Erractic Reception in a house - recommendations.

I am asking these questions for a friend who is somewhat resistant
to my advice .
The experts on this forum are more knowledgeable than me .
Linksys G Router ( pre ver 5 no firmware upgrade).
The router is on the 2nd floor in a bedroom.
Encryption in not turned on.
DSL high speed connection.
The router is set on g .
Channel is 6 .
The homeowner is reistant to changing the channel even though
there are at least another
3 Linksys routers on the block all set at defaults . Claims that the
channels 1 and 11 resulted in worse reception.
Reception on a Toshiba laptop with a built in antenna is fine on
the main floor .
The homeowner insists that reception on the 2nd floor is erratic.
This is only being judged by reception not even signal strength
on the Windows XP utility
He is insistent that reception is fine on the main floor kitchen
which is further away than being in somewhat adjacent bedroom.
The house is approx 15 years old with gyproc walls not heavy
metal pipes or brick.
I have talked myself blue to no avail .
The homeowner has convinced himself that he needs to buy the
Linksys range extender which will certainly help his problems ( or to
my mind at least benefit Linksys and Best Buy monetarily
the fellow is a good friend of mine but as I have said I have
talked myself blue in the face .
Any sugggestions and advice would be appreciated .

As well there was a relatively major power failure about a week ago
which seems to be timed around the start of this somewhat erratic
reception .


(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> I am asking these questions for a friend who is somewhat resistant
> to my advice .
> The experts on this forum are more knowledgeable than me .
> Linksys G Router ( pre ver 5 no firmware upgrade).
> The router is on the 2nd floor in a bedroom.
> Encryption in not turned on.
> DSL high speed connection.
> The router is set on g .
> Channel is 6 .
> The homeowner is reistant to changing the channel even though
> there are at least another
> 3 Linksys routers on the block all set at defaults . Claims that the
> channels 1 and 11 resulted in worse reception.
> Reception on a Toshiba laptop with a built in antenna is fine on
> the main floor .
> The homeowner insists that reception on the 2nd floor is erratic.
> This is only being judged by reception not even signal strength
> on the Windows XP utility
> He is insistent that reception is fine on the main floor kitchen
> which is further away than being in somewhat adjacent bedroom.
> The house is approx 15 years old with gyproc walls not heavy
> metal pipes or brick.
> I have talked myself blue to no avail .
> The homeowner has convinced himself that he needs to buy the
> Linksys range extender which will certainly help his problems ( or to
> my mind at least benefit Linksys and Best Buy monetarily
> the fellow is a good friend of mine but as I have said I have
> talked myself blue in the face .
> Any sugggestions and advice would be appreciated .
>
>
>
> .

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
> I am asking these questions for a friend who is somewhat resistant
> to my advice .
If your friend doesn't want your advice - take the hint and leave him alone.
It's his house, his PC, his equipment, so he's probably thinking of a polite
way to keep your nose out, or he doesn't trust your advice will be any good.
maybe you have given bad advice in the past.
Leave him alone and stop getting so worked up.

"(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I am asking these questions for a friend who is somewhat resistant
>to my advice .

Walk away. Google for "teaching a pig to sing".

> Linksys G Router ( pre ver 5 no firmware upgrade).

Upgrade to latest firmware. Also, latest laptop drivers. You
probably should turn on WPA, but that's a rathole, and not the primary
problem.

> Channel is 6 .

Change the channel. It sounds like he can't see the other sources of
interference when he's on the first floor, but can if he increases his
elevation.

[Or maybe he's connecting to one of his neighbor's routers and doesn't
know it.]

> The homeowner has convinced himself that he needs to buy the
>Linksys range extender which will certainly help his problems

Do not validate his conviction, or you'll be on the hotseat when it
doesn't work (or makes things worse). Repeaters are the worst
solution possible for his situation, as they are likely to repeat his
neighbor's networks and make his worse. Even when they work they are
awful.

> the fellow is a good friend of mine but as I have said I have
>talked myself blue in the face .

He either wants your help or he doesn't. If he wants your help on a
wild goose chase, play dumb and refuse to help (that's your weekend to
polish the dog). Your friendship will not be strenghened by your
attempts to assist.

"(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>As well there was a relatively major power failure about a week ago
>which seems to be timed around the start of this somewhat erratic
>reception .

A full power cycle probably wouldn't hurt.

