50' max and a "LOW SIGNAL" = wireless Belkin "G"

[Gary Allan]

Okay ..I bought a Belkin Wireless "G" router. Cheap enough. Now the tap dancing with the "relationship" that Belkin appears to need between the router and the device is interesting (requires hardwiring to get it to work ..sorta) ..but we got everything functioning.

Here's the issue. Now my new Toshiba laptop has its own integrated wireless ..gets a great signal from less then 3 feet away (big deal) ...but a mere 50 ft away ...my older Toshiba, with the matching Belkin USB antenna gets a VERY LOW signal. I thought that the difference was due to USB 1.0 on and 2.0 ..so I used my 2.0 PMCIA adapter and graduated to LOW signal in the same 50ft span.

Is this what I should expect from just about all wireless routers? My house is hard wired ..but I had some issue with the D-Link communications (or so I perceived). It has long reached its "end of life" support from D-Link and stuff ..so, since my new Toshiba is setup for wireless ..I figured that I'd go that route.

Now I've seen those wireless "range extenders" ..but they're not cheap compared to the more simple offerings. My documentation boasts of "up to 400' range" ..but obviously, certain conditions and restrictions apply (zero density between the two points, no electronic emissions between the two points, no rain or barometric pressure fluctuations ..etc..etc).

Now I haven't taken my newer Toshiba and moved around the house with it. It's my desktop for the most part and I'm really tired of cable hook up and un-hooking for a bit now (Belkin is REALLY WEIRD about this "relationship" ritual you have to go through).

Your thoughts and experiences

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sparkman]

Try mounting your router up high on the wall in the room it's in, and try pointing the antenna in different directions.

Using a d-link router I get GOOD or VERY GOOD in my garage and it's about 100' away, no fancy tricks. Mounting it high up on the wall made a huge difference.

I also find that shared-key WEP works the best with all of the different computers that I connect.

YMMV.

 

[CivicFan]

How many walls are between the laptop and the router when you are 50 feet away? I get similar problems at about 50 feet away on my porch when there are 2 interior walls and a brick exterior wall.

 

[Gary Allan]

I'll attempt the higher mounting my first attempt resulted in going from LOW to VERY LOW

..but as CivicFan mentions ..I think it also adds more obstruction to the signal. The receiving lap top is almost in line with the router ..which is on the interior wall. The wall is continuous for about 35' with various doorways and whatnot. The old (lower location) has 4 total interior walls to go through (at least - I may have missed one.

This is disappointing. There's no house that I can think of that wouldn't have this issue in one form or another with any house of decent size. It would seem to me the only reason to go wireless to begin with.

I'm hardwired already in all the kids bedrooms. This was just for the kitchen usage where I didn't get to run cable during the renovation (I was not requiring a network yet - nor did it occur to me that I would ever need to be).

 

[JustinH]

Gary,

Go into the router and change the channel.

Could be getting interference from the neighbors network.

Also update the firmware in the router and all cards.

50 feet is really the max for a wireless g network anyways in the real world.

Tests may say more, but they don't account for walls, etc.

 

[Colt45ws]

Yeah, try different channels. But, I have the output on my router upped to 55mW and even though Im just 20 feet from the router I still only have a 50% signal. Wireless networks suck.

 

[tmorris1]

Metal duct work will screw with RF signals more that the walls will. Do you have a bunch of duct work in the way?

 

[tmorris1]

I also forgot to mention that 2.4GHz cordless phones will raise heck with wireless routers also. I'm not a big fan of Belkin products.

 

[BradC]

Channel 11 is supposedly the best one to use, at least that what I've been told for LinkSys routers.

 

[Gary Allan]

I've updated the firmware. Belkin is an oddball. It appears to require you to physically mate the receiving computer via hardwire to establish some "relationship". I guess the router compares the hard wire data with the transmitted data

I also changed the channel. It didn't seem to effect it too much. This is a disappointment. When working at the homeless shelter at the pastor's church building, his Belkin could be detected and connected to well over 150ft away. The signal was low ..but workable.

This was, more or less, what I based my decision on to go wireless when my old D-Link router gave me troubles.

 

[tmorris1]

It would be hard to compare your router with your pastors because they are in a different working environment. The conditions in your house may not be optimal.