Signal boost on wireless network Router ?

[monkey boy 1]

How can you boost a signal from a Wireless network router?

I have one attached to my pc which feeds 2 other pc in the house via a wireless network, but one of the pc's has a very low signal from the router.
I was wondering if there is a way of boosting the initial signal from the Netgear router so that the other pc's get a better signal ?

All 3 pc's in the house are running Windows XP pro,
we have a Netgear DG834G 54mbps ADSL wireless modem connected directly to one pc.
The other 2 pc's both have Netgear WG311 54mbps 802.11g wireless PCI cards.

The PC with the poor signal is only about 10 - 15 feet away from the Router, but the signal has to pass through one Breezeblock wall & one Studwork wall.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers
MB1

Edited by monkey boy 1 on Sunday 27th August 23:14

[bogie]

theres not really much you can do other than adding bigger, higher gain antennas to the router and the cards.

Other than that its a case of upgrade to the RangeMax DG834PN Netgear jobbie as well as cards - ...or buy a pair of Netgear XE102 Powerline adapters - plug one in near the router, and another in the room where the other PC is ...or get the WGXB102 wireless range extender kit which has an access point built into the powerline adapter

www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=2823

[GreenV8S]

You can boost the wireless signal (google for pringle wireless) but I doubt that will solve your problem because it makes the link highly directional. It's possible to get a wireless repeater which doubles the range, but that's probably overkill for what you want.

The wireless stuff seems to be very sensitive to small changes in the geometry, so if you have an adjustable aerial at either end or any scope to move the access point or PC wireless adapter a few inches, give it a try. Also experiment with other channels. For comparision, my PC is about ten feet from the access point but there are two double brick walls in the way, the wireless bandwidth is normally around 24Mbps. It's critical to get both aerials in the right place to achieve this though, I only need to move them a few inches to get it so bad that it won't connect at all.

I don't know what the relative positions of the three PCs is, but if you can move the access point nearer to the furthest PC then do it.

[monkey boy 1]

Cheers mate,
I will look into those options, though i was hoping there might be something within the set-up program that you could "up the signal"

Thanks anyway

[monkey boy 1]

the 3 pc's are in three separate rooms all on the same level in my house, eg all upstairs in bedrooms.
If you draw a straight line from where the router is, pc 2 is approx 6 feet foreward & 1 foot to the left, (one brick wall) pc 2 is approx 15 feet forewaed & 2 feet to the left, (one studwork wall) if you get my drift

[bogie]

monkey boy 1 said:

Cheers mate,
I will look into those options, though i was hoping there might be something within the set-up program that you could "up the signal"

Thanks anyway

afraid not - they are built to meet the legal limit of 20dBm output ...adding high gain antennas actually goes over that...but unless you live next to an RAF base or such like I doubt youd get a visit from the 'wireless police'

[hut49]

GreenV8S said:

The wireless stuff seems to be very sensitive to small changes in the geometry, so if you have an adjustable aerial at either end or any scope to move the access point or PC wireless adapter a few inches, give it a try.

Until yesterday I hadn't realised just how sensitive. I was moving a PC with USB wireless adapter four feet further away from the router and the signal dropped to 2 bars pretty much wherever I put the adapter. But then I discovered there was a place where it jumped to 4 bars but one inch either side or above and below it was back to two bars.

[TheExcession]

What everyone has said above is correct. The problem with increasing the signal strength is that it needs to be done at both ends. Likely if you make you AP shout louder than your PC/Laptop needs to shout louder too.

As said, try different channels, download netstumbler, and scan for other Access Points in the area and make sure you are running on a free channel.

The best course of action will all WiFi stuff is to improve the antennas and I've heard very good reports of people using this reflector though.

d.i.y. reflector

Not the prettiest bit of kit in the world but the reflector can be made from cardboard and some tin foil, so it might be a fun project just to try. You should definately try this before shelling out money on extra kit.

Let us know how you get on.
best
Ex


Edited To Add:
Some other interesting DIY stuff here

Edited by TheExcession on Monday 28th August 10:58

[byff]

I use a D Link DWL-G710

www.pcuniverse.com/product.asp?pid=3046401&m_id=13

to extend my wireless network. It's a complete pig to set up, but once it's working, it just sits mid way between the last pc and the router, re-distributing the signal. Means I can get WiFi in the garden aswell

Edited by byff on Tuesday 29th August 05:06

[Mikej]

I had this problem as well - the easiest solution that I found was to put a Wireless Access Point in a location that would cover the blackspot well, and then cable this back to my router. Just to perfect the installation I then limited access to the WAP to the PC in the blackspot.

[victormeldrew]

I just did this, by adding a wireless extender.

I have a Belkin wireless router in my office, and the "family" PC downstairs in the dining room is diagonally opposite my (upstairs) office. I got a Belkin extender and plugged this in under the stairs, after searching for a spot that got a decent signal from upstairs and still provided enough signal where I needed it. I've gone from a very poor signal to a good one. Not very good or excellent, but good. Browsing on the family PC is now bearable.

Not sure if Netgear do a similar bit of kit. They do a plugtop extender, which takes a signal and distributes it through the mains to a remote unit you plug in near your PC.