Access point queries

So much for the promised 100m+ coverage eh.

In the end I ditched my AP and repeater setup and hard wired the now single centrally located AP with cat5e cable from the modem. Bit of a pain to have to run the cable but it's more reliable now. It also means I can now have the repeater freed up so I can get interwebs down the shed when I want it.

Maybe a better antenna might help on the repeater or maybe even the AP itself. Those ones you can make yourself from card ad foil are reputed to boost forward radio signal considerably. I've seen some with a drinks can cut in half too. If the AP is at one end of the house then technically it's only forward direction of signal you need.
 
I guess you could get 100m+ outside where there's no brick walls in the way or interference, as I think these are the problems Im having. I might get someone to put the access point upstairs cos in theory it has only got to get through floor boards to get to the main router, and it might cover a bit better.

Ive change the antenna for this one I had lying around (not using the base part) http://www.pixmania-pro.co.uk/gb/uk/04040009/art/d-link/ant24-0700-7dbi-54-mb-wifi-antenna.html no idea if its made things better tho. I dont know if a directional antenna would work as I need the signal going more then 1 way.
 
Ok guys, after a few more hrs or playing, Ive come to the conclusion that the access point is faulty or a setting isnt right somewhere. Because laptop still keeps disconnecting even with the routers close together.

If you reboot either of the routers, connection is fine for about 10-15mins and then the access point start disconnecting the laptop every 5-10secs from then onwards, but if you keep the connection always active its fine. The main router is fine if laptop connects to that.. Any ideas guy.
 
****Off topic****

Your Downstream noise margin for your DSL connection is high. Most ISPs set the margin to 6db or 7db. You could be connecting at a higher downstream sync if you check with your ISP.
 
i doubt the tplink is faulty. its all down to user error. why not try disabling the wifi on the belkin and use wifi only on tplink to see how its performing as i said on msn to you.
if your client is having disconnection issues make sure the drivers are updated especially if its an intel wifi card since the latest drivers have lots of stability fixes.
iv used tplink gear before with no issues, they are very good value for money, just that doing somehting like this will require testing and knowledge when setting up.

you still havent done the basics like setup the tplink in repeater mode and then see if u can access the tplik web gui while your computer is plugged into the belkin. your whole approach to this repeater business is flawed. im not surprised that you cant get it to work.
 
Have to agree regarding the tp-link stuff. I've got a modem router and wireless ap repeater and both are pretty solid. The repeater itself worked well once configured correctly with main router mac and dhcp off. I had dhcp turmed on once and my daughters laptop couldn't connect properly. You only should have one dhcp server per network.

Try removing encryption from the network for testing purposes too. Might also be worth changing the mode from 20/40 to just 20 mode as that helped me the other day setting up a laptop. Sometimes it's the silliest thing that causes these things to fail.
 
Ok Im going to have a few more hrs trying to get this stupid thing running properly, by doing what Cyber-mav suggested. To be honest Im running out of things to try now, as I tried updating drivers on laptop, turning off the encryption on both routers, messing with 20/40mhz mode, but nothing will keep the connection stable after 10-15 mins with it being turned on or rebooted. If I dont get it working after today, Im giving up with the stupid thing.:mad:
 
you should also use better tools to monitor signal strength other then the wifi bars shown in windows. as i have told you before use inssider to see the actual signal strength recieved in different locations around the house.

and if your access point is in the middle of the house then an omni directional antenna will work best. if its at one side of the house like your current setup is then your best off using a sector antenna to focus the signal into one direction. this way you dont waste signal strength and you dont pickup unnecessary noise from directions you dont need to pickup signals from.
 
Well its beaten me, I tried access point mode by connecting both routers hardwired together, that works fine. Tried repeater mode again but this time hardwired laptop and tp-link together, that also worked fine. So then I tried taking the tp-link in the room where I wanted the net and hardwired laptop and tp-link together, I got no net at all, guessing tp-link was too far away from the router, so I give up.

With current router I do get net access in sitting room and I guess its reliable enough, but sisters ipod cant pick it up at all and shes getting a laptop for xmas, so who knows if her laptop will be able to pick it up. I was just trying to make sure she had a signal before she got the laptop but that has failed.

