Wireless help pleeeasseee - A bit of an IT idiot here.

[Ryan with savage]

Ok so heres the problem.

I have a Wireless Broadband connection (I got fed up with trailing a cable across the room from my Telephone point to the pc) I bought Modem/Router - The signal from my Modem/Router is very weak and cuts a lot and the speed is ssssllllooooowwwww - this is really ticking me off when I hear about people who can piggyback through walls and across the street and so-on with no issues - Mine barely works and its in the same house - same floor even with no walls to go through!!! How do I stop this pile of sh1t getting thrown out of the window?

The setup is this.

TV on glass stand in corner of living room - ModemRouter thing on bottom shelf of glass stand next to VCR with ariel pointing upwards with lots of room above it to middle shelf, connected to Phone socket and a wired connection to PS3 - PC in study about 40 ft from router and a USB adapter to pickup signal. Signal has one corner to go round and one (open) doorway.

Why is this pile so slow and signal so weak? Please help!!! If you are able to help, please assume you need to speak to me in idiot terms on this one as IT isnt really my thing.

Thanks
Ryan.:constipat

 

[HeartBreak]

Well, firstly, an RF signal doesn't "go around" walls; it goes thru them. The more on a slant the signal has to go through, the thicker the wall appears. And yes, Drywall and wooden stud framing will impede the signal. The best analogy is water through pantyhose. One layer of pantyhose, water will go through easily... But the more you add, the slower the water flows.

Now, as to the most likely culprits.... It's most likely the USB adapter, as they have little to no antenna. You may want to check into a good PCI adapter card, if you have an open expansion slot.

Failing that, it could be that your router is sharing the same channel as someone around you's router. This is alot more common than you may guess, as wireless is getting more and more popular. The papers that came with your router will detail how to change the channel (it's extremely easy, but you need a working connection to the router).

Aside from that, the only other possibility is the router itself; you may want to look into getting a seperate router and modem setup. Two boxes, but it will be much more stable. Also, stay away from brands like Netgear, Belkin, and the like. Go with either Linksys or Dlink.

Hope that helps!

 

[Rolex]

Another assist is to move the router or the receiver to a closer location, with a longer cable. You'll get the cable off the floor where you had the problem, and have a stronger signal.
Example, if the router ran along the wall to the closest point near the computer location in the other room, and the receiver could be moved closer to that wall, you could have as little as 5" between. That's a best case scenario, but you get the idea.
There's no reason to have both at the closest point of connection, and the longest point of signal.

 

[Ryan with savage]

Well, firstly, an RF signal doesn't "go around" walls; it goes thru them. The more on a slant the signal has to go through, the thicker the wall appears. And yes, Drywall and wooden stud framing will impede the signal.

OK - So if I draw a straight line from my router to the usb thing It pretty much has to go diagonally through the house!!! It has to travel through 1 leather sofa, then an internal (brick) wall, then a fridge freezer then what used to be an exterior wall before I extended the house (9" solid brick) another internal breeze block wall...... Would this slow it down a bit!!!???!!

Now, as to the most likely culprits.... It's most likely the USB adapter, as they have little to no antenna. You may want to check into a good PCI adapter card, if you have an open expansion slot.

Yes I think so - this means opening the sucker up doesn't it?

Failing that, it could be that your router is sharing the same channel as someone around you's router. This is alot more common than you may guess, as wireless is getting more and more popular. The papers that came with your router will detail how to change the channel (it's extremely easy, but you need a working connection to the router).

Old farts live next door - not sure they have a pc but I'll do this anyway....


Thanks for the pointers..will try some stuff out.

 

[HeartBreak]

OK - So if I draw a straight line from my router to the usb thing It pretty much has to go diagonally through the house!!! It has to travel through 1 leather sofa, then an internal (brick) wall, then a fridge freezer then what used to be an exterior wall before I extended the house (9" solid brick) another internal breeze block wall...... Would this slow it down a bit!!!???!!

Yup, it would be more than enough to slow it down. Granted, it's all different densities of mass, but it adds up. The sofa might not do much, but the brick wall (especially 9 inches!!!) would do the trick. Try moving the router to the near-side of the brick wall, if at all possible.

Yes I think so - this means opening the sucker up doesn't it?

Yep, but in this case, since you have so much between points A and B, I don't think another card will help. Unless you get booster antennas. But that's a whole another can of worms....

Old farts live next door - not sure they have a pc but I'll do this anyway....

Thanks for the pointers..will try some stuff out.

You never know; my grandparents across town have a PC, and they're up in their late 80's.

 

[TalonOne]

HeartBreak is on it again with the good advice.....I might try the booster antennas, I have had some success with them ...or wire the router closer to the pc....perhaps on the other side of the 9 inch wall..

 

[beason]

try moving the router up on top, that may give you enough signal to get by.

 

[hamz9561]

I always try to place the antenna at the highest point possible. This tends to help signal propagation. The closer the the network adapter to the router the better. I also would recommend dLink or Linksys. I would also recommend using networking gear that uses MIMO technology. Most of the newer Draft N adapters use this.