Wireless Internet Help!!!?

Question

Upstairs I only get 60% and lower reception in the room where my computer is located. The wireless router is connected to another guy’s computer, which is downstairs and is literally on the opposite side of the house from our wireless antenna.

I have spoken with a few Internet guys and they said that the flow of 'wireless ness' flows from top to bottom. So the higher up the router the better reception it gets. (Is this true?)

The idea is to get a long Ethernet cord (50+ft) and move the router to a higher position by attaching it to the wall. (what is a good brand of Ethernet cable that I can purchase that will give me the same quality that I have come to expect?)

What can I do to increase my reception because right now we only have intermittent connection at best?

Thank You for answering!

Answer 1

You could put the router on your computer, and have him run wireless.

Answer 2

Any Ethernet cord is good, but it will be a lot of work getting it through the walls etc. I had a similar problem but I used the Netgear WGXB102 which sends a connection through your powerline . You would need two. One which connects to the wall and to the router. Another one connected to the wall in your room. When i did this I got 100% and I can't complain.

Answer 3

There are several options. First is if you have a wireless antenna on the router that screws on, or a card in your desktop with a s***w on antenna, you can use a D-Link - ANT24-0700 - 7dBi Omni-Directional Indoor Antenna, or a Hawking Technology - HAI15SC - 2.4GHz 15db Hi-Gain Directional Corner Wireless Network Antenna. That would solve your signal strength problem. One of the powerline based range extenders (WGXB102, etc) would also solve your problem, but might make it difficult to share files with the guy downstairs (you would end up on different subnets). You could also use a pure powerline ethernet (2x Netgear XEPS103) and skip the wireless entirely.

The antenna of a wireless can be visualized as the center of a ball, where the radius is your signal strength. Push the ball down into the ground, by mounting it on the first floor, it covers much less. For two story buildings, the best location is at the ceiling of the first floor (drop down commercial ceilings make this easy). A stronger antenna makes the whole ball bigger. Another thing you might try is to change the channel on the router (1 to 11). Some channels will provide better coverage than others, in the same environment, again, making the ball bigger, or if there is a lot of noise (or other routers) making the ball you've got more solid, less squishy.

One other hint: using Windows Zero Config may be easier, but the utility your wireless vendor included with the card may get you substantially better performance and range. Give it a try to maximize your wireless performance.