Wireless router recommendations.

[sillysod]

Okay so I have a failry large wired network at my house that works very well. However, my wireless network sucks balls.

We don't use the network for gaming etc, just emails and my wife watches the odd you-tube video on line, we are using regular telus high speed -- which sucks -- but is definately fast enough for us.

I have an old Dlink DI 624 in my furnace room (lots of ducting) that has really crappy range and likes to drop out - even with the dlink big antenna kit.

I would like to change the router out with something more powerfull (speed doesn't matter) that has a better range and a stronger signal.

I also want wireless to reach my garage and although I can catch it with my blackberry, none of our note books can get a connection better than 2mpbs.


The wireless router is in the front of the house, and the garage is way out back. Should I put a wireless repeater on a different channel in the back of my basement to kick the signal out to my garage?

Any help much appreciated!

See Image below

http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b421/sillysod/WIFI.jpg

[hampstor]

Originally posted by sillysod
Okay so I have a failry large wired network at my house that works very well. However, my wireless network sucks balls.

We don't use the network for gaming etc, just emails and my wife watches the odd you-tube video on line, we are using regular telus high speed -- which sucks -- but is definately fast enough for us.

I have an old Dlink DI 624 in my furnace room (lots of ducting) that has really crappy range and likes to drop out - even with the dlink big antenna kit.

I would like to change the router out with something more powerfull (speed doesn't matter) that has a better range and a stronger signal.

I also want wireless to reach my garage and although I can catch it with my blackberry, none of our note books can get a connection better than 2mpbs.


The wireless router is in the front of the house, and the garage is way out back. Should I put a wireless repeater on a different channel in the back of my basement to kick the signal out to my garage?

Any help much appreciated!

See Image below

http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b421/sillysod/WIFI.jpg

Do you have CAT5 run in your basement to any floor near the back of your house? If so - just buy another router and do this:

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/264362/increase-wireless-range-with-an-additional-router/

My suggestion on location if (if you have cat5 run to this place) is put the 2nd router on the upper floor close to the back of your house.

[TimH]

Originally posted by sillysod
I have an old Dlink DI 624 in my furnace room (lots of ducting) that has really crappy range and likes to drop out - even with the dlink big antenna kit.

That router only has one antenna which means that it doesn't support antenna diversity. Antenna diversity basically allows the router to pick the strongest signal out of the two antennas. This can help in situations where there is a lot of reflective material around which causes reflection which degrades the signal and leads to multipath issues. If you find that one minute you get a good signal and then the next it drops out this could be the issue. A router that supports diversity is better, a router that is 802.11n is best (3 receive, 2 transmit antennas).

Adding a bigger antenna on the router but not adding a larger antenna on the client side doesn't really help because that can cause a problem called "near far issue". This means that the received signal strength coming from the router to the client is strong hence the client thinks it has a good connection but the received signal strength from the client to the router is significantly lower. This is usually overcome by the router having a better receive sensitivity but if the the difference is too great you may have problems. Since adding larger antennas to the clients is out of the question I would look towards trying to move the router to a more central location.



Originally posted by sillysod
I would like to change the router out with something more powerfull (speed doesn't matter) that has a better range and a stronger signal.

I would suggest an 11n router. 2.4ghz if you want slightly better range but at the cost of a slower speed than 5ghz (no channel bonding). Don't use 2.4ghz if you think/know of lots of potential interference (microwaves, some cordless phones, florescent lights, etc.). 5ghz 11n will give you better speed (channel bonding) and doesn't deal with as much interference but at the cost of slightly reduced coverage and they are usually a bit more pricey. I don't think even with an 11n router that your coverage would improve enough to get good signal to the garage if you left the router at its current location (judging by your diagram).



Originally posted by sillysod
I also want wireless to reach my garage and although I can catch it with my blackberry, none of our note books can get a connection better than 2mpbs.

To reach the garage you have to go through two exterior walls which is going to severely degrade the signal. Try moving the router to a more central location to give the router a chance of providing decent coverage to the garage.


Originally posted by sillysod
The wireless router is in the front of the house, and the garage is way out back. Should I put a wireless repeater on a different channel in the back of my basement to kick the signal out to my garage?

If you use a wireless repeater you will only extend the coverage by 50% and will reduce the bandwidth by 50% because 802.11 wireless is only half-duplex meaning that only one router, repeater or client can transmit at the same time. And because of this repeaters have to be on the same channel. I would avoid using a repeater unless you absolutely have to.


My advice would to try these things:

1. move the current router to the middle of the room somewhere around the poor signal boundary.

