HELP! 4 story unit trying to share connection

I have been struggling over the past few days with setting up a
wireless network for my condo association. Our building is a newer
unit - no plaster except in center stairwell - that is 5 stories high,
with 2 units on each floor. The building is less than 100 ft tall and
less than 100 ft wide. I can't seem to get a good signal to the top
floor from the first floor.

My current set-up is:

- Cable modem connected to D-link DI-714+ on 2nd floor
- D-Link DWL-800AP+ Range Extender in repeater mode on 3rd floor, with
6db Hawking Omni-Directional antenna with full downtilt - parrallel to
the floor.

With this set-up I can sometimes get a full strength signal at the top
level in the center stairway, but not inside one of the units. I am
getting about a 26% signal at the top level pretty consistently.

I am looking for any suggestions to boost my signal vertically. We
want to only keep one unit paying for broadband through the condo
association, but have all units covered.

HELP!

-John

I hope you're all running XP Pro or everyone's business will be everyone's
business. No security on XP home.

"John Smith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> I have been struggling over the past few days with setting up a
> wireless network for my condo association. Our building is a newer
> unit - no plaster except in center stairwell - that is 5 stories high,
> with 2 units on each floor. The building is less than 100 ft tall and
> less than 100 ft wide. I can't seem to get a good signal to the top
> floor from the first floor.
>
> My current set-up is:
>
> - Cable modem connected to D-link DI-714+ on 2nd floor
> - D-Link DWL-800AP+ Range Extender in repeater mode on 3rd floor, with
> 6db Hawking Omni-Directional antenna with full downtilt - parrallel to
> the floor.
>
> With this set-up I can sometimes get a full strength signal at the top
> level in the center stairway, but not inside one of the units. I am
> getting about a 26% signal at the top level pretty consistently.
>
> I am looking for any suggestions to boost my signal vertically. We
> want to only keep one unit paying for broadband through the condo
> association, but have all units covered.
>
> HELP!
>
> -John

I hope you're all running XP Pro or everyone's business will be everyone's
business. No security on XP home.

"John Smith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> I have been struggling over the past few days with setting up a
> wireless network for my condo association. Our building is a newer
> unit - no plaster except in center stairwell - that is 5 stories high,
> with 2 units on each floor. The building is less than 100 ft tall and
> less than 100 ft wide. I can't seem to get a good signal to the top
> floor from the first floor.
>
> My current set-up is:
>
> - Cable modem connected to D-link DI-714+ on 2nd floor
> - D-Link DWL-800AP+ Range Extender in repeater mode on 3rd floor, with
> 6db Hawking Omni-Directional antenna with full downtilt - parrallel to
> the floor.
>
> With this set-up I can sometimes get a full strength signal at the top
> level in the center stairway, but not inside one of the units. I am
> getting about a 26% signal at the top level pretty consistently.
>
> I am looking for any suggestions to boost my signal vertically. We
> want to only keep one unit paying for broadband through the condo
> association, but have all units covered.
>
> HELP!
>
> -John

In article <6rhKb.1444$(E-Mail Removed)>, Len West wrote:
> I hope you're all running XP Pro or everyone's business will be everyone's
> business. No security on XP home.

Would you care to elaborate? What would XP Pro do for me that XP Home doesn't
do? What would it do that a Draytek firewall and Norton Internet Security
aren't already doing?

Rod.

Thanks for your replies, but I'll worry about security if the network
is ever up and running! If you could limit replies to solutions to the
dilemma of expanding my signal vertically, that would be very helpful.

thanks,
John Smith



> I hope you're all running XP Pro or everyone's business will be everyone's
> business. No security on XP home.

> > I hope you're all running XP Pro or everyone's business will be everyone's
> > business. No security on XP home.
>
> Thanks for your replies, but I'll worry about security if the network
> is ever up and running! If you could limit replies to solutions to the
> dilemma of expanding my signal vertically, that would be very helpful.

