Help with wireless connections

spb251272 · 15 Jan 2008 at 12:25

I recently moved into a new 3 storey house, and signed up with Sky Broadband. I have been using the netgear wireless router they sent me, which is located on the top floor, where the main PC is. I have two PCs and 2 Xbox 360s on the middle floor, and an Xbox 360 & Wii on the ground floor.

So far, I have only connected the 2 PCs on the second floor, and one of the Xbox 360s on the second floor, all with wireless g adapters.

The connections were pretty crap, so at the weekend, I bought the Netgear DG834N Rangemax Next 270Mbps Wireless Router, thinking it would solve my problems. This is now located where the original Sky Netgear router was (top floor).

The first problem I have is that I cannot get the wireless G adapters on the PCs to even find the router when it is set to anything other than the basic B and G wireless mode. If I try to use the 130Mbps or the 270Mbps mode, it simply cannot see them. This is despite the router supposedly being backwards compatible at these speeds. I am planning to upgrade the wireless adapters on the PCs to the Rangemax Next ones soon, but the gaming adapter is brand new, and I don't want to have to replace that to get the faster modes working. Even if I did, there's not many gaming adapters around that would use the faster modes anyway.

The second problem is that last night, I tried to connect the Wii (ground floor). It found the router (b and g mode) but would not connect. I then tried connecting the Xbox 360 on the ground floor with the gaming adapter I'm using on the one on the middle floor. It connected, but it was constantly losing the signal, reconnecting, then losing the signal again. I can only assume that the signal is not strong enough. Surely the idea of the Rangemax Next is to extend the range so it should connect!

As for the range problem, I thought I would be able to extend the range with an access point if I had to, but after reading the online setup manual for the Rangemax Next Access Point, it says it needs to be plugged into the router. Can you not get something that would sit on the middle floor and boost the signal to the gound floor?

For info, I'm using the WPA-PSK (TKIP) + WPA2-PSK (AES) security settings, I am broadcasting SSID, and I have not set up a filtered MAC access list.

Oh, just beforee someone suggests it, I will not be using cables, as I am not ruining my shiny new house by drilling holes all over the place, and I don't think that powerline would be worth it because of the number of connections I need.

Sorry for the "War & Peace" post, but any help would be great!

Roland0 · 15 Jan 2008 at 12:49

Have you tried High-Gain Antennas? or moving them about?? dont know if this would help? and the range max will used 802.11N which is still not fully released, and I very much doubt that the wii / 360 are N-compliant

Good luck, my personall opinion (at very least until N is out) is that wireless is total PAP!
and your bettor of putting cat5 in your wallspace im sure it wont ruin your house!

tolien · 15 Jan 2008 at 13:06

If the router supports it, you should be able to get an AP that does WDS - it wouldn't need to be directly connected to the router but would extend the range from it.

Surely the idea of the Rangemax Next is to extend the range so it should connect!

Only when you're using matching adapters - even associating the gaming adapter with the router will slow the network down.

Roland0 · 15 Jan 2008 at 13:08

Tolien said:
If the router supports it, you should be able to get an AP that does WDS - it wouldn't need to be directly connected to the router but would extend the range from it.

I still dont understand why they are so expensive.

tolien · 15 Jan 2008 at 13:14

Why what is so expensive? :confused:

AP's are cheap, niche brand-specific ones might not be. That's the pitfall of buying non-standard hardware...

spb251272 · 15 Jan 2008 at 13:39

So am I right in thinking that by mixing g adapters with non g adapters, I would be slowing down the signal speed? But what about the fact that the g adapters wont connect in anything other than b and g mode? Any idea how I'll find out if the router supports WDS?

tolien · 15 Jan 2008 at 14:45

Mixing g and b, or g/b and n will slow down the network. Are you sure that the options aren't b/g only or n only, or is it actually b/g/n?

It should say in the manual, or in the web interface if there's a WDS option.

spb251272 · 15 Jan 2008 at 14:53

There are 3 modes: -

up to 270Mbps mode
up to 130Mbps mode
b & g mode

The manual says that the "up to 270Mbps" mode is the default mode, as it allows b,g & n connections.

Although I don't have any n adapters, I will do soon, and I don't want to be crippled by the fact that I still need to run in "b & g" mode to get the gaming adapter to work.

I've been on the Netgear forums, and found out that none of the netgear routers are compatible with WDS! Apparently if I connect an access point to my router, then i can use wds to connect to another access point, but not direct from the router!

I am thinking about taking it back, sticking the original sky netgear router back on with the wireless disabled, and sticking an "n" access point in the back of the router. At least that way I can extend the range with another access point if I need to.

spb251272 · 16 Jan 2008 at 12:06

Solved the problem of lack of range with the router. I had it on my computer desk, near the PC and the wireless transmitter for my mouse. Moved it about 6ft away, and I now get a solid signal on the ground floor with the Wii. Also tried a few different channels, and that seems to have helped.