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jonnydollar

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how can i get better range with my linksys wireless router

I bought a new wireless linksys router and it works ok, connects everything fine except the range for the wireless is poor. It connects for a few seconds and goes off for a few minutes. Im using the modem WRT54G. Now the distance is about 30ft abd it has to go thru two walls. Now i owned an old SMC access point and even underthose circumsatncs it was allowing connection fine. I bought this router thinking it could replace both my SMC access point and the hub it was connected to. But the signal is weak. I turned the trans. rate down to 1M and the signal is stronger but it doesnt work consistantly. Does any one have any ideas of what measures i can take to help improve connection with my wireless? Even with how to place the router.

thanks
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Geekelite

Your best bet is to go through a checklist of possible interfering factors.

Firstly, you mentioned that there are two walls in the way.  Is there a more centralized location that you could place the wireless, where you wouldnt have physical obstructions to worry about?

30 feet away, you're bound to have SOME attentuation.  Even if you have something like a television, a halogen lamp, a cordless phone, a cattle fence, there are all kinds of things that can cause difficulty.

Do you have any idea of how compatable the access point and the router are?  As in, can you interface the access point with the router in any way? That might help tidy it up a bit.

I have had some difficulty with some of the newer wireless routers myself, even in open areas.  Moving the halogen lamp and the router cleared it up almost immediately.
Avatar of jonnydollar

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i cant really move the router. there is a wireless phone in the same room. but surely there must be a way to keep both and clean up the signal
Is the base station near the router at all?

That could be where the interference is coming from.

When it comes to troubleshooting, I tend to just ask a bunch of questions.

Are you in a house or apartment?
What other devices are in the area?
Have you upgraded the firmware for the router yet?
Are the antennae all the way up?

Wireless CAN be a bit of a pain, but I'll certainly help as best as I can :)
You can try using a better antenna.  The antennas that come with the units are pretty cheap, stay close to the device, and have a limited range of motion.

Since they are so close to teh device, the device itself can cause interference!  I have had success sometimes by just turning the unit around or placing it on its side.

Getting an external antenna with a cord can help a huge amount, even without using a high-gain antenna.  If you use a high-gain antenna, you will get even better results, generally at a loss of omnidirectionality.  FCC rules require higher gain antennas to be directiona, so you need to point the antenna in the direction of the area it will be communicating with, which means you get only one portion of your house "bathed" with radio.  if the AP happens to be in a corner of the house, that's often OK, but if it is in themiddle...

Many of the home wireless gateways have provision for two antenna, so you can use high gain antennas without sacrificing coverage -- just get two, and aim them so there is a small amount of overlap in coverage.  Even with farily high gain/small radius devices, that shoudl give you at least 35-40% coverage.  (Just don't buy a Yaggi, or you will have a reallynarrow radius no matter what.)
Also make sure there are no large magnetic interferences near the WAP.  This includes UPS's, amplifiers, etc.
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Les Moore
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The signal booster is only good for specific Linksys models, not the G.  And if "site line intterference" is causing the problem, the booster might not help anyway.
Shame on me. I missed the clue that it was the 54G...
Never mind then...
I really wonder what that booster does, anyway. Increase power?  hen it either violates FCC rules, or te standard AP is deliberately underpowered. Neither seems likely!
That booster will not work with a 802.11g setup.