Discourteous, selfish, and contrary to the purpose of usenet. Others
will read this thread looking for answers to their own problems, and
he raised a valid concern for your situation and others like it. Feel
free to pay for a private networking consultant if you want complete
control over the scope and nature of responses to your inquiries.

-Gabriel

(E-Mail Removed) (Gabriel) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> > > I hope you're all running XP Pro or everyone's business will be everyone's
> > > business. No security on XP home.
> >
> > Thanks for your replies, but I'll worry about security if the network
> > is ever up and running! If you could limit replies to solutions to the
> > dilemma of expanding my signal vertically, that would be very helpful.
>
> Discourteous, selfish, and contrary to the purpose of usenet. Others
> will read this thread looking for answers to their own problems, and
> he raised a valid concern for your situation and others like it. Feel
> free to pay for a private networking consultant if you want complete
> control over the scope and nature of responses to your inquiries.
>
> -Gabriel

Actually, Gabriel, I was not trying to be discourteous or selfish.
Others WILL read through this thread, hoping to find answers to the
question initially proposed - as I have done many, many times. They
will do what I did and search through the titles of threads, looking
for applicable advice. Instead of finding answers to a problem that
they might also be experiencing, they find comments about something
else. I have searched through countless threads that seem to be on
this topic, that turn into ongoing conversations about topics that
don't relate to the poster's concern. It's not that I don't
appreciate these other comments and concerns about security, but these
comments would be better posted on threads regarding security.

Hopefully that makes some sense. My apologies if you were offended.

-john

In article <(E-Mail Removed) >,
John Smith <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
:I have been struggling over the past few days with setting up a
:wireless network for my condo association.

:I am looking for any suggestions to boost my signal vertically. We
:want to only keep one unit paying for broadband through the condo
:association, but have all units covered.

Is that acceptable to your broadband provider?

Your email address appears to be out of Chicago (but of course
you could be posting from anywhere). comcast as the provider
perhaps?

ISP terms vary a lot. The last time I checked, the cable modem
provider around here (central Canada) had terms that only allowed
the person paying for the account to use the service -- not even
members of the same family, according to the contract, even though
the service is marketed as being for the family.

I just had a look at the comcast site; it is a little more flexible,
but only allows for 5 computers to be connected on the residential
service plan. I did not look at the business plans.
--
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun. -- Alfred Bester (tDM)

Right now we are just testing to see if it a wireless system would
work to share a connection. If it did, the cable line would be
transferred to the name of the condo association (which is
incorporated). We would then share the line as a business would.

-john

(E-Mail Removed) (Walter Roberson) wrote in message news:<btfggu$ntp$(E-Mail Removed)>...
> In article <(E-Mail Removed) >,
> John Smith <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> :I have been struggling over the past few days with setting up a
> :wireless network for my condo association.
>
> :I am looking for any suggestions to boost my signal vertically. We
> :want to only keep one unit paying for broadband through the condo
> :association, but have all units covered.
>
> Is that acceptable to your broadband provider?

Any other insights? So far the general consensus is there it's not
very likely that I'll get a good signal in a 5 story building with
only one AP.

Has anyone had been able to something similar?

-john


(E-Mail Removed) (John Smith) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> I have been struggling over the past few days with setting up a
> wireless network for my condo association. Our building is a newer
> unit - no plaster except in center stairwell - that is 5 stories high,
> with 2 units on each floor. The building is less than 100 ft tall and
> less than 100 ft wide. I can't seem to get a good signal to the top
> floor from the first floor.
>
> My current set-up is:
>
> - Cable modem connected to D-link DI-714+ on 2nd floor
> - D-Link DWL-800AP+ Range Extender in repeater mode on 3rd floor, with
> 6db Hawking Omni-Directional antenna with full downtilt - parrallel to
> the floor.
>
> With this set-up I can sometimes get a full strength signal at the top
> level in the center stairway, but not inside one of the units. I am
> getting about a 26% signal at the top level pretty consistently.
>
> I am looking for any suggestions to boost my signal vertically. We
> want to only keep one unit paying for broadband through the condo
> association, but have all units covered.
>
> HELP!
>
> -John