Wireless Network Experts

[Rob]

hi all,

a brief outline of the problem then the Q:

I have had a linksys wrt54g router and a pci wpm54g adaptor running for a while but i have never been impressed with the speed/signal quality i have been getting - about 60% , the router is 17m away in the front room, I thought it was because the adaptor antenna is shielded a bit so i bought an external antenna - that improved things to about an average of 70% ( 80% if i am really lucky) I have tried moving the router to a better position even line of sight makes little difference. I have a socket in the next bedroom but even then the signal strength is about 60 % and that is only thru a single plasterboard wall.

I have tried a netgear MIMO router ( one with the 6 antennas and flashing lights) that was even worse - 50%!!

so eventually my questions: am i expecting too much in terms of signal strength or is 60% about right

if not what router would you recommend for good wireless connection??? or will I have to change the card also keeping in mind i have an external antenna.

many thanks

rob

[Parthiban]

I've had the Netgear MIMO one you were talking about for a few months now, which I have about 25ft away from the router with 2 walls in between, and it always says, "signal strength:good", never "excellent". Its 3 bars out of 5 for signal strength.

However, I've never had any problem with the connection, and the speed is exactly the same as when I first tested it with it right next to the router.

Are you getting a much slower speed for data transfer, or is it just the signal strength that's low?

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

My netwgear 834GT 108mbps is 50 yards away, I get one bar to the lounge, and weak signal (6-12meg). I know its on the boundaries...but I can get onto a guys across the road and use his connection...24-30meg :D

[Anees]

To benefit from Mimo you would need a Mimo compatible card to go with the mimo router. I don't think yours is? This may explain the poor performance you experienced with it.

Also, you say that the signal drops to 60%, but does everything still work i.e Internet? I only use my wireless connection for internet access, any file transfers larger then a few meg I just plug in and use Ethernet cabling since its much quicker and reliable.

At work a college that works in school has recently changed his wireless access points from apple Airports to US Robotics ones and is amazed at the range"it blasts through walls" were his exact words. I think he is using this one:

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/MFR/S...p?ProductID=874

Also you have said that you are using an external antenna with your wifi; Is it Omni-directional or directional?

I am currently considering buying this setup for home when I get some spare cash:

http://www.buffalo-technology.com/products/highpower.php

The reviews of the technology look good, but you do need the compliant PC card to go with it. Might be just what your after - it is relatively expensive however.

Hope that helps abit.

[Bazza]

My netwgear 834GT 108mbps is 50 yards away, I get one bar to the lounge, and weak signal (6-12meg). I know its on the boundaries...but I can get onto a guys across the road and use his connection...24-30meg :D

"50 yards away" ....thats a big house you got :D

[Rob]

hi, the signal is low and also it does take a longer time to load pages or download anything -sometimes its just a blank page for about 6 secs. If the router is in the room then it is fine.

I just expected the speed and signal to be far better, strange thing is i am getting other signals of 85% and above but its not from my neighbours same floor or above/below (i live in an apartment) - now i want to know what router those people have - it is a netgear as that comes up on the SSID

[Bazza]

hi, the signal is low and also it does take a longer time to load pages or download anything -sometimes its just a blank page for about 6 secs. If the router is in the room then it is fine.

I just expected the speed and signal to be far better, strange thing is i am getting other signals of 85% and above but its not from my neighbours same floor or above/below (i live in an apartment) - now i want to know what router those people have - it is a netgear as that comes up on the SSID

strange, we have trouble getting a signal at the rear of our house, (the router being at the front), yet we can pick up the nieghbours signal all over albiet a weak signal, ....that also comes up as "netgear"

[Anees]

strange, we have trouble getting a signal at the rear of our house, (the router being at the front), yet we can pick up the nieghbours signal all over albiet a weak signal, ....that also comes up as "netgear"

Bet your neighbours think the same about yours! Grass is greener and all that! :D

[Pip]

Following advice given on here i tried the Netgear DG843G and found it a bag of sh!te.

Anymore recommendations?

It certainly wasnt a straight-forward thing either as there were complications in setting it up.

[Bobski]

The belkin MiMO works well but the 1 REALLY annoying thing is that it HATES BBC weather and it will şock the router!

Not on all but happens on a good %age.

Appart from this a good bit of kıt.

Oh and A really POOH call centre.

[Rob]

Following advice given on here i tried the Netgear DG843G and found it a bag of sh!te.

Anymore recommendations?

It certainly wasnt a straight-forward thing either as there were complications in setting it up.

funny you say that, a friend of mine has the same router and it is crap, he would rather have a cable trailing between the rooms than use it - when using wireless the internet ( never mind file transfer!!) nearly stops, I t may work well in a loft apartment tho where there are no walls!

TBH I am not impressed with the whole wireless thing - I expected to have a good signal at what is really a short distance, and in an everyday setting - I dont think I am expecting too much , and placing a repeater after 10M is taking the pish

[Continunity]

Trust me on this, wireless is really really really not worth the effort.

everything in your house will interfere with it from walls to lights, cookers to fridges.

I have set up and configured a couple of enterprise grade wireless systems and i have always found them to be hard work, they normally work well in open plan places, or places with thin walls. Thick walls and metal work will kill connections.

also dont belive this etream G stuff that D-link pedel, you will NEVER hit the top speed,

eg.

