wireless routers are crap in my house

I bought a Gateway 802.11 G and It is so pathetically weak signal.
I live in a conventional house with sheetrock and wood studs.
I have the wireless router in one end of the house, 50 feet away in a
straight line is the reciever end.
I sometimes can connect at 50% signal strength with 24mps
Half the time I can not connect at all due to poor strength like 33% to
45%.
Everytime someone wants to try to use it, I have to move it around try
different things always very uncertain if it will connect or even stay
connected. The thing that gets me is there are about 4 or 5 other
networks in the list and sometimes my own wireless router signal
strength is even less that these others which are in houses who knows
where. If anyone ever wants to know about a wireless network I tell
them its lousy and maybe it will work for them but most likely wont.
This has been a real dissapointment to me.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> I bought a Gateway 802.11 G and It is so pathetically weak signal.
> I live in a conventional house with sheetrock and wood studs.
> I have the wireless router in one end of the house, 50 feet away in a
> straight line is the reciever end.
> I sometimes can connect at 50% signal strength with 24mps
> Half the time I can not connect at all due to poor strength like 33% to
> 45%.
> Everytime someone wants to try to use it, I have to move it around try
> different things always very uncertain if it will connect or even stay
> connected. The thing that gets me is there are about 4 or 5 other
> networks in the list and sometimes my own wireless router signal
> strength is even less that these others which are in houses who knows
> where. If anyone ever wants to know about a wireless network I tell
> them its lousy and maybe it will work for them but most likely wont.
> This has been a real dissapointment to me.
>

Have you tried experimenting with different channels. Finding the right
channel solved my problem.

(E-Mail Removed) hath wroth:

>I bought a Gateway 802.11 G and It is so pathetically weak signal.
>I live in a conventional house with sheetrock and wood studs.
>I have the wireless router in one end of the house, 50 feet away in a
>straight line is the reciever end.
>I sometimes can connect at 50% signal strength with 24mps
>Half the time I can not connect at all due to poor strength like 33% to
>45%.
>Everytime someone wants to try to use it, I have to move it around try
>different things always very uncertain if it will connect or even stay
>connected. The thing that gets me is there are about 4 or 5 other
>networks in the list and sometimes my own wireless router signal
>strength is even less that these others which are in houses who knows
>where. If anyone ever wants to know about a wireless network I tell
>them its lousy and maybe it will work for them but most likely wont.
>This has been a real dissapointment to me.

- How many walls are you trying to go through?
- Is there any foil backed insulation in the walls.
- Any chances of interference? Try a different channel (1, 6, 11).
- What model Gateway 802.11g? Latest drivers? If laptop, have you
tried it at a wireless hot spot or other open access point to check
the range?
- Where are the 4 or 5 other wireless routers? If you're shooting
through a window directly to one of these, you'll get much better
signal than trying to drill through a few walls.
- Can you borrow a different model wireless router and see if it works
any better?

--
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

2 or maybe 3 walls with no insulation or foil
My router is at the end of the hallway. Her computer is in a bedroom
and is offset from straightline hallway by 7 feet.
I have played around with different channels no help there. Which
channel is best?

The router is model WGR-250
the reciever is a Gateway wireless usb adapter model WGU-210
I would not really want to buy different equiptment, they are both
802.11g standard. why are some stronger signals and some weaker?

(E-Mail Removed) hath wroth:

>2 or maybe 3 walls with no insulation or foil

My rule of thumb is:
1 wall - no problem
2 walls - iffy but can be made to work.
3 walls - unreliable.

The problem is that you'll probably get a connection through 3 walls,
but you won't be able to stay connected. As things move around the
house, so will the signal level.

>My router is at the end of the hallway. Her computer is in a bedroom
>and is offset from straightline hallway by 7 feet.

Can you move the computer into the doorway for a quick test?

Incidentally, your initial description seems a bit different:
"I have the wireless router in one end of the house, 50 feet
away in a straight line is the reciever end."
A 7ft offset is NOT a straight line.

>I have played around with different channels no help there. Which
>channel is best?

There is no "best" channel. Channel 6 is most common because it's in
the middle of the band. The bandwidth limited devices (filters,
antennas, etc) tend to work better in mid band. The non-overlapping
channels are 1, 6, and 11. Use one of those. The idea is to find a
channel that has the least amount of inteference from other users.
Otherwise, all the channels are equal.

>The router is model WGR-250

I couldn't find any reviews that included any kind of performance
tests.

>the reciever is a Gateway wireless usb adapter model WGU-210

Wireless USB is not known for spectacular range. The WGU-210 at least
has a decent built in "flip up" antenna.
http://support.gateway.com/s/NETWORK...004807nv.shtml

The problem is that I can't tell exactly where you're having a range
problem. If the computer is portable, try walking down the hallway
while monitoring the signal strength. I think you'll find a very
abrupt drop when you turn the corner in the doorway. I've seen this
in many building. RF just does not like turning corners (or going
through additional walls). With 2-3 walls, the number of walls may be
the problem.

Before doing anything, I suggest you invite someone over with a known
working wireless laptop and run a comparison test. If it does the
same thing, it's not the client end. Also, if possible, borrow a
different access point and see if it makes a difference. In other
words, troubleshoot this by substitution.

Also, make sure you have the latest firmware for the wireless router
and the latest drivers for the client radio.

>I would not really want to buy different equiptment, they are both
>802.11g standard. why are some stronger signals and some weaker?

Sigh. The general answer is differences in construction, antennas,
chipsets, and quality control. Things like processor noise trashing
the receive sensitivity are impossible for users to detect. Variations
in antenna construction make a huge difference. From what I've seen
(several years ago), the transmitters are all roughly with a few dB of
specified output, but the receivers are all over the place.
--
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

On 27 Mar 2006 11:45:57 -0800, in alt.internet.wireless ,
(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>2 or maybe 3 walls with no insulation or foil

Material? Mine are "breeze" which has a high iron content -> can't
recieve wireles 30ft away horizontally, works fine 30ft vertically....

>My router is at the end of the hallway. Her computer is in a bedroom
>and is offset from straightline hallway by 7 feet.

Does it work if you stick the computer's USB adapter in the doorway,
or out in the hall? Experiment with different locations, see if you
can find somewhere it *does* work.

>The router is model WGR-250
>the reciever is a Gateway wireless usb adapter model WGU-210
>I would not really want to buy different equiptment,

If you want it to work, then given your geometry, you may need to.

>they are both
>802.11g standard. why are some stronger signals and some weaker?

All sorts of reasons.
Mark McIntyre
--

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> I bought a Gateway 802.11 G and It is so pathetically weak signal.
> I live in a conventional house with sheetrock and wood studs.
> I have the wireless router in one end of the house, 50 feet away in a
> straight line is the reciever end.
> I sometimes can connect at 50% signal strength with 24mps
> Half the time I can not connect at all due to poor strength like 33% to
> 45%.

[snip]

Try re-orienting the antennae on the router, and at the receiver end, e.g.
if a laptop, try it facing a different direction.
--
Remove NOSPAM to email.