Broadband Advice, Please

I have a Belkin Pre-N router with D-Link 300 ADSL modem (which has the
dreaded AR7 chipset).

My main computer (an Apple iMac) is connected via Ethernet cable to the
router and my wife's computer upstairs (a Dell Dimension 9150) uses a
wireless card. Between her PC and the router are 2 walls (breezeblock?)
but the connexion status is 'very good' according to Windows XP.

For the past few months, I have experienced ADSL-line dropout:
sometimes twice a day or more, sometimes not for a week. I tried a new
Belkin N1 modem-router but the wireless signal was poor (though it
should be better than Pre-N) and kept dropping, so much so that the
wireless link was unusable though the ADSL line was never dropped - I
took the kit back.

I need suggestions based on experience, please. I could replace the
D-Link modem but am not sure which one to go for. Alternatively, I
could go for Homeplug units that use the electric mains & get a
non-wireless modem-router.

Sorry it's such a long question but thanks for reading it and for any
help you may be able and willing to offer.

<Strider J M> wrote in message
news:48611621$0$2489$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Belkin Pre-N router with D-Link 300 ADSL modem (which has the
>dreaded AR7 chipset).
>
> My main computer (an Apple iMac) is connected via Ethernet cable to the
> router and my wife's computer upstairs (a Dell Dimension 9150) uses a
> wireless card. Between her PC and the router are 2 walls (breezeblock?)
> but the connexion status is 'very good' according to Windows XP.
>
> For the past few months, I have experienced ADSL-line dropout: sometimes
> twice a day or more, sometimes not for a week. I tried a new Belkin N1
> modem-router but the wireless signal was poor (though it should be better
> than Pre-N) and kept dropping, so much so that the wireless link was
> unusable though the ADSL line was never dropped - I took the kit back.
>
> I need suggestions based on experience, please. I could replace the D-Link
> modem but am not sure which one to go for. Alternatively, I could go for
> Homeplug units that use the electric mains & get a non-wireless
> modem-router.
>
> Sorry it's such a long question but thanks for reading it and for any help
> you may be able and willing to offer.

Get a good router and connect to it using Ethernet cables.

The homeplug units are worth a try but if your mains doesn't carry the
signal there's nothing you can do about it.

Similarly wireless is an idea whose time has passed - it only goes through
some walls, may be subject to interference from other wireless users (but
you can minimise this by careful choice of channel), and is severely
performance-limited because of the shared-spectrum operation. (Performance
is generally adequate to extend ADSL but it's crap for sharing files between
computers, or running backups!)

--
Graham J

> Between her PC and the router are 2 walls (breezeblock?)

Perhaps not the case if the signal appears to be "very good" but if
the walls also have plasterboard on them, a lot of it now contains a
metallised foil which acts as a moisture barrier on one side.

It acts as a wireless signal blocker too :-}

> Get a good router and connect to it using Ethernet cables.

For a better router look at the Draytek range.
I've never had good results with D-Link, they keep
changing supplier, often it doesn't work out of
the box, so AR7 doesn't surprise me.
Re wireless, a USB wireless adapter if you are
not already using one is worth trying. Problem
with wireless is the wireless adapter needs to be
in just the right place, not shielded by the PC's
case for a start, with a USB adapter, on a USB
lead, you can move the adapter around. Add
a reflector and you can go line of sight between
buildings.
>> but the connexion status is 'very good'
>> according to Windows XP.
The mfrs utility is usually a better guide to what
is 'very good', ideally you want values for
both signal strength and signal quality.

My basic problem is that the D-Link 300T (which has an AR7 chipset)
drops the line. My Belkin Pre-N wireless router works fine.

I tried a Belkin N1 modem/router (thinking to replace both D-Link modem
and Belkin Pre-N router) but, though it held the ADSL line OK, its
wireless signal was problematic.

My options are, as far as I can see:

1- replace my D-Link 300T modem with a non-AR7 modem or modem-router to
which my Belkin Pre-N router would be connected.

I've looked at the Speedtouch 546 but can't tell whether it would work
with my Belkin Pre-N router.

2- replace both my wireless access and my ADSL access by getting a new
wireless modem-router (which is why I tried the Belkin N1) or a
HomePlug set with a non-AR7 wired modem-router (such as the Speedtouch
546).

I've gone for a couple of devolo dLink 200 AV HompPlugs and a
(non-wireless) Speedtouch 546 modem-router, which I installed (very
easily) this morning. So far, so good!

Thanks to those who tried to assist.

<Strider J M> wrote in message
news:48637fb4$0$2488$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I've gone for a couple of devolo dLink 200 AV HompPlugs and a
> (non-wireless) Speedtouch 546 modem-router, which I installed (very
> easily) this morning. So far, so good!
>
> Thanks to those who tried to assist.
>
>
In case you have problems I have been using three of these for the last 6
months and just the odd problem. First I sometimes lost connection on the
remote PC's for a short while (100 metres and almost 3ft thick stone walls)
which turned out to be the homeplug on the router being plugged into a
filtered mains socket and giving a reduced signal. Then just the once I lost
connection altogether and after two hours found out it was a mobile phone
charger which was of the switch mode variety. Other than that I have found
them brilliant.
Mick