Looking for high range wireless router

[jwai]

I'm looking for a router that can generate a strong signal over a long range. The big challenge is that my house is very big and is of double brick and concrete construction, which makes getting a signal difficult.

The router is located close to the front of the house. My own PC is cabled directly into the router, which is not problem. However, my brother and dad's laptops are located upstairs, where it is impractical to run cables up there. My brother is located around the middle of the house upstairs, and has few problems with signal. However, my dad's laptop is closer to the other side of the house, and he has a lot of trouble getting a decent signal that far away.. The laptop is about 20-25 metres from the router based on using Pythagoras using a horizontal range of 20 metres and a storey height of 3 metres, not taking into account all the concrete walls and floors. I dare say that I'll need something that can generate a damn good signal at least 25-30 metres to compensate for the interference from the walls.

The D-Link DI-524 currently in use is terrible and cannot cut it in terms of both range and reliability of the connection (it drops out a lot, especially with my connection, which is actually wired - not happy). I've also tried the Belkin G+ MIMO router which has supposedly more range, but it still doesn't have enough range for my dad's laptop, although it was more reliable than the D-Link.

Does anyone have any ideas for this very prickly problem? It appears that we might have to spend a lot more money than we had expected, although I still need to dissuade my dad from buying from Harvey Norman, since they don't know crap and are overpriced.

[dzudza]

huh, I agree on Harvey Norman...

I would give TP-Link a go... They have a good 108M wireless router, with something they call extended range. Apparently that thing is giving the router 2-3x more range, compared to other wireless routers... cheers!

[f3n1x]

Something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/9dB-WiFi-Wire...QQcmdZViewItem

Attached preferably to the access point (thus benefiting everyone) should solve your problem.

If that doesn't work, this will!

[tin]

Multiple APs with wired links back to the router. Forget the idea of all in one router/APs (especially since it's unnecessary to have more than one router).

Also, have you taken a walk to confirm you are using a channel no one else in the area is (remembering that channels also overlap)?

[tin]

Originally Posted by f3n1x

<Antennas>

OP said they have 2 floors. Increasing gain on the antenna won't help.

A 19dbi antenna would need to be located about 3-5km away for the beam to be wide enough to cover a 2 storey house....

[Serley]

I have a similar problem - ADSL2 line terminating upstairs and not getting good wireless downstairs due to concrete walls and floor. (If your internal walls and floor are concrete it is unlikely you will get a signal going through them effectively as remember it will be coming through at quite a flat angle and hence taking a long path through). Best theoretical solution I could find is a Netcomm NP295 Wireless Homeplug combo:
http://www.i-tech.com.au/products/14497_NETCOMM_NP295_WIRELESS_HOMEPLUG_COMBO.aspx
You connect one part via ethernet and plug into a power point then plug the wireless component into another power point near the laptop and it becomes a wireless extender via the power cables. Sounds good but still wondering whether to buy it as a search shows some people have had problems/doubts about them (but that is true of most things). Couldn't get much feedback in another post. Have tried making a parabolic antenna, didn't seem to help, also a bigger gain aerial - ditto. What did help was the new aerial was on a lead and by using longer cables I was able to position the aerial in the stairwell (and angle it) and get the signal going down the gap from whence it bounces around the downstairs area.

[Anakist]

Definitely no way to run a cable and use an AP upstairs? I would think that is the best option.

James

[cokeeffekt]

just throwing this out there as an option, linksys wrt54GL you can flash the firmware with DD-WRT (www.dd-wrt.com) which enables u to turn up signal stregnth past 28ma up to 120ma i believe and can also adjust DB stregnth. they are priced at bout $85 off the net. people have had these doing almost 4.3ks line of site im sure it will cater for your house nicely

[tin]

Originally Posted by cokeeffekt

which enables u to turn up signal stregnth past 28ma up to 120ma i believe and can also adjust DB stregnth.

250mw
And adjust "DB strength"? WTF is that supposed to mean?

Above about 75-80mw, the WRTs put out a lot of side noise. At 120+ it's spewing out enough that you can drown out a few channels either side.
I would NOT recommend this for a residential area.
Increasing output power also puts more stress on the radio, and can cause it to die more quickly.

Why don't people just do the right thing and use a cable where it's required? Saves a lot of headaches in the long run for both the user and their neighbours!

[f3n1x]

Originally Posted by tin

OP said they have 2 floors. Increasing gain on the antenna won't help.

It would increase the strength of what ever signal is getting through, It would only not help if there wasn't any signal getting through.

If this not the case feel free to correct me, but explain why.

Originally Posted by tin

A 19dbi antenna would need to be located about 3-5km away for the beam to be wide enough to cover a 2 storey house....

I am aware of this, it was a (admittedly bad) joke.

[jwai]

As a bit of an update, my dad got a twin pack of Netgear EOP XE104/103 units from Harvey Norman (groan). Cost him $250, but now after some fiddling (EOP definitely hates powerboards), he now has a decent connection where he wants it. I'm getting about 32-40 MBps through the EOP, but that's not really important compared to the fact that it works.

It's also good that the units also work in conjunction with the D-Link to still have wireless for my brother (because he is within range to use it well). Later on, we could simply get another EOP unit for my bro so he can do away with wireless altogether.

Now, the question is how long will the Netgear units last...

[-Sk3tChY-]

Any decent Wireless N router..?

Supposedly they say they have up to like 12x the range, which I know is probably a load of crap, but still at least if you have maybe 3-4 times more range you shouldn't have an issue.

[bcann]

Drop your speed of the router down, the higher the speed the much more likely it will not connect. Just because you may have a draft n,doesn't mean you should use it in some situations... drop it back to a lower data rate will improve range and connection ability.