wireless problems

August 3, 2005 11:24 PM

What is the weak link in my wireless connection?

My internet proider came with a wireless router and I use a Netgear wireless card. I live in a small house. The router is downstairs and when I work on my laptop upstairs the connection constantly goes in and out and is really frustrating. I would like to know before I complain to my internet provider what is most likely the weekest link. Is the router not transmitting a powerfull enough signal or is it my card? Or do you need more info?

posted by retro88 to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Do you have a cordless phone? Is the router (or the laptop) near a microwave oven? Is there a ton of metal in the wall/floor/ceiling between the two points? All of those could be the cause of the problem. Also, try walking around the house with the laptop on and watch the signal strength -- that might give you some clues.
posted by littleme at 11:33 PM on August 3, 2005

Consumer wireless routers and cards, in general, simply can't transmit very far through walls and ceilings. If there's more than three or four walls, ceilings, or other obstructions between the card and the router, even in a small house, there's little you or your provider can do about it -- you're exceeding the limits of the technology.

Ultimately, if you can get a good signal with the router and card in the same room, that's all your provider's on the hook for -- they can't control or fix things if you've moved the card too far away from the router.

Depending on your router, however, you may be able to purchase a range extender, another wireless access point that goes inbetween the router and the card. Check the website of the manufacturer of the router to see if they make one.
posted by eschatfische at 11:39 PM on August 3, 2005

I use a relatively crappy D-link consumer grade router/AP/Hub combo and an Orinoco card. There were no other wireless routers around me. I got excellent connections 50 yards outside the house, through a wall, an overfilled bedroom, a living room, and a partial brick wall and a full garage.

I know it wasn't just the Orinoco card, because I also was able to achieve similar connections on USB adapters, SDIO or Compact Flash adapters on handhelds, and even internally wired Apple and Dell clients.

There's a lot more to fine tuning a WiFi connection besides simply the radio strength. For starters, there's channels. If you're sharing radio signal footprint with additional access points (say, from your neighbors) if they're all set to the usual default of channel 6, as far as I understand it there's only so many packets that can be sent per second on that channel. Try setting both your access point and your card or client to a different channel.

There's also all kinds of more arcane parameters, like "beacon interval", "preamble type", "fragmentation" and others that have to do with how the actual packet transmission is handled.

A simple google search for "wifi troubleshooting" reveals this resource, but that might be too technical.
posted by loquacious at 1:11 AM on August 4, 2005

Another simple thing you can try: if your router/access point has a movable antenna, try to reorient the antenna. If I remember correctly, the signal mostly radiates from the sides of the antenna, and if the antenna is vertical, being upstairs might put you in a weak lobe of the signal. If the antenna is built-in to the router somehow, try putting the router/access point on its side and see if it makes a difference.
posted by pjern at 1:44 AM on August 4, 2005

I had this problem as well; it's almost surely a 2.4 gig cordless phone in your home or one of your neighbors'. If it's yours, switching to the newer 5.7 gig phones will help.
posted by miss tea at 5:55 AM on August 4, 2005

I have similar connectivity problems with my wireless - in my bedroom, no problem, good signal. On the other end of the house, equidistant from the router but on the other side of it, no signal or a very crappy signal. Seems like it's the house, or some power lines or other interference, because cell phone signals are generally weak in my place as well (but fine a block away). If you have interference problems, see if you can swap out your router antenna. Mine are removable, and can be upgraded to heavier-duty ones for better signals. For internal ones you may be out of luck.
posted by caution live frogs at 7:42 AM on August 4, 2005

I used to have the same problem with my desktop at my parents house with a Netgear router and a Belkin card. We eventually figured out that the router and wireless card needed to be from the same manufacturer. Once we made them both Netgear, the problem stopped. Your results may vary though, as this was a few years ago right when G became popular and before it was standardized.
posted by geeky at 8:38 AM on August 4, 2005

If you are dropping signal, you may want to try making a cheap antenna mod for your router like this one that basically converts your basic antenna to a more directional one, focusing the signal.

In my old setup I had a 802.11b router 2 rooms away, but a cordless phone base, a microwave AND a wet wall between the router and the PC I was trying to connect to (which had a slightly broken antenna as well). couldn't get a stable signal until I used these little wonders, which cost about 12 cents to make (if that).

Also, you may want to consider getting a high gain antenna , but at least try the link above first in order to save a trip and possibly 60 bucks.
posted by tj at 8:38 AM on August 4, 2005

I had this problem as well; it's almost surely a 2.4 gig cordless phone in your home or one of your neighbors'. If it's yours, switching to the newer 5.7 gig phones will help.

If this is the problem, which hasn't yet been established but very well could be, I would also suggest switching not to 5.7 Ghz, but 900Mhz phones and save yourself some money. The frequency does not affect the clarity of sound (unless everyone in your neightborhood uses 900 Mhz).

I also just bought a D-Link router (802.11g)from Best Buy (last night, actually). It cost 60 bucks and has 40 bucks in rebates. I used the airport extreme wireless that was built into my Powerbook and I get full reception all over my mom's decently sized house. FWIW.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 8:54 AM on August 4, 2005