Wireless Question

[melwan]

I have a Linksys WRT54GL and it's placed in the basement because of Ethernet ports running to different jacks throughout the house. I know placing it in the basement is a bad decision, but I'm stuck with it for now.

On the 2nd floor, I barely get any signal (obviously) and my N1 keeps dropping to 3G, back and forth.

Does anyone here know if the N1 connects to Wireless N after the Froyo update? I read that the hardware is there, just needs enabling in the firmware.

If yes, should I upgrade my router to Wireless N? or should I buy one of those range/signal boosters and place it on the 1st floor?

What do the experts suggest?

 

[theiphonewannabe]

Range booster should fix it as long as you put it as close to the middle as possible. Wirelss N will increase speed but not necessarily range because the higher frequency doesn't penetrate walls very well,.

 

[melwan]

Thanx for the reply. Alright, a range booster would do then.

Out of curiosity, do you know if the N1 connects to N networks?

 

[z0phi3l]

N1 connects to N networks now, just not officially listed as a feature for some reason

 

[melwan]

Ok thanx. From the looks of it, a range booster will cost me almost as much as a new router. If I make the jump to N, I wonder how different the range will be. I know it cannot penetrate walls, but shouldn't it be a little better?

 

[icebike]

Ok thanx. From the looks of it, a range booster will cost me almost as much as a new router. If I make the jump to N, I wonder how different the range will be. I know it cannot penetrate walls, but shouldn't it be a little better?

Invest in a half inch drill bit instead.

Run cat5 to the basement and get that router up where you need it. You will never be happy with this arrangement.

 

[theiphonewannabe]

Ok thanx. From the looks of it, a range booster will cost me almost as much as a new router. If I make the jump to N, I wonder how different the range will be. I know it cannot penetrate walls, but shouldn't it be a little better?

I have had great luck with my N router on the same floor, but downstairs, not so much.

 

[88 FLUX]

Invest in a half inch drill bit instead.

Run cat5 to the basement and get that router up where you need it. You will never be happy with this arrangement.

That is exactly what I had done. My modem is in my basement for a few different reasons. But I surely was not going to have my router down there. So I ran cable through holes where I used to have coax cable running through and put the router exactly where I wanted it.

But melwan, yeah, if that is not an option for you, the repeater is a good option to go with.

 

[melwan]

Well, here is the setup I have. Maybe someone can help me optimize it better.

I have the modem and the router in the basement. The modem has a dedicated phone jack (DSL) right next to it. I also have 3 Ethernet cables running from the router in the basement to 3 wall jacks:
- One on the 1st floor where my main PC is connected
- 2 jacks go to the 2nd floor where I have my printer plugged in (networked) and the 3rd jack is free (unplugged)

Now, if I bring the router up next to the PC on the 1st floor, how can I utilize the 2 jacks on the 2nd floor? My printer does not have a wireless adapter.

Another scenario is that I'm thinking to switch to Cable for numerous reasons. That means the modem does not have to stay in the basement next to the dedicated phone jack. Would that make things easier with utilizing the 2 jacks on the 2nd floor?

The thing is I really want to keep the networked printer upstairs :/

 

[novacellx]

If the second floor jacks are in the same room, try getting a switch and put it in the basement. You will likely need to to put wireless router on the second floor (trying to visualize this); as the solution I am thinking of below would need to have a wire for the WAN on the router to the modem and would use the other for going back down to the switch in the basement. The printer could then be connected to the router.

Now if I have this right in my head, the connection for the third jack will actually go from the WAN connection on the router to the modem. The connection that was for the printer will go from one of the Ethernet connections on the router to the switch down stairs. And finally connect the first floor drop to switch.

That might be the easiest solution. There are other options though. I am assuming the Linksys wireless router is managing your internet connection.

If the modem itself is not completely dumb and you could manage without the full functions of the WRT54GL. You could forgo creating that back and forth connection from the basement to the second floor and back again. By configuring your wireless router to function as an access point/switch on the first floor, this still requires a switch in the basement. This time though everything is connected into the basement switch, with the modem doing DHCP and router functions. Do not use the WAN connection on the wireless router in this configuration, instead just one of its Ethernet connections.

If I did not confuse you to much, I hope you see that there are some possibilities of just re-arranging what is connected where and to what. Most 8-Port Gigabit switches are fairly inexpensive compared to a new wireless router, usually less than $50.

 

[melwan]

@novacellx Thank you very much

I'ill be trying out the first solution first to see how that will work.

Thanks again

 

[Krak-a-Lakn]

Melwan
Hey, the easiest thing (and the cheapest) is to make a homemade parabolic dish for your antenna. You would need to aim this up. This would change from an omni-directional to a directional antenna. I think the WRT54GL has 2 antennas - so I would put this on 1 and leave the 2nd to support other areas of the house. These are made out of paper or cardboard and aluminum foil. Here's one from instructables.com - but there are many types.

DIY WIFI Antenna Reception Booster

Here's another version
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Wi-Fi-Extender/