Wireless Network Range?

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At the moment I’m using a router that came with our broadband supplier when we signed up last year, the router is fine for the ground floor of my house but when upstairs I get atrocious signal levels if any at all! Is there any way to increase my signal strength on the first floor of my home?
 
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You could try to move the router to different locations in your home to see if you can increase your signal strength. Other options include buying a larger antenna or a wireless repeater.
 
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At the moment I’m using a router that came with our broadband supplier when we signed up last year, the router is fine for the ground floor of my house but when upstairs I get atrocious signal levels if any at all! Is there any way to increase my signal strength on the first floor of my home?

Netgear has some nice one's with good range. They're about $100 though.

I have one so I can say that on a two story house, the signal is still strong on the top story on the opposite side of the house from where the router is on the bottom in the basement.

The Airposrt routers claim good range. No personal experience with those however.
 
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You could try to move the router to different locations in your home to see if you can increase your signal strength. Other options include buying a larger antenna or a wireless repeater.

I have already fitted a larger antenna and it made little to no difference at all :(

How do wireless repeaters work? are they expensive? and are there any good cheap ones out there?
 
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Hmm, what Mac are you using that gets atrocious reception? I'd venture a Powerbook or something else that is pre-intel because my Macbook has the best "signal grabbing" properties of any wireless-equipped computer I've ever used. It picks up signals from wireless networks that my Dell can barely detect and hangs on tenaciously. I suspect its a combination of whatever tech comprises the "Extreme" part of the Airport Extreme card and an antenna that's built into the screen, making it an excellent transmit/receiver.

I was at a conference recently where I could get the hotel wireless in the conference room on my Mac, while people with Dells and even folks who had PPC Powerbooks had to venture out to the lobby to get a signal to read their email.

So you may be stuck with whatever signal you have.
 
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The signal problems are on my "cheap" laptop and my brothers Macbook Pro, i have tried moving the router but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference (the router has to stay on the ground floor), so i guess i'm stuck between getting a new router, a repeater or waiting until i purchase my mac in September/October and getting one of the apple routers with the student discount,
 
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i also got a netgear wifi router, i bought it 50euro and for its money its the best i could get.The router is on my room which is at the end of the home and i can surf at the net even when im outside the house (which is not small at all)
But when i go 2 floors up at a friend i got no signal at all.
Anyway i very happy with that range and with netgear.The funny think is that a friend with a vista laptop when he comes here at my home even if his laptop is right in front of my router he got 3 out of 4 lines signal :p
 
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another idea is to put the router in the highest part of the house, this is also recommended by many manufacturers. i have mine on my top floor and it works very well.
 
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another idea is to put the router in the highest part of the house, this is also recommended by many manufacturers. i have mine on my top floor and it works very well.

We use to have it one the first floor but then there was no signal on the ground floor, i guess i just cant win... or the router i have is just plain rubbish!!

Ah some additional information, about 10 years ago we had a house extension, when they did this they had to put two large metal girders at the adjoining sections on each floor of our house - could these cause some type of interruption to the signal?
 
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How does one find the signal strength of a wireless network on a Mac? Thanks!

Symon
 
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It should say it the top right corner of your screen

Thanks mate. I thought it was just an icon indicating I was connected - didn't know it showed strength until I kept looking at it and saw it drop down in strength for a moment. :)

Symon
 
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Yh all manufacturers tell you to keep your router on the top floor of the house

Some people also recommend to keep the router away from mirrors...
 
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Hey all,

This might seem tedious, but what about running an ethernet cable up through to the top level of you house and connecting the router that way? You could hide the cable and router and you would get good coverage upstairs and downstairs...
 
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Is there any way to increase my signal strength on the first floor of my home?
When up stairs with the laptop, walk around to see if the signal quality changes. Perhaps something is interfaring where you normally want to use it. This would suggest you _might_ be able to move the router a bit.
 
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Hi, some of the things that can affect your signal/noise levels and the RF electromagnetic energy from the antennae:

* anything that operate in the 2.4GHz range (maybe a home phone setup? try a 5.8 GHz or 900MHz setup. Those are the federal regulations for frequencies alloted for household use)
* your microwave (assuming it's operating)
* mount it away from walls, and away from the ground... preferably on a desk, in the middle of the house
* away from anything metal
* anything dense, such as insulation/walls/furniture... the signal will be absorbed

What you can do:

* get a wireless repeater (as others mentioned)
* try changing the channels (not on the TV! :p, but on the router)
* update your router firmware, the manufacturer may have included some updates since you last got it

Ah some additional information, about 10 years ago we had a house extension, when they did this they had to put two large metal girders at the adjoining sections on each floor of our house - could these cause some type of interruption to the signal?

Yes, that will affect it, too. There's a big prob right there.

another idea is to put the router in the highest part of the house, this is also recommended by many manufacturers. i have mine on my top floor and it works very well.

Not true. Read above. Who told you this? :(
 
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I have a Linksys Router on the far corner ground floor of a four bed house and I get a great signal all over the house. You would need to change the IP address for you new router if you did this though as it would probably conflict with the IP address on your existing router. This is not a very expensive and supports both b & g, I am not sure what your existing router supports.

If you do not want to get another router then get a wireless repeater.
 
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Well I have the newest AirPort Extreme basestation on my main floor, set up for 802.11n. I sits on a bookshelf against a wall in front of books. Anywhere in my house (2nd floor & basement) as well as 80' away out in my yard I get 15 out of 15 bars signal strength as shown on Applications/Internet Connect/AirPort on my MacBook. In fact, if I go across the park behind my property to a neighbors deck, I can still connect to the Internet just fine. To me it was more than worth the extra money to buy Apple's stuff. It just works superbly and the range is incredible.
 
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Well I have the newest AirPort Extreme basestation on my main floor, set up for 802.11n. I sits on a bookshelf against a wall in front of books. Anywhere in my house (2nd floor & basement) as well as 80' away out in my yard I get 15 out of 15 bars signal strength as shown on Applications/Internet Connect/AirPort on my MacBook. In fact, if I go across the park behind my property to a neighbors deck, I can still connect to the Internet just fine. To me it was more than worth the extra money to buy Apple's stuff. It just works superbly and the range is incredible.

Here in the UK we need an ADSL modem router - which Apple don't do unfortunately. Anyone suggest a modem router that has this sort of performance? And does anyone know if Apple might introduce such a beast?
 

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