Need Advice - Setting Up Wireless Router in Basement

I am interested in setting up a wireless router, but our office and
cable modem are in the basement and I am concerned that the signal
strength will be too weak to reach the upper floors. I don't have any
exotic needs -- I have one laptop and I may add a second desktop
computer upstairs for the kids later. We have a two-story house and
while getting a signal on the second floor would be great, I'd be
happy with a decent signal on the first floor.

I don't want to over-engineer this but also want to buy the right
equipment. Can anyone recommend an affordable router brand/type and
possibly other accessories or configuration that might help?

Thanks a bunch!

(E-Mail Removed) hath wroth:

>I am interested in setting up a wireless router, but our office and
>cable modem are in the basement and I am concerned that the signal
>strength will be too weak to reach the upper floors.

It probably won't work through the floors. If there's anything
substantial in the floors, like concrete, 2.4Ghz will not penetrate.

>I don't have any
>exotic needs -- I have one laptop and I may add a second desktop
>computer upstairs for the kids later. We have a two-story house and
>while getting a signal on the second floor would be great, I'd be
>happy with a decent signal on the first floor.
>
>I don't want to over-engineer this but also want to buy the right
>equipment. Can anyone recommend an affordable router brand/type and
>possibly other accessories or configuration that might help?

I suggest you look into alternatives. Even if wireless can be heard
through 2 floors, it will probably not be stable or very strong.
Ideally, just run CAT5 cable between floors and just plug in (or add
an ethernet switch on each floor). If added wiring is not an option,
you can go over existing power lines, phone lines, or CATV.

Power Line networking:
<http://www.homeplug.com>

Phone line networking:
<http://www.homepna.com>
<http://www.homepna.org>

CATV coax sharing:
<http://www.coaxsys.com>
<http://www.multilet.com>
<http://www.mocalliance.org>

Methinks Netgear 85MHz power line networking is about the easiest and
most "affordable" (whatever that means).
<http://www.netgear.com/Products/PowerlineNetworking/PowerlineEthernetAdapters.aspx>

--
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

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
>I am interested in setting up a wireless router, but our office and
> cable modem are in the basement and I am concerned that the signal
> strength will be too weak to reach the upper floors. I don't have any
> exotic needs -- I have one laptop and I may add a second desktop
> computer upstairs for the kids later. We have a two-story house and
> while getting a signal on the second floor would be great, I'd be
> happy with a decent signal on the first floor.
>
> I don't want to over-engineer this but also want to buy the right
> equipment. Can anyone recommend an affordable router brand/type and
> possibly other accessories or configuration that might help?
>
> Thanks a bunch!

I live in a 60 year old house made with plaster walls ... and my cable modem
and router are in the basement.

I bought two access points .... and ran two cat 5 cables from the wired
router ... one to the main floor on one side of the house, and the other to
the second floor on the other side of the house.

They are set for diff channels ... and now I have full wireless coverage on
each floor.

I used the cheapest access points I could find at the time ... D-Link
DWL-G700 Access Points.

All works great!!

On Jul 14, 1:44 pm, "riggor" <riggor9999@nospam_yahoo.com> wrote:
> <jvminn...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
>
> >I am interested in setting up a wireless router, but our office and
> > cable modem are in the basement and I am concerned that the signal
> > strength will be too weak to reach the upper floors. I don't have any
> > exotic needs -- I have one laptop and I may add a second desktop
> > computer upstairs for the kids later. We have a two-story house and
> > while getting a signal on the second floor would be great, I'd be
> > happy with a decent signal on the first floor.
>
> > I don't want to over-engineer this but also want to buy the right
> > equipment. Can anyone recommend an affordable router brand/type and
> > possibly other accessories or configuration that might help?
>
> > Thanks a bunch!
>
> I live in a 60 year old house made with plaster walls ... and my cable modem
> and router are in the basement.
>
> I bought two access points .... and ran two cat 5 cables from the wired
> router ... one to the main floor on one side of the house, and the other to
> the second floor on the other side of the house.
>
> They are set for diff channels ... and now I have full wireless coverage on
> each floor.
>
> I used the cheapest access points I could find at the time ... D-Link
> DWL-G700 Access Points.
>
> All works great!!

Thanks a lot. This is very helpful.

Wow. I thought the wireless signals were stronger than that and could
go through the walls and floors of a house. Sounds like Wireless
Networking for Dummies would be a good book for me.

The basement is unfinished, so there would be nothing more than wood
and carpet between the wireless router and the upstairs. I was hoping
there was a router that could get a signal through without having to
run wiring etc.

Couple follow-up questions, if you don't mind:

1) Are you suggesting that I run network cabling from my cable modem
to the upstairs, and position/hook up the wireless router there?
(That would make a lot of sense.)
2) Would access points be required equipment even if you put the
router upstairs by running cat5 cabling from the basement?

Thanks!

