Wireless internet problem

[papax17]

Ok well I have a compaq wireless router that I picked up for cheap. When I go upstairs in my house not too far away the signal gets very weak and cuts out often. I believe it is the router because when I am 2-5 ft away from the router the signal is amazing and never cuts out on me. What are the other possibilities? Could anyone recommend a good wireless router that can give a strong signal from afar? I would really appreciate it...



Thank you,

papa x17

[y0_diggity]

Ok well I have a compaq wireless router that I picked up for cheap. When I go upstairs in my house not too far away the signal gets very weak and cuts out often. I believe it is the router because when I am 2-5 ft away from the router the signal is amazing and never cuts out on me. What are the other possibilities? Could anyone recommend a good wireless router that can give a strong signal from afar? I would really appreciate it...



Thank you,

papa x17



Well, I havea Belkin Wireless router and I can use my wireless Palm Pilot outside in the front yard as far as my driveway. I like it, and when my old Linksys (that was being used as the ACTUAL router) blew up, I put the Belkin into it's place and it works GREAT for Live service and all the other crap I throw at it. I also picked it up cheap. With the rebate on it at CC I got it for 19$. Mine is the 802.11b, but the 802.11g should be good to.

[papax17]

Thanks for the help and heads up y0.



papa x17

[Anonymous]

Well, I'm using a Linksys WRT54G and get a very strong signal in my neighbors house 2 houses down. :smt002

[Vampire 33]

I had the free Compaq wireless router for a little while and it sucked ass!!! You can upgrade firmware and it might help a bit, but I ended up replacing it. Fortunately, I won a Cisco Aironet 350 series AP in an internal company competition. Woo Hoo!!!

[Wyvern13]

papa ~ make sure your router is not operating on the same channel as other devices.

We have a WRT54G Linksys router which is 802.11g (& 802.11b). The 802.11 devices broadcast on the 2.4 GHz radio band.2.4 GHz phones (even your neighbors) could interfere with reception. Here is a link detailing such interference ~ http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/2191241. We also have the Microsoft Wireless Keyboard & Mouse which runs at a frequency (2.37 GHz) just below Channel 1 of the 802.11b protocols (here is a link describing the set channels http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/wireless/airo1200/accsspts/ap120scg/bkscgaxa.htm). Our cordless phones are the newer 5.8 GHz ones (nice 'coz we can have mutliple handsets & use them as intercoms), so they don't interfere with the wireless router.

I was running on Channel 6 ~ the default channel. However, one day we started getting a worse & worse wireless connection with our 802.11g laptop ~ it was down from a high of 54 Mbps to as low as1 Mbps. The slowdown really showed in opening files stored on our PCfrom the laptop.

I fiddled around with things & switched to Channel 9 and set both my router and laptop toonly use Channel 9. Ever since then I get the full 54 Mbps or at worst 48 Mbps. The cause was either someone nearby using a channel close to Channel 6 for their wireless or them getting a new cordless 2.4 GHz phone (which can interfere with the lower channel numbers). Each wireless channel bleeds a little into the adjacent channels so close devices running on close channels can interfere with each other. Additionally, the walls & ceilings/floorings that the signal has to penetrate can affect the signal. I knew that wasn't the problem with meeven thoughwe were going from the 3rd floor of a townhouse to the 1st floor since it had been fine for the first couple of months.

Another thing to avoid is the speedbooster products. These do not increase your web connection (that is still the slowlink for all but the slowest wireless transfer rates) ~ they only boost the transmission speed by shotgunning the data over multiple channels. This clogs all the channels with data.

[papax17]

Thanks everyone for your input and advice.



papa x17