Lack of range

Quronos

Quronos

Quronos

Associate
Joined
19 Oct 2005
Posts
170
Location
Swindon/Southampton
Hi all

just got me a linksys wireless router and card and have found that I dont have enough range on the router to be able to reach the pc with my wireless card.

buggar!

There is a problem with the router signal strength even when sat next to it, so linksys have offered to replace....which is good of them.

At the risk of the replacement router not giving better signal, I was wondering if i could pass an idea by you networking legends.

If i connected a cable from the ariel socket on the router, up a dis-used chimney and placed it on the roof with an ariel pointed at the shed....would this get me a good signal to my shed ?

As you can probably tell I am a N00B at networking
 
Is it just the shed that needs wireless coverage? There are a few options.

- adjust the wireless channel in the router settings
- replace the aerial with a higher gain antenna (just swaps over - only useful if its just out of range though, need a laptop to test)
- put up a omni or direction antenna outside, as you suggested, although they can be a little pricey
 
Higher gain antennas are not THAT expensive,but allow for the price of the extension cable to connect the router to the antenna(might work out to be the price of the antenna)
when i went down that road a few years ago antenna was abouy £25 for a 12 dbi and £22ish for the lead
 
sorry, the shed houses my own personal pc (using my dad's at the mo) and it needs access to the network for internet etc.

hopefully the new router will be ok and actually reach the shed. I know with this one at the mo, the technicians got me to change the channels with no real success. The laptop i used to test with didnt even pick up a very bad signal half way down the garden and only managed a very good signal when stood next to the actual router.

tis that bad lol

I'll see what the new router does, but if it appears not to be able to reach the shed....think i'll have to buy some cable :-(
 
If the PC's in the shed and on the same ring main power line may be a better solution, while you can put up an external antenna it's a little more hassle. A bigger Ariel can be had for not a lot of money on a well known auction site and would provide better results but as you've not told us how close the shed is to the house it's all subjective. If it's a case of another 20m then spend a fiver and give it a go, if it's a mile away then start looking at directional external stuff.
 
Its called Home Plug (or similar). Basically you have one module that plugs into a power socket by your router and a network cable goes to your router. You then have another module which does the opposite in the shed (wireless).

e.g. router-home plug -[ power cables ]- homeplug (wireless).

The data gets transferred via your normal power cables. The device automatically 'finds' all modules on the ring main.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-113-NG&groupid=46&catid=800&subcat=
+
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-115-NG&groupid=46&catid=800&subcat=
 
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