Which Wireless REPEATER ?

I need to boost the signal from a WRT54G thru-out the house.

Thinking of antennas and repeaters.

Which repeater do you recommend ?

I would get an antenna rather than a repeater.

--
Bob Alston

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I need to boost the signal from a WRT54G thru-out the house.
>
> Thinking of antennas and repeaters.
>
> Which repeater do you recommend ?
>
>


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On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:44:13 GMT, "Bob Alston" <bobalston9
(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I would get an antenna rather than a repeater.

There is nowhere on the WRT54G to attach an antenna.
Or am I just not looking properly.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> I need to boost the signal from a WRT54G thru-out the house.

I believe you can get firmware (see www.linksysinfo.com for sveasoft,
others) for that router that enables boosting the power. But what I did
was add a small homemade parabolic antenna over one of the dipoles aimed
past the living room to the office on the far side of the house (with four
old-fashioned wire lath and heavy plaster walls in the way).

Signal strength in the office registered on WET54G bridge went from the
50's to 81%; and off-axis about 90 degrees (although still fed by the
other dipole) through only one wire lath wall and one sheetrock wall, I
still get a signal my HP laptop reports as "very good" at 54mbps.

I got the antenna template at www.freeantennas.com (the X12 version).

--
Steve

You remove the right hand "rubber ducky" antenna and install an alternate
antenna.

--
Bob Alston

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:44:13 GMT, "Bob Alston" <bobalston9
> (E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >I would get an antenna rather than a repeater.
>
> There is nowhere on the WRT54G to attach an antenna.
> Or am I just not looking properly.
>
>


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~ I need to boost the signal from a WRT54G thru-out the house.
~
~ Thinking of antennas and repeaters.
~
~ Which repeater do you recommend ?
~

I'd first consider using higher gain antennas. For the
WRT54G which uses reverse TNC connectors (the stock antennas
are 2 dBi or so), you could go with the Linksys HGA7T
antenna kit, which are 7 dBi omnis. This could be good
if your coverage area is all in the same plane (e.g. you
have a one storey house to cover.)
http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=38&prid=643

If you want to use a repeater, in general, you will need to
get a repeater from the same vendor as supplied your access
point (/wireless router). The standards do not specify
interoperability for repeaters; even Cisco Aironet APs
(repeaters) are not compatible with Cisco Linksys repeaters
(APs.) So, for compatibility with the Linksys WRT54G,
I'd recommend the Linksys WRE54G.
http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=38&prid=629

Aaron

On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 16:32:05 GMT, "Bob Alston" <bobalston9
(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>You remove the right hand "rubber ducky" antenna and install an alternate
>antenna.

Which is the right antenna? Looking from the front or the back?

Linksys antennas have a plastic sleeve covering the R-TNC connector.
If you just turn the sleeve, it spins making the antenna appear to be
permanently afixed. Tilt the antenna hinge point down so that the
antenna is pointed in a stright line, rather than the usual right
angle. Slide the plastic connector cover toward the tip of the
antenna. That should expose the R-TNC connector. Unscrew the
antenna.


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

On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:42:54 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>I need to boost the signal from a WRT54G thru-out the house.
>Thinking of antennas and repeaters.

You might also wanna think about a 2nd access point. I just cleaned
up an install in a 3 story house. Access point was on the top floor.
Computer room on the basement. No RF made it to the basement. The
owner had built quite an interesting collection of antennas and was
getting nowhere.

I borrowed a 2 pair telephone line (CAT-Zero?) between floors and used
it to connect the access point (Ancient Eumitcom AP I found in the
pile) to the upstairs wireless router (BEFW11S4). The results were
much better than could be done with any amplifier, antenna, or
repeater.

>Which repeater do you recommend ?

I don't. Try antennas or 2nd access point first.

Rule of thumb:
Count the number of walls and floors that you need to go through.
One wall is usually no problem.
One wall with foil backed insulation in the wall won't work.
Two walls will work but will have holes (areas with no signal).
Three walls is a crap shoot and usually won't work.


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

On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 11:31:10 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:42:54 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>>I need to boost the signal from a WRT54G thru-out the house.
>>Thinking of antennas and repeaters.
>
>You might also wanna think about a 2nd access point. I just cleaned
>up an install in a 3 story house. Access point was on the top floor.
>Computer room on the basement. No RF made it to the basement. The
>owner had built quite an interesting collection of antennas and was
>getting nowhere.
>
>I borrowed a 2 pair telephone line (CAT-Zero?) between floors and used

what do you mean by borrowed ?
do you have to use a wire to connect the APs ?
could I just use a CAT5 to connect the two APs ?

>it to connect the access point (Ancient Eumitcom AP I found in the
>pile) to the upstairs wireless router (BEFW11S4). The results were
>much better than could be done with any amplifier, antenna, or
>repeater.
>


>>Which repeater do you recommend ?
>
>I don't. Try antennas or 2nd access point first.
>
>Rule of thumb:
>Count the number of walls and floors that you need to go through.
>One wall is usually no problem.
>One wall with foil backed insulation in the wall won't work.
>Two walls will work but will have holes (areas with no signal).
>Three walls is a crap shoot and usually won't work.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 09:36:51 -0700, Aaron Leonard <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>~ I need to boost the signal from a WRT54G thru-out the house.
>~
>~ Thinking of antennas and repeaters.
>~
>~ Which repeater do you recommend ?
>~
>
>I'd first consider using higher gain antennas. For the
>WRT54G which uses reverse TNC connectors (the stock antennas
>are 2 dBi or so), you could go with the Linksys HGA7T
>antenna kit, which are 7 dBi omnis. This could be good
>if your coverage area is all in the same plane (e.g. you
>have a one storey house to cover.)
>http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=38&prid=643
>
thanks. just bought one very similar on ebay.

>If you want to use a repeater, in general, you will need to
>get a repeater from the same vendor as supplied your access
>point (/wireless router). The standards do not specify
>interoperability for repeaters; even Cisco Aironet APs
>(repeaters) are not compatible with Cisco Linksys repeaters
>(APs.) So, for compatibility with the Linksys WRT54G,
>I'd recommend the Linksys WRE54G.
>http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=38&prid=629
>
>Aaron