WGR614v5 added new antenna

I'm trying to increase the range of my wireless connection using the
Netgear 802.11G router and PC card.

I started by cutting up two pigtails and splicing them together to make
a U.FL to SMA pigtail. This let me replace the fixed antenna on my
router with a stronger antenna from airlink. But my signal range
hasn't improved.

Here's the background:

I just bought a WGR614v5 wireless router for $9.99 after rebates from
CompUSA. The first thing I noticed is that I didn't get signal through
much of my house.

I wanted to start by replacing the antenna on the router with a $6.00
airlink 7dB antenna that I just purchages at Frys.

As far as I can tell, the non-detachable antenna for my WGR614v5
wireless router is 2dB, so 7dB should be a good increase, right?

I took the router apart, and found that the antenna was attached to the
board in the router by a connector that appears to be U.FL
(IPEX/HIROSE).

I clipped the wire leading into the U.FL connector and also clipped the
wire on the SMA to TNC pigtail provided with the new antenna. After
soldering the two wires together and securing the joint with
heat-shrink insulation, I put the router back together and hooked up
the antenna.

The signal is definitely not better, and may be worse! I get down to
20% signal in the next room about 40 feet away.

There is a round cylinder in the wire of the U.FL pigtail that I left
in when doing the soldering. I don't know if this cylindar is some
sort of resistor or other item. It's black and it says 'T-2' on it.
Could this be impeding the signal coming from my new antenna?

Also, do I need to upgrade the antennas on both ends in order to
increase the range? The literature for the airlink antenna says I also
need to provide a better antenna on the client side if I want to
increase range. I assumed that a better antenna on the router would
improve both broadcast and receive strength, but maybe this is not
true?

Lastly, does DrTCP really work? Should I be able to 'tweak' my
settings and get a better connection when the wireless signal is
moderate?

Note: I did purchase a TORX #8 to make it easier to take the screws off
the back of the router.

Thanks!

Todd



spammenow99@yahoo.com

First guess is that the problem is in the splice. At this frequency and
power level splicing RF cable is dicey even if you know what you are doing.

FWIW I *know* how to do it and even if I had the right equipment I would
hesitate not except there were no other options.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
| I'm trying to increase the range of my wireless connection using the
| Netgear 802.11G router and PC card.
|
| I started by cutting up two pigtails and splicing them together to make
| a U.FL to SMA pigtail. This let me replace the fixed antenna on my
| router with a stronger antenna from airlink. But my signal range
| hasn't improved.
|
| Here's the background:
|
| I just bought a WGR614v5 wireless router for $9.99 after rebates from
| CompUSA. The first thing I noticed is that I didn't get signal through
| much of my house.
|
| I wanted to start by replacing the antenna on the router with a $6.00
| airlink 7dB antenna that I just purchages at Frys.
|
| As far as I can tell, the non-detachable antenna for my WGR614v5
| wireless router is 2dB, so 7dB should be a good increase, right?
|
| I took the router apart, and found that the antenna was attached to the
| board in the router by a connector that appears to be U.FL
| (IPEX/HIROSE).
|
| I clipped the wire leading into the U.FL connector and also clipped the
| wire on the SMA to TNC pigtail provided with the new antenna. After
| soldering the two wires together and securing the joint with
| heat-shrink insulation, I put the router back together and hooked up
| the antenna.
|
| The signal is definitely not better, and may be worse! I get down to
| 20% signal in the next room about 40 feet away.
|
| There is a round cylinder in the wire of the U.FL pigtail that I left
| in when doing the soldering. I don't know if this cylindar is some
| sort of resistor or other item. It's black and it says 'T-2' on it.
| Could this be impeding the signal coming from my new antenna?
|
| Also, do I need to upgrade the antennas on both ends in order to
| increase the range? The literature for the airlink antenna says I also
| need to provide a better antenna on the client side if I want to
| increase range. I assumed that a better antenna on the router would
| improve both broadcast and receive strength, but maybe this is not
| true?
|
| Lastly, does DrTCP really work? Should I be able to 'tweak' my
| settings and get a better connection when the wireless signal is
| moderate?
|
| Note: I did purchase a TORX #8 to make it easier to take the screws off
| the back of the router.
|
| Thanks!
|
| Todd
|

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>I'm trying to increase the range of my wireless connection using the
>Netgear 802.11G router and PC card.
>
>I started by cutting up two pigtails and splicing them together to make
>a U.FL to SMA pigtail. This let me replace the fixed antenna on my
>router with a stronger antenna from airlink. But my signal range
>hasn't improved.