54mps wil never hit 54mps. you would be lucjy to hit 30.

if you do want to use a wireless system, i would recomend Proxim, Cisco (if you have the money) or a belkin box. Dont be tempted to buy a cheap one as they normally dont produce results.

also if you are having issues with range, it may be worth bridging between locations

this envolves using 2 or more AP (access points) to extend the range.

iuf you want any more info just ask

Steve

[Parthiban]

Following advice given on here i tried the Netgear DG843G and found it a bag of sh!te.

Anymore recommendations?

It certainly wasnt a straight-forward thing either as there were complications in setting it up.

funny you say that, a friend of mine has the same router and it is crap, he would rather have a cable trailing between the rooms than use it - when using wireless the internet ( never mind file transfer!!) nearly stops, I t may work well in a loft apartment tho where there are no walls!

TBH I am not impressed with the whole wireless thing - I expected to have a good signal at what is really a short distance, and in an everyday setting - I dont think I am expecting too much , and placing a repeater after 10M is taking the pish

I'm not sure about that one (the ADSL one) but I have the WPN824 which is the same thing but without a modem (as I have cable broadband) along with the MIMO USB2 adapter, and I've had no trouble with it at all (except with me not realising that it only steps up to 108Mbps when necessary). Was incredibly easy to set up as well :)

I regularly get download speeds over 250KB/s which is all I expect from my 2 meg connection, this is from a distance of 25ft (7.5m) through two walls

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

My netwgear 834GT 108mbps is 50 yards away, I get one bar to the lounge, and weak signal (6-12meg). I know its on the boundaries...but I can get onto a guys across the road and use his connection...24-30meg :D

"50 yards away" ....thats a big house you got :D

Bazza - The router is in bed 4...down the garden path!

One computer/router is in a brick shed at the bottom of the garden (aka my office (and bed 4 when she kicks me out :o ))...the house is tiny...the gardens huge!

I'm closer to Jimmy's router than mine!

We've 3 pc's, 2 wireless, and the the mobile phones really interfere...

I now have a Yagi antenna for the GSM in my office, it keeps the signal facing away from mine (and jimmy's router) and it's OK....

Those Yagi's are great...

[Rob]

thanks for the replies everyone - greatly appreciated. BUT i have decided to ditch the wireless- and have now wired in the cable internet socket from the next room into this room - an hour of my time and a 100% positive connection, and full speed (i had 400kb/s all day today)

[Pip]

Its what i am doing fluff but i would like my laptop to have access too.

[lexus_IS_200]

i have a Linksys WRT54GS and never had a problem get 100% signal all the time

I would also recomend getting the same wireless card as the router

from above:

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/MFR/S...p?ProductID=874

this model got the best review in last month Computer mag

[Pip]

But buying the same wireless card is pointless if the system is already wi-fi??

[GRiM]

You can't beat wired.

But, with the same setup as you Rob.

I used to get 18 to 30Mpbs now I get a constant 54Mpbs. Because I use these.

http://www.tritium.co.uk/Flatennaroot.htm

http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/aerials.html

Also bin the Wrt54g default firmware, and upgrade to DD-WRT firmware.

See http://wrt-wiki.bsr-clan.de/index.php?titl...T_Docu_%28EN%29

And finally, go into System/Hardware/Device Manager/Properties/Power management on the Wifi card, and disable Allow the computer to turn this device off to same power.

[BernardTamHK]

fluff ... lemme ask you this. Do you have a microwave oven sitting somewhere between you and the AP?

Is encryption on? Did you disable the SSID broadcasting on the AP?

What antenna are you using (as pip mentioned Omni or Uni?)

If I were you, I'd try to disconnect all the microwave ovens first. Then try "not" disabling SSID broadcasting. Then try to change your antenna to a uni one and point it to your AP (you can make one out of an empty pringles chips can ... its quite good).

If all else fails, I will also try to borrow a "b" card and try to run your wifi network in "b" mode.

[ColinBarber]

hi all,

a brief outline of the problem then the Q:

I have had a linksys wrt54g router and a pci wpm54g adaptor running for a while but i have never been impressed with the speed/signal quality i have been getting - about 60% , the router is 17m away in the front room, I thought it was because the adaptor antenna is shielded a bit so i bought an external antenna - that improved things to about an average of 70% ( 80% if i am really lucky) I have tried moving the router to a better position even line of sight makes little difference. I have a socket in the next bedroom but even then the signal strength is about 60 % and that is only thru a single plasterboard wall.

I have tried a netgear MIMO router ( one with the 6 antennas and flashing lights) that was even worse - 50%!!

so eventually my questions: am i expecting too much in terms of signal strength or is 60% about right

if not what router would you recommend for good wireless connection??? or will I have to change the card also keeping in mind i have an external antenna.

many thanks

rob

It's the signal quality rather than strength that is really important. However 70% strength seems good enough, does the card state what speed it's running at, e.g. 54, 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 11, 9, 6, 5.5, 2, 1? Are there any other access points in the area? Have you tried changing the channel?

What actual throughput are you getting? 802.11G will only give around 22Mbps real throughput when running at 54Mbps and this reduced the greater the distance from the base station.

Does your base station have TNC connectors on it to accept an external antenna(s)? You can get many different designs of external antenna which have extra gain and also send out the signal in different patterns so you can choose one to match the shape of your building.