Netgear router increased range

Question

is there any way I can increase the range of my netgear wireless router. can I buy or rig up a better antenna? Im not looking for a massive increase in range, just about 5 meters. I cant change the position of the router very easily.

Answer 1

Buying an antenna is a good idea - try getting one from www.maplin.co.uk

I find that the DG834PN has a much better range than the other range, though. Try buying that - only around £65

Answer 2

An alternative is to use powerline adapters - these use mains wiring instead of a long ethernet cable. You plug a powerline adapter into one of the ethernet ports on the router and into a local mains socket and another adapter into your computer ethernet port and a nearby mains socket

Speeds are better than wifi and signals can be encrypted so your neighbour cannot hack in if they have powerline adapters.

Answer 3

Using a cable to raise the antenna higher in relation to the ground plane will improve the operation.

You can also purchase higher gain antennas that will improve performance

The last resort is to buy a repeater to improve the signal strength in a "dead zone"

Answer 4

Have a look at these range extenders from Maplin electronics

http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?Menu...

An option that might suit your needs better is a better antenna for your router.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?Menu...

Answer 5

If the router has a antenna socket then you should be able to fix a better aerial, also make sure your using the best frequency. Ideally you want "N" (but this is fairly new so might not be compatible) failing that you are looking for a mixture of "b" and "g", in my experience you want to avoid "a"

Answer 6

Put your wireless router as high up as you can and as far from electrical and metal things as you can, that'll give you the best coverage.  Try to put it in the middle of where you expect to be (usually the middle of the house).  If you have 2.4GHz cordless phones you may want to replace them with 5.8GHz, 900MHz, or the new DECT6.0 phones that won't cause interference.  Also, wireless video senders, or wireless cameras that run on 2.4GHz should be set to the farthest channel from your router (e.g. set video sender to 1 or A and put the router on channel 11).  Channels 1, 6, and 11 are preferable because they don't "overlap" with each other.

If you really need more range after positioning your router as best you can, some companies sell "WiFi Repeaters" that re-transmit the information stronger to boost the signal.  If you can run wires, get an "Access Point" or a router that can be configured as an access point (a second router would cause problems) and set it to the same SSID (name) and Encryption key (security) - then computers will pick whichever is strongest.

I suppose you could always try making one of these, it will decrease the range on one side but increase range wherever it's pointed.  I was able to get from 40-60% up to 85-95% in my basement.  For free (well ok, a sheet of cooking foil, some glue, and cardstock or photopaper), it's worth a try!

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/tem...

Even if it doesn't help, it sure looks cool :)