com.au. Include your daytime phone details.