maximizing wireless router's distance

[JHZR2]

Hi,

My family in law lives in a concrete reinforced home in St. Thomas. Standard construction for hurricane-proofing, where every other block hole is filled with re-bar, etc.

Anyway, one end of their home has real trouble getting a consistent wireless signal. We got a wireless - n router, but it is still no dice.

It seems to me that if perhaps I reduced the speedat which data can transfer, that perhaps it will increase range. However this is just intuition, not factual. Any thoughts???

Thanks,

JMH

 

[Quest]

There are several things RE: wireless router reliability and service distance:

1): get a longer range antenna for the router. Most of them comes with a 2dB/M or similar (quite a short distance). If you can find something that goes between 4~6dB/M then you can extend your range a bit.

2): not all routers are created equally RE: transmission distance and reliability. I have had enough issues with certain Belkin, D-link, etc. wireless routers for dropouts, so much so that whenever I come across situations like this, I would opt for Linksys WRT54G (earlier versions) or WRT54GL(linux version, flashable). They are known to be very, very reliable (no dropouts in my house for over 2 yrs and counting)

3): get a repeater and install it in the middle of the coverage. There are some kind of range booster (or repeater) device available for boosting wireless router/networking tranmission range.

Take care,
Q.

 

[PandaBear]

N router (pre N technically as N standard is not yet finalized) only enhance distance minimally but the benefit is the multi-antenna that increase bandwidth by multi-path.

There is no replacement for displacement in engine, and there is no replacement for line of sight and distance in wireless. What you can do is either put repeater (or open-source firmware router with such feature) along the line of sight, or a wire along the wall.

Usually reduce speed only help so much. Usually directional antenna help if you are far away with good line of sight, but in your case, that won't help by much.

I recommend Buffalo's router after Linksys neuter their line with VxWork firmware and reduce the memory.

 

[brianl703]

A higher gain omni antenna will help so long as all the other devices on the network are at the same elevation as the antenna. These antennas make their gain by concentrating the signal out to the sides and reducing the amount of signal sent out to the top and bottom.

Therefore, for me, with a 3-level townhouse, a high-gain omni would not be what I want. It would reduce the amount of signal I get in the basement when the access point is on the top floor.

If it were my problem I'd check if the house was wired with at least 3-pair telephone wire, make the splices as needed, put an RJ45 at both ends and set the network card to operate at 10mbps.

(Yea, you CAN mix 10baseT and phones on the same wire. The spec was designed for it)

 

[brianl703]

wire=cable, you can use two pairs for 10baseT ethernet and the remaining pairs for telephone.

Although there IS a company that makes a splitter device which does let you run ethernet and telephone on the same pair, called Ethersplit.

 

[unDummy]

Certain brands of routers don't work too well. What brand are you using?
Use a name brand router(linksys, dlink, netgear), upgrade the antennas(on router and on your computer), match router brand to computers' wireless/pcmcia/usb network cards .... will help you fix your problems.

Router antenna can also be roofmounted(attic/tree/pole) so it looks down on all wireless computers.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Quest
I would opt for Linksys WRT54G (earlier versions) or WRT54GL(linux version, flashable).

I would concur with this. Then install an aftermarket firmware (such as Tomato or HyperWRT) which will allow you to modify (boost) antenna/signal strength.

 

[brianl703]

Boosting signal strength at the WAP can result in what is known as an "alligator" station: All mouth and no ears. The remote PC can hear the WAP but doesn't have enough power to transmit back.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: brianl703
Boosting signal strength at the WAP can result in what is known as an "alligator" station: All mouth and no ears. The remote PC can hear the WAP but doesn't have enough power to transmit back.


I lucked into a good wireless router setup 6 or 7 years ago. I got a Linkys BEFW11S4 802.11B. It didn't cover my house very well so I got a Linksys WSB24 signal booster to go with it. Both of our laptops will work with it 100 yards from our house as long as there isn't another house in the way. Pure dumb luck in picking the right router/booster combo.

Needless to say, I haven't advanced from 801.11b to one of the newer protocols.

 

[blueiedgod]

Originally Posted By: Quest

3): get a repeater and install it in the middle of the coverage. There are some kind of range booster (or repeater) device available for boosting wireless router/networking tranmission range.



Bingo!!!

I have 2 repeaters to get signal throughout. After a while, I wired the whole house Cat5 for more robust signal and for A/V applications.

 

[tmorris1]

I know a lot of people like the Linksys, but I have a Netgear RangeMax (WP824) with the MIMO antennas and it covers my house really well. I get excellent signal everywhere with my router in my basement office. These are worth a look.