Quick question

Leezy · 24 Jan 2012 at 23:27

Hi folks just a quick question its probably been asked before..

My room is right on the border line of the wireless router downstairs (quite a big house and to many walls in the way)

my iphone cant pick up the wireless at all when im in my room, but my laptop can just about but it has no signal strength and most of the time disconnects.

however my PC is Ethernet cabled in from when we first had the internet installed so... am I right in thinking I can just buy a wireless card for my PC and just enable ICS and turn my PC into a wireless access point that my laptop and phone can connect to at the same time or is this not possible?

if not, is there any other ways of overcoming this problem?

thanks in advance

bremen1874 · 24 Jan 2012 at 23:36

You could use your PC as an access point, but a dedicated device would be simpler/better (IMO).

If you've got an old wireless router spare you could use it instead of buying a dedicated wireless access point.

Slade2 · 24 Jan 2012 at 23:41

You can make a Cantenna to maybe boost the signal a little bit that might work a bit. You can also just add a wireless card and then set it up on the router as a wireless access point so either will work i would think.

Leezy · 25 Jan 2012 at 10:29

So I could run an access point from my computer?

I assumed access points had to be directly connect to routers/modems

So I could just get a £20 access point ethernet it to my PC and allow my iphone/laptop to connect to it?

Would it slow my PC's connection? or would it just bypass my connection and just act as though I was connected to the router just through the access point?

bremen1874 · 25 Jan 2012 at 18:14

Leezy said:
So I could run an access point from my computer?

I assumed access points had to be directly connect to routers/modems

So I could just get a £20 access point ethernet it to my PC and allow my iphone/laptop to connect to it?

Would it slow my PC's connection? or would it just bypass my connection and just act as though I was connected to the router just through the access point?

An access point would need to connect to your wired connection to the router. If this would leave you without anywhere to connect your PC you have a few options:

Get a wireless access point and a network switch. Connect the switch to the existing network cable, and then connect the PC and the access point to the switch.
Find a wireless access point with a built-in switch (if such a thing exists – I haven’t checked). Connect the access point to the existing network cable, and then connect the PC to the access point.
Configure a wireless router to act as a wireless access point (easy to do, and there are plenty of guides out there). Treat it as an access point with a built in switch.