[beagan]

Hello. I'm hoping for some help here on the wireless range in my house. I have a wireless-g router and I get the weakest signal in my bedroom, only 30 feet away. The rest of the house works great all the way into my garage. I bought a wireless-n router hoping that would do the trick, but since the results were the same, I returned it. I've read up on it and it sounds like there may be interference with stuff in my walls. However, I do have a wired Cat5 run under the house going to my room from my router going into my PS3 for streaming movies. Is there any way I could use that to extend my wireless range. My IT guy said wireless extenders aren't worth it, but didn't go into it any further and I have never looked into them myself. Anyone with firsthand experience that can help or offer advice, is much appreciated. Thanks!!

UPDATE: See post #43 for the solution that worked for me

 

[FHSPSU67]

Possibly should have kept the wireless-n and moved the wireless-g to the bedroom and used the Cat-5 to hook it up.

 

[RasputinAXP]

1. Metal cladding between the locations
2. 2.4GHz interference (cordless phones, microwaves)
3. Antenna pattern

 

[larryk]

Why not add an ethernet switch in your room, and a second wireless access point to it ( and your PS3), set the WAP to have the same SSId as your main router. You should then have much better coverage at both ends of your house...
I used a Cisco WRT160N (refurb from Amazon for $24.00 and put DD-WRT on it, it has been running for 334 days without any hiccups)

 

[hilmar2k]

My parents have a ridiculously big house (6400+ sq feet for two people) and therefore have some wifi coverage issues. The router is in my Father's office at one end of the first floor. There must be some interference, because even two room over (30 feet) wifi is very hit or miss. He bought a Netgear range extender and placed it at the edge of where he gets good wifi reception and that has completely solved his issue. He now gets wifi in his entire house from either the router or the extender.

 

[dpeters11]

Also, what networks are around you and what channel are you and they using?

I'd also see if there's a firmware update for it, or see if dd-wrt or openwrt support it.

 

[harsh]

Consider moving your existing router around a bit.

A friend of mine discovered that his gun safe was causing all sorts of problems and placing the router on top of the gun safe fixed the problem.

 

[billsharpe]

It's a good idea to place the router as high as possible in the room. My Verizon router is on top of the entertainment center. Computer in the guest house 60 feet away gets a decent signal from it.

 

[lugnutathome]

Placement is indeed important although highest may not be as important as clear unobstructed lines from origin to destination. My main router is in the Telco/AV "head end" where all my various networks converge into the centralized backbone switches (SWMs/Terrestrial/network distribution) and this is located near one end of the home in the "crawl space" OK we could do jumping jacks down there but it extends coverage to most of the home and I added a wireless access point to the top floor at the other end of the home.

I get strong signal anywhere in the home and usable reception anywhere on my 2 acre parcel of land.

Don "all on that antique G stuff too" Bolton

 

[beagan]

Thanks for all the feedback fellas. I have plenty of Cat5, so I think I'll play around with placement first. I'd rather not have to get another device if I can get it to work otherwise.

 

[The Merg]

Why not add an ethernet switch in your room, and a second wireless access point to it ( and your PS3), set the WAP to have the same SSId as your main router. You should then have much better coverage at both ends of your house...
I used a Cisco WRT160N (refurb from Amazon for $24.00 and put DD-WRT on it, it has been running for 334 days without any hiccups)

I have two of those and they work terrific. I use one as my main router and one as a wireless extender upstairs in the master bedroom.

- Merg

 

[beagan]

Well, moving the router didn't have any effect (though I'm limited to only a couple feet). Decided to get a wireless N router and it arrived yesterday. It was a Linksys E1000 refurb on amazon for $22. I was having a heck of a time getting it to setup correctly. I then re-read the post and realized I got the wrong Linksys that was recommended for $2 more, plus the E1000 v2.1 is not compatible with DD-WRT. So I've now ordered the recommended WRT160N. DD-WRT is very new to me, so I still have to research what that is. Thanks, and I'll keep you posted on the results.

 

[bobnielsen]

With the WRT160N you also can run into the problem where not all versions are dd-wrt-compatible (V2 is not, others are). The WRT160V2 is still a good router, however I need to reboot mine every week or so because DHCP stops working.

 

[dennisj00]

To make it an Access Point only, with or without DD-WRT, set the IP to an unused IP address on your LAN, set the gateway and DNS to your main router and turn OFF DHCP.

Plug your LAN cable into one of the LAN ports. Don't use the WAN port unless you have DD-WRT on it -- you can then select the WAN port to be an additional LAN port.

 

[The Merg]

With the WRT160N you also can run into the problem where not all versions are dd-wrt-compatible (V2 is not, others are). The WRT160V2 is still a good router, however I need to reboot mine every week or so because DHCP stops working.

That is true, but I believe the one being sold on Amazon is not v2.

- Merg

 

[The Merg]

Well, moving the router didn't have any effect (though I'm limited to only a couple feet). Decided to get a wireless N router and it arrived yesterday. It was a Linksys E1000 refurb on amazon for $22. I was having a heck of a time getting it to setup correctly. I then re-read the post and realized I got the wrong Linksys that was recommended for $2 more, plus the E1000 v2.1 is not compatible with DD-WRT. So I've now ordered the recommended WRT160N. DD-WRT is very new to me, so I still have to research what that is. Thanks, and I'll keep you posted on the results.

DD-WRT is firmware that you install onto the router that will replace the stock Linksys firmware. I find the DD-WRT firmware to be more stable than the Linksys and it has some additional features. One mentioned by Dennis is that you can turn the WAN port into another LAN port if you are using it was an Access Point.

- Merg

 

[dpeters11]

DD-WRT (or in my case OpenWRT) is almost always more stable and robust. Plus the 160N still has a major security vulnerability in WPS that cannot be disabled.

Well, I should say all WPS equipment was vulnerable but most have a functional disable feature. DD-WRT doesn't support it at all, so not vulnerable.

 

[beagan]

I'm expecting my router in today, but probably won't get to it until Saturday. Since then, I've been visting DD-WRT.com and must say I am completely overwhelmed with the information/instructions over there. All I want to do is use my 50' Cat5 cable going from my main wireless router to this new one in my bedroom to somehow extend my wireless coverage. I'm hearing talk of access point, dd-wrt, openWRT, WAN/LAN ports, DHCP. Am I reading too much into this. Am I misunderstanding that I don't need any of this for my concern? Is there a cliff notes version of how to get this done? Thanks.

 

[dennisj00]

My post above turns the router into an Access Point. Just DON'T have DHCP enabled and don't use the WAN port. You can do this in the stock firmware.

DD-WRT isn't as complicated as it looks. If you can get to the GUI of the new router, you can install DD-WRT. Usually there's a small file that you download to install on the router, then the final file for operation with DD-WRT.

PM me if you have questions or problems.

 

[beagan]

Thanks for the additional info. Can you tell me what the difference between an Access Point and DD-WRT? From what I described, does it sound like I need DD-WRT? Again, I'm only looking to extend my wireless coverage. Thanks!!