Splicing cables is almost guaranteed going to be a problem.
Best advice is to just go buy a pigtail.

>Here's the background:
>
>I just bought a WGR614v5 wireless router for $9.99 after rebates from
>CompUSA. The first thing I noticed is that I didn't get signal through
>much of my house.
>
>I wanted to start by replacing the antenna on the router with a $6.00
>airlink 7dB antenna that I just purchages at Frys.
>
>As far as I can tell, the non-detachable antenna for my WGR614v5
>wireless router is 2dB, so 7dB should be a good increase, right?

Well... maybe 5 dB. It might extend your range a little. But
frankly if you have a -90 dBm signal, it doesn't do much to
increase it to -85 dBm. What you had was worse, but what you
get is still bad!

>I took the router apart, and found that the antenna was attached to the
>board in the router by a connector that appears to be U.FL
>(IPEX/HIROSE).
>
>I clipped the wire leading into the U.FL connector and also clipped the
>wire on the SMA to TNC pigtail provided with the new antenna. After
>soldering the two wires together and securing the joint with
>heat-shrink insulation, I put the router back together and hooked up
>the antenna.
>
>The signal is definitely not better, and may be worse! I get down to
>20% signal in the next room about 40 feet away.

Whatever you gained with the better antenna, you probably have
lost with 1) the longer cable, 2) the splice, 3) the heat-shrink
material.

And if the wall is the wrong material, it just doesn't make much
difference what you do.

>There is a round cylinder in the wire of the U.FL pigtail that I left
>in when doing the soldering. I don't know if this cylindar is some
>sort of resistor or other item. It's black and it says 'T-2' on it.
>Could this be impeding the signal coming from my new antenna?

A ferrite bead, with the cable running through it? If it is on
a portion of the cable where the outer shield has not been
damaged, it should not harm anything. If it is located where
you have peeled back the braided shield to splice the cable,
it's is absolute death to your signal!

>Also, do I need to upgrade the antennas on both ends in order to
>increase the range?

No, though it wouldn't hurt. The gain is additive, and a 6 dB
better antenna at either end is a 6 dB better signal.

>The literature for the airlink antenna says I also
>need to provide a better antenna on the client side if I want to
>increase range. I assumed that a better antenna on the router would
>improve both broadcast and receive strength, but maybe this is not
>true?

It would, but consider that you might want the router to have
omni-directional coverage, allowing multiple clients to access
it from various directions. That leaves out most of the really
high gain antennas for use by the router. On the other hand the
multiple clients can have very high gain antennas if they only
connect to one AP and are never moved. (It would still work to
have a high gain antenna for the client, but it requires careful
aiming after any change in locations.)

Of course, if you have only one client... high gain antennas at
both ends will help equally.

>Lastly, does DrTCP really work? Should I be able to 'tweak' my
>settings and get a better connection when the wireless signal is
>moderate?

I can't answer that.

>Note: I did purchase a TORX #8 to make it easier to take the screws off
>the back of the router.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Todd

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) (E-Mail Removed)

As an update, I bought a U.FL to reverse SMA pigtail from
wisp-router.com and used it to replace the spliced pigtail. The
signal definitely improved, and it's now back up to where it was before
I started. So the new (cheap) antenna with a fairly long cable and the
new pigtail combination have managed to about equal the usefulness of
the original antenna built into the router.

I may try buying a higher quality antenna to see how much of a
difference that makes, but that's a future endeavor.

Thanks for the comments.

Todd