Best way to boost WRT54GL Tomato signal strength?

MarcLister

MarcLister

MarcLister

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I have a WRT54GL router running the Tomato mod in my bedroom which is in the basement! :o It is currently set to channel 11 but using an app on my HTC Magic it seems that channels 1 or 14 would be a little less busy so I might change to that.

Anyway I'm thinking of buying a netbook soon and it'd be nice to use the netbook in the garden and access the Internet through my router. The signal drops quite a bit going from my room to the garden so I was wondering if I could make the signal a bit stronger to make the wireless performance of the netbook a bit better.

The way I see it is that I can either buy new antennas for the WRT54GL or, having looked on the router, increase the transmit power from the default 42mW to something a bit higher. A quick Google shows that anything above 70 is pushing the limits of the hardware a bit and that above 84 the chip is getting friend.

So is there a recommendation on which method is better? New antennas or increase transmit power or should I try both out?
 
The router is under the radiator which is under the window. Anyway the window is on the wrong side of the room. :p The window faces the front, the garden is at the rear of the house. :)
 
Increasing transmit power is a no cost option to try, don't push it too hard. I had a WRT54G running HyperWRT and I remember sticking the power right up. The unit got warm (there was a recomendation to install a heastsink) but neve failed.

Remember Antennas increase the power by directing the signal in a specific direction, it might be worth getting a directional one that can focus the signal out towards the garden
 
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numnutz said:
Increasing transmit power is a no cost option to try, don't push it too hard. I had a WRT54G running HyperWRT and I remember sticking the power right up. The unit got warm (there was a recomendation to install a heastsink) but neve failed.
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Like I said in the opening post 70-84mW is the top end to stick the transmit power into judging by a quick Google. :)

numnutz said:
Remember Antennas increase the power by directing the signal in a specific signal, it might be worth getting a directional one that can focus the signal out towards the garden
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Good thinking. :) Do Linksys make directional antennas or can I get other brand antennas?

wesley said:
dont increase too much or you'll get your brain damaged!
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Probably a joke in there about my brain already being damaged. :D It's on 42mW I think, or whatever the default is. Was thinking of upping it to 50mW initially to see what that was like. :)
 
MarcLister said:
Good thinking. :) Do Linksys make directional antennas or can I get other brand antennas?
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Don't forget you can always fashion one with foil. Simply create a reflective device, like a dish (parabola) or similar.

Also bare in mind that wireless is a two way system, you will need to enhance the power/ability of the client device as well to really get it going well, as upping the transmit power won't mean it can receive a weak netbook signal :)
 
Stoned_SpaZZZ said:
Don't forget you can always fashion one with foil. Simply create a reflective device, like a dish (parabola) or similar.
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Can I make one from a Pringles tube? :D

Stoned_SpaZZZ said:
Also bare in mind that wireless is a two way system, you will need to enhance the power/ability of the client device as well to really get it going well, as upping the transmit power won't mean it can receive a weak netbook signal :)
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Will the netbook let me do that?
 
Duke said:
How about using a home plug access point upstairs?
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With a wireless extender plugged in there? That could work. We did buy some home plugs a few years back in a failed attempt to share one Internet connection between me and my brother's computers.

The house is quite old but it could work as the dining room backs onto the garden and there's a big window I could aim a wireless extender out of. :)
 
Yeah, have one wired home plug into the router then the second being a wireless AP version wherever you need it :)
 
Duke said:
Yeah, have one wired home plug into the router then the second being a wireless AP version wherever you need it :)
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Sounds like the way forward. I think we've still got the home plugs in the loft somewhere. We even have an outhouse for the laundry stuff which is even closer to the garden than the dining room. I could see if the home plugs will work out there and locate the wireless AP out there. :)

Time to do some informed research now. :cool:
 
Oh I see, yeah if you already have two wired home plugs then just move the AP itself there. I was suggesting to buy a wireless AP home plug itself but obviously your way is cheaper if you have the kit.
 
Oh right. I didn't know there were wireless AP home plugs. :p I realised earlier that now my little brother is with VM for broadband the old ADSL router of mine he was using is now not being used. It's a Netgear DG834PN.

So if we have kept the home plugs then I should have everything I need. :)
 
I just tried (wireless) data transfer rates for Transmit Power @ 84 and 55mW settings and (interestingly) I got a marginally faster transfer rate for the 55mW setting...was using a 48MB file transferred from my laptop over my home network to a desktop in another room...
 
When I had Tomato running on the Linksys before, I upped the power as well (to 70 something I think) but didn't notice any increase in range - does it only improve speed within the same range?
 
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