Dear Sir ,
i have a linksys router which is installed on ground floor ,i need a range booster so that i can easily work on my first floor as signals are very low there , someone adviced me that DLINK DWL-2100AP WIRELESS 108G ACCESS POINT will be the best solution .
kindly advice
regards
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It would work ''best'' to connect the Linksys and D-Link devices with cat5e ethernet cable, if possible.
1) the DWL-2100AP does have an AP Repeater mode, yes.
2) if you configure the DWL-2100AP with the same SSID, security type and channel as the Linksys (probably a necessity to use it as an AP repeater), then they should 'look like' a single access point to a wireless adapter.
3) 'better' is a subjective term, plus the performance level has many variables, so the answer is ''it depends.'' :-)
Be aware the antenna suggested in DGSGuy's initial reply will probably not provide any more gain than the stock Linksys antennae. The advantage of an antenna like that is being able to reposition it (due to the 1.5m cable, and/or extensions) without moving the router or access point.
The signal emanates from an omni antenna in the shape of a donut (with the antenna pointing straight through the donut hole), so there is very little signal straight over the tip or directly under the base of the antenna (or its 'elbow'). Tipping the antenna over 90 degrees tips the donut/coverage 90 degrees, also, with little signal going in (or received from) the direction that the tip is 'pointing' towards (or directly away from).
So, what might work better is to tip one stock antenna over so it's parallel to the floor/ceiling... that should provide better coverage up and down; when they are standing straight up (perpendicular to the floor/ceiling), they provide maximum horizontal coverage. So then you would have 1 antenna up and down providing horizontal coverage, and the other oriented horizontally providing better up and down coverage.
Also, the Linksys likely uses a Broadcom chipset radio and the D-Link uses an Atheros chipset radio. So they won't connect to each other at 108Mbps. The advertising copy usually doesn't point that out, and if the D-Link can't talk to the Linksys at faster than 54Mbps it doesn't matter much whether or not your computers' wireless adapters are able to connect to the D-Link at 108Mbps. (unless you're able to connect the D-Link and Linksys with cat5, of course.)
One more consideration is that AP Repeater mode cuts available wireless bandwidth in half, since the D-Link would spend half its time talking to the adapter(s) and the other half talking to the Linksys.
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by: DGSGuyPosted on 2009-07-10 at 08:01:11ID: 24824001
That would probably work, assuming there is nothing interfering with the wi-fi signal between floors such as electrical wiring, or metal objects such as pipes.
I would suggest trying an external antenna such as the one below if you want to save some money. Another thing you can try is moving your router as high as you can to see if your signal strength improves on the floor above.
http://www.tigerdirect.com