Unless you guys can think or why tp-link is dropping out the wireless connection to laptop after tp-link been booted for 10-15mins. like when it works for those 10-15mins I get good signal from the router to tp-link and good signal in sitting room, also still good signals after 10-15mins when it decides enough is enough and disconnect/reconnects like a yoyo.
 
if your laptop cant get signal in the room you want wifi in, then the tplink doesnt have much chance either of recieving a signal from your belkin in that room. thats why u need to go some where in the middle to see if you can repeat the signal. but as i said to you, if you cant hardwire and you need wireless then the only option for you is to use better equipment and specialist sector antennas to focus your wifi in the direction of the house you need coverage in.
and understand that wifi is 2 way communication, no point having over powered access point if your client cant shout back at it. thats why high gain antennas make more difference than high power output.
sector antenna would also have been best approach for you stick the patch antenna on the wall facing the direction of the house you need wifi in. the patch antennas have higher gain and focused direction which will help in both transmitting and recieveing weaker signals and they wont be picking up or broadcasting signals in the directions that dont need to be sent to, like outside your house.
you can still do this, using the tp-link put a sector antenna on it, they cost less than 10 quid for a decent one.
 
It does sound like the TP-Link is a little bit dodgy if it can be hardwired to the main router and works fine and also when the router is hard wired to the laptop.

I do wonder what's happening though. When you lose the laptop connection are you able to patch into the TP-Link and see if it's still connected to the main AP?. With mine it has several indicators of loss of main router connection, such as a bandwidth monitor and uplink MAC address.

Maybe your TP-Link just can't cope with the repeating mode very well. Mine used to work fine provided signal from main AP was good and strong. It mattered less if the remote client was further away. This is mine http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-028-TP&groupid=46&catid=1837&subcat=
 
as i told you on msn due to your house layout and where you have the wifi access point, something like this would have been better:
http://www.tp-link.com/uk/products/details/?categoryid=216&model=TL-WA5210G

on your current tp-link you could use this: http://www.tp-link.com/uk/products/details/?categoryid=217&model=TL-ANT2409A antenna to get better signals in the direction you want them to go to.

and as i mentioned to you before you could have had considerably better results if you used an ubiquiti nanostation: http://ubnt.com/nanostationm

up to you though, if you lack the knowledge to setup wifi repeaters and specific antennas then you may as well pay someone to install a network cable from one side of the house to the other side.
 
Where I put the tp-link is in the middle of the house and like I said the signal is good there, as it gets 20 -25db from belkin to tp-link and tp-link gives good coverage in the sitting room. Anyway even if it was a poor signal, that still dosent explain why the tp-link can hold a connection fine for the first 10-15mins with laptop when tp-link had been switched on or rebooted, and then cant hold a connection more then 5secs at a time, unless you reboot tp-link again.

Anyway its back in the box now cos Ive been messing about with this for a week,, so ive had it with the thing, I might see if I can get a replacement.
 
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Those directional antennas look nicee. A lot of the signal I produce from my standard omni is wasted being sent out the size window and towards next door rather than being sent into the house itself.
 
Tealc said:
Those directional antennas look nicee. A lot of the signal I produce from my standard omni is wasted being sent out the size window and towards next door rather than being sent into the house itself.
Click to expand...

exactly what im saying here. why send signals outside where you dont need them to go. and with omni antenna it will also be listening to signals comming from outside too. so you get interfearance from directions your dont need t listen to either.
 
1 of those wouldn't be any good for my tp-link if I ever get it working, as I need signal to go forward, back and up? It would be good for the belkin as signal only has to go forward, but I don't think you can remove the antennas from the belkin

Your tp-link looks identical to mine accept yours is a fiver more and a diff model Tealc. I might see if I can get a refund on mind and try the one you have
 
tonight Ive ordered this after lappy wouldnt connect at all in the sitting room using just my belkin router
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-030-TP&groupid=46&catid=1837&subcat=

So I will be totally gutted if this produces the same prob as the current TP-Link AP I have at the moment, and if not, and a big IF, it will be great.

Ive tried the current TP Link AP that I have again, (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-006-TP&groupid=46&catid=1837&subcat=) and no the laptop just wont stay connected after 10mins of the AP being on. Also tried it with a diff laptop too

So its kill or cure time, and Im hoping and praying with everything crossed, this 1 will work.
 
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I Received the new access point today and its doing the exact same thing, so I must be doing something wrong....... plz plz help:mad::mad::mad:

Laptop disconnects after 5secs of the connection being idel from tp-link, after tp-link been booted longer then about 10mins
 
I just tried pinging google and that keeps the dam thing from disconnecting, so I was thinking can I use something like that, but just to keep the connection ticking over??
 
Ive made a hidden batch file so runs at start up and the connection stays connected. So its pinging 1byte once at my belkin router every 8secs, and heres is the code. Is their any security risks in this, as I dont know how else I can fix it?:mad:

:start
ping -n 1 -l 1 192.168.2.1
c:\ping\timeout 8
goto start

So if this batch file works ok, and there's no security riisks,,, do I keep this access point or send it back and use the other I bought, as that should work fine now with the batch file.... Ummmm
 
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