2. buy a 11n router (2.4ghz or if your clients support 5ghz get a simultaneous band router) and try it in the current location, if that doesn't work try it in the location described in point 1.

3. if your house has cat5 cable add a second access point where you have the repeater in your diagram. This will get around the issue with the 50% reduction in bandwidth and double the coverage area. There may be issues with roaming and authentication in doing this with consumer grade hardware.

4. if you can you could move the router to the first floor, this would get around issues with the metal ducting as well as the concrete exterior wall (assuming it's an underground basement).

The main point is that where the router sits now your basically giving up half your coverage area right off the bat and making the signal travel through more walls thus degrading the signal.

And, from a security stand point does that d-link support WPA or are you using WEP encryption? Avoid using WEP because the encryption key which is basically the authentication key is static and can be easily hacked through packet capture and off-line cracking. WPA still uses RC-4 encryption like WEP but uses TKIP (temporal key integrity protocol) which dynamically changes the encryption key during the wireless session. I suggest WPA2 because it has the advantages of WPA (TKIP) but uses a stronger "unhackable" encryption (AES). I find that with older d-links that there are issues with getting IP addresses from the router sometimes when using WPA encryption (internal DHCP issue?). This is something to be aware of if you ever have problems connecting even when close to the router.

If you plan on buying an 11n router make sure it's atleast 802.11n draft 2.0. Draft 2.0 hardware has the same spec as the ratified 802.11n standard (Sept. 2009) so it won't require a hardware change to move to ratified 11n (maybe a firmwave update at best). Any draft 2.0 wireless client should also work with any draft 2.0 or ratified 802.11n router.

[sillysod]

Thanks so much for all your help.

I would love to put the router in the center of the house, but the problem is that my mechanical room is where all my network hardware is.

Right now I have telus modem --> DI624 Router --> 24 port Dlink switch --> Wired connections to printer, server, file server, home monitoring system, PS3, PS2, XBOX.... on and on....

Although I have Cat5 pulled throughout the house the router needs to plug into both the modem and then back into the 24 port switch.

As for encryption im not terribly concerned it's just WEP and i know all my neighbours. There are many open networks around my house, so I doubt anybody is going to waste time hacking into mine to access some famly pictures from our network file server.


So should i look at getting a wired router and then just getting a wireless access point and putting it somewhere on the second level of the house?

[j0nblayz]

get a linksys wrt610n, and flash it with dd-wrt firmware.

[sillysod]

5GHZ is kinda usless with anything but the newest wireless devices no?

My laptop is 2 yrs old now, and we have an eeepc and old toshiba.

So i am assuming that it would be kind of pointless no?

I would rather not spend $200.00 on a router

would something like this work?

Clicky Click (http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22033(ME).aspx)

[hampstor]

Originally posted by sillysod
Thanks so much for all your help.

I would love to put the router in the center of the house, but the problem is that my mechanical room is where all my network hardware is.

Right now I have telus modem --> DI624 Router --> 24 port Dlink switch --> Wired connections to printer, server, file server, home monitoring system, PS3, PS2, XBOX.... on and on....

Although I have Cat5 pulled throughout the house the router needs to plug into both the modem and then back into the 24 port switch.

As for encryption im not terribly concerned it's just WEP and i know all my neighbours. There are many open networks around my house, so I doubt anybody is going to waste time hacking into mine to access some famly pictures from our network file server.


So should i look at getting a wired router and then just getting a wireless access point and putting it somewhere on the second level of the house?

- Leave the di-624 router where it is
- Buy another router (such as the one you linked)
- Place your new router on the 2nd floor at the back of the house
- plug it into your wired network (down to your switch)
- follow the guide I did for running 2+ routers in your home to maximize reception.
- ???
- Profit. :bigpimp:

So it will look like... (for all wired connections)

TELUS MODEM --> DI-624 --> YOUR SWITCH

-> All other wired devices (to the switch)
-> YOUR NEW ROUTER On 2nd Floor (to the switch)

If you set it up right your notebook will automatically jump to the router with better reception. Keep in mind, the guide i wrote assumes you know a little bit about setting up a router and networking ...

[sillysod]

Ok i will try this tonight

Thanks Hamstor

[thetransporter]

do what i did.

put the router in your mechanical room. (linksys wrt54g) (ddwrt)


then on the top floor put a second wrt54g in repeater mode or WDS or if you have a network plug there just turn off DHCP and plug the network plug in 1,2,3,4 and or VLAN the WAN port to the LAN so you can make use of that port.

also put your network name/SSID/WEP/CHannel the same as the other one.

sort of the set up i have in the basement although my router acts as wireless client instead from westnet.

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27018_499299495067_600525067_11230527_8063131_n.jpg