On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 14:13:58 GMT, John Navas
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
[alt.wireless deleted as Newsguy claims it's an invalid newsgroup]
>[POSTED TO alt.internet.wireless - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
>In <1128716701.81fb0b23f18a7a26e56484434428340c@teran ews> on Fri, 7 Oct 2005
>21:25:04 +0100, "Roy Amin" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>I have a Netgear DG834gtUK router. some areas of the house suffers from
>>very low or no signal. Is there any easy way to rdctify this situation. 4
>>wireless laptops connects to router via PCMCIA wireless adapters Some
>>802.11b and some 802.11g.
>Probably the easiest solution is to put a WiFi Repeater (aka Range Expander)
>in a part of the house that has signal, which can relay signal to parts of the
>house that don't have signal; e.g, Netgear 54 Mbps Wireless Access Point
>Model WG602 <http://www.netgear.com/products/details/WG602.php> in Repeater
>Mode.
I beg to differ. 4 laptops implies a rather spacious house. A
followup indicated that there was foil backed insulation in the walls
turn each room into an RF isolated screen room. The same followup
indicated that the wireless router was in the garage, while the area
lacking coverage was in a possibly disconnected house. Installing a
single repeater might improve the signal in one area, but would
probably not cover all the various 4 or more rooms which I presume are
on the opposite side of the house.
I find it difficult to recommend solutions that sound like "buy this
contraption and all your coverage problems will be solved". In my
never humble opinion, RF repeaters, range extenders, and WDS bridges
are RF polluters of the worst kind. Details on request or you can use
Google to search for my past rants on the subject. Most often, I can
produce better and more reliable by working with the antennas, choice
of equipment, or topology. I save the repeaters for the last resort.
My guess is that the garage is at one end of the house and that the
topology requires that the signal pass through multiple walls.
Possibly, there are windows that will allow the signal to pass. As a
rule of thumb, the signal will go through one wall without much
difficulty. Two walls will cause problems. Three or more walls are a
waste of time. The construction material is also important. Concrete
and foil backed insulation tend to be fatal. As Clarence Dold
suggested, I would first experiment with improving the signal in the
direction of the house using reflectors and possibly replacement
antennas. Unfortunately, the DG834GT only has one antenna, so you
cannot replace one antenna with a directional antenna pointed at the
house, while retaining the original antenna for garage coverage.
>Another option is the Netgear 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender Kit
>Model WGXB102 <http://netgear.com/products/details/WGXB102.php>.
Before you resort to a repeater, methinks it best to add a 2nd access
point to the system. Under ideal circumstances, that would require a
CAT5 cable from the garage to the house connected between a LAN port
on the DG834gt to the added access point. The access point need not
be any particular brand or model. Unlike repeaters, range extenders,
and WDS bridges, adding access points do not have "compatibility"
problems with different chipsets and brands. The access point can
also be a wireless router converted into an access point by disabling
the router section. Instructions on request.
The exact location or number of added access points is largely
dependent on the layout of the house. 4 laptops implies a two story
house, which may be difficult to cover with a single access point.
However, this added access point will be closer to the client radios
and therefore will probably have a more reliable connection.
If a CAT5 cable between the garage and the house is impossible, then
power line networking can be used. See:
http://www.HomePNA.com
Instead of using a power line repeater as suggested above, I suggest
you install an ethernet to power line bridge in the garage, and a
power line wireless access point in the house. You could also just
install power line networking directly to the client computers.
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These power line bridges essentially replace the CAT5 cable to the
house. You can plug the computers directly into the bridge, or
install a wireless access point to connect via wireless.
The problem with power line networking is that it is somewhat slow,
doesn't work through the usual two phases found in home AC wiring, and
may not be available in UK 220V 50Hz devices. It is also susceptible
to local interference from everyone on the single transformer. I
recently fixed a HomePNA system that would die whenever a well pump
motor was running. The fix was easy enough (ferrite clamp on filter)
but finding the cause was a problem. I would run the CAT5 if
possible.
Good luck.
--
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
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