Essentialy the same problem here, power ripples/flickers during the night,
and neighbor has a very leaky older microwave that screws things up every
morning when he nukes breakfast (microwave prob is only temp and causes
interferencethat goes away), but for the power prob, I got one of those lamp
timers (you set the on and off times for a lamp), and plugged the wap/router
into it so it power cycles every morning at around 6 am... (lamp timer
thing was about $9 at home depot)....

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> As well there was a relatively major power failure about a week ago
> which seems to be timed around the start of this somewhat erratic
> reception .
>
>
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> I am asking these questions for a friend who is somewhat resistant
>> to my advice .
>> The experts on this forum are more knowledgeable than me .
>> Linksys G Router ( pre ver 5 no firmware upgrade).
>> The router is on the 2nd floor in a bedroom.
>> Encryption in not turned on.
>> DSL high speed connection.
>> The router is set on g .
>> Channel is 6 .
>> The homeowner is reistant to changing the channel even though
>> there are at least another
>> 3 Linksys routers on the block all set at defaults . Claims that the
>> channels 1 and 11 resulted in worse reception.
>> Reception on a Toshiba laptop with a built in antenna is fine
>> on the main floor .
>> The homeowner insists that reception on the 2nd floor is
>> erratic. This is only being judged by reception not even
>> signal strength
>> on the Windows XP utility
>> He is insistent that reception is fine on the main floor kitchen
>> which is further away than being in somewhat adjacent bedroom.
>> The house is approx 15 years old with gyproc walls not heavy
>> metal pipes or brick.
>> I have talked myself blue to no avail .
>> The homeowner has convinced himself that he needs to buy the
>> Linksys range extender which will certainly help his problems ( or
>> to my mind at least benefit Linksys and Best Buy monetarily
>> the fellow is a good friend of mine but as I have said I have
>> talked myself blue in the face .
>> Any sugggestions and advice would be appreciated .
>>
>>
>>
>> .

"(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>I am asking these questions for a friend who is somewhat resistant
>to my advice .

I have friends and I have customers. The difference is the customers
pay me. You might try turning your friend into a customer.

>The homeowner is reistant to changing the channel even though
>there are at least another
>3 Linksys routers on the block all set at defaults . Claims that the
>channels 1 and 11 resulted in worse reception.

Actually he has a point. Too bad he doesn't understand the numbers
involved. With high gain antennas and filters, the bandwidth of the
antenna or filter becomes sufficiently narrow to cause a slight
decrease in gain or attenuation at the band edges. Note the VSWR
graph at:
| http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/antennas...quad-vswr.html
The VSWR is much better at midband (ch 6) and is slightly worse at the
band edges (2400 and 2483.5MHz). The total effect might be a small
fraction of a decibel and is hardly noticeable.

>The homeowner insists that reception on the 2nd floor is erratic.
>This is only being judged by reception not even signal strength
>on the Windows XP utility
>He is insistent that reception is fine on the main floor kitchen
>which is further away than being in somewhat adjacent bedroom.

Well, he might be correct if there's something in the walls blocking
the signal to the 2nd floor, or that there's a better view of possible
sources of interference:
| http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Interference

>The house is approx 15 years old with gyproc walls not heavy
>metal pipes or brick.

Foil backed insulation in the walls? Chicken wire backed stucco on
the outside?

>I have talked myself blue to no avail.

Some medical oxygen will help. Avoid hyperventilation.

>The homeowner has convinced himself that he needs to buy the
>Linksys range extender which will certainly help his problems ( or to
>my mind at least benefit Linksys and Best Buy monetarily

I like this homeowner. His method of spending money to solve all
problems is my kind of customer. Is he involved in government
spending or policy? Perhaps this might help.
| http://j-walk.com/other/wifispray/index.htm
I also have a few amulets, charms, rabbits feet, and secret
incantations that will improve wireless performance. Unfortunately,
his method of asking you to fix things without being allow to change
anything strikes me as a bit limiting. I would advise you use the
"change everything" method by declaring everything he owns and has
done to be defective. They you can sell him a total replacement
designed to maximize your profit margin. That will also allow you to
change the channel before he notices or complains.

>the fellow is a good friend of mine but as I have said I have
>talked myself blue in the face .

Like I said, medical oxygen and avoiding hyperventilation will help.

> Any sugggestions and advice would be appreciated .

Free advice is worth what you pay for it. Charge him for your advise.
It tends to make people listen better.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558