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> On Jul 14, 1:44 pm, "riggor" <riggor9999@nospam_yahoo.com> wrote:
>> <jvminn...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
>>
>> >I am interested in setting up a wireless router, but our office and
>> > cable modem are in the basement and I am concerned that the signal
>> > strength will be too weak to reach the upper floors. I don't have any
>> > exotic needs -- I have one laptop and I may add a second desktop
>> > computer upstairs for the kids later. We have a two-story house and
>> > while getting a signal on the second floor would be great, I'd be
>> > happy with a decent signal on the first floor.
>>
>> > I don't want to over-engineer this but also want to buy the right
>> > equipment. Can anyone recommend an affordable router brand/type and
>> > possibly other accessories or configuration that might help?
>>
>> > Thanks a bunch!
>>
>> I live in a 60 year old house made with plaster walls ... and my cable
>> modem
>> and router are in the basement.
>>
>> I bought two access points .... and ran two cat 5 cables from the wired
>> router ... one to the main floor on one side of the house, and the other
>> to
>> the second floor on the other side of the house.
>>
>> They are set for diff channels ... and now I have full wireless coverage
>> on
>> each floor.
>>
>> I used the cheapest access points I could find at the time ... D-Link
>> DWL-G700 Access Points.
>>
>> All works great!!
>
> Thanks a lot. This is very helpful.
>
> Wow. I thought the wireless signals were stronger than that and could
> go through the walls and floors of a house. Sounds like Wireless
> Networking for Dummies would be a good book for me.
>
> The basement is unfinished, so there would be nothing more than wood
> and carpet between the wireless router and the upstairs. I was hoping
> there was a router that could get a signal through without having to
> run wiring etc.
>
> Couple follow-up questions, if you don't mind:
>
> 1) Are you suggesting that I run network cabling from my cable modem
> to the upstairs, and position/hook up the wireless router there?
> (That would make a lot of sense.)
> 2) Would access points be required equipment even if you put the
> router upstairs by running cat5 cabling from the basement?
>
> Thanks!
>

Actually do #1 first ... if it works - great. If #1 does not work - do #2
..... which does mean additional equipment.

As far as #1 goes - if you have a TV outlet upstairs ... try connecting the
cable modem there ... and setup the router next to it and see if that works.
If the cable signal is strong enough up there, you might be able to get away
with a TV cable splitter (one to TV and one to cable modem) and not having
to do a separate CAT 5 run from the basement to the upstairs.

It sounds like your most important connections are in the basement and
you may want to connect multiple computers there. So you probably
want your router in the basement in this case.

Try doing this in steps:

1) Get a Buffalo WHR-G125 and put it in the basement connected to the
modem. Connect desktops by ethernet cable to the router there or use
wireless if you prefer. Set the antenna at an angle so that the
sides of it (not the tip) face the area you want to connect to
upstairs. Then test upstairs. If all is well, then you are set.

2) If you don't get good enough reception or coverage in the rest of
the house, but can get some marginal reception, then try adding a
reflector to the antenna:
- make your own following this easy pattern:
http://www.freeantennas.com/projects...te2/index.html

3) If the reflector doesn't get you enough coverage, then use your AC
outlets to extend your range with a set of these:

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Powe...rs/XE103G.aspx

Then you can connect a second AP (same buffalo router) to the XE103
upstairs and set it on a different channel to cover your whole house.

In sum: solution #1 or 2: One router with or without reflecter $45
gets you partial coverage, possibly enough.
solution #3 Two routers plus powerline adapters: $200 gets you
total coverage.

Cheers,
Steve

On Jul 15, 2:55 pm, seaweedsteve <seaweedst...@gmail.com> wrote:
> It sounds like your most important connections are in the basement and
> you may want to connect multiple computers there. So you probably
> want your router in the basement in this case.
>
> Try doing this in steps:
>
> 1) Get a Buffalo WHR-G125 and put it in the basement connected to the
> modem. Connect desktops by ethernet cable to the router there or use
> wireless if you prefer. Set the antenna at an angle so that the
> sides of it (not the tip) face the area you want to connect to
> upstairs. Then test upstairs. If all is well, then you are set.
>
> 2) If you don't get good enough reception or coverage in the rest of
> the house, but can get some marginal reception, then try adding a
> reflector to the antenna:
> - make your own following this easy pattern:http://www.freeantennas.com/projects...te2/index.html
>
> 3) If the reflector doesn't get you enough coverage, then use your AC
> outlets to extend your range with a set of these:
>
> http://www.netgear.com/Products/Powe...erlineEthernet...
>
> Then you can connect a second AP (same buffalo router) to the XE103
> upstairs and set it on a different channel to cover your whole house.
>
> In sum: solution #1 or 2: One router with or without reflecter $45
> gets you partial coverage, possibly enough.
> solution #3 Two routers plus powerline adapters: $200 gets you
> total coverage.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve

Great advice. Thanks much to all. I feel like I know what to do and
what kind of cost I'm looking at.