johnnycastro
02-14-2006, 09:03 PM
Simply put: How do I maximize signal strength in a house with tons of interference?
Long version:
1) I have a PBG4 12.1" w/ an AirPort Extreme card.
2) I reside in San Francisco, living in a 106-year-old Victorian with a ton of interference, both architecturally speaking as well as the fact that there are at least 2-3 other networks within my range at any given time. Quick fact: We've already optimized our channel settings.
3) Problem: My house's layout is set up so that there are two bedrooms at one end of the flat, then there's about a 30-40 ft. hallway where the router and cable modem reside. IOW, the setup is at one end of the house and I am unable to get decent signal at the other end. Even when my AirPort reports 3 out of 4 bars I still find the connection to be rife with latency.
4) Our ORIGINAL setup had a simple Netgear 802.11g wireless router. When that didn't work AT ALL, we upgraded to a D-LINK (model #DI-624) 802.11g router and added a 18 decible antenna. When THAT didn't work, my housemate got a signal booster, so that it went: Cable Modem --> D-Link Router --> Signal Booster --> Huge antenna that's in our hallway POINTING toward the other end. It is with this current setup that I get a laggy connection at best. My housemate said that with no obstacles and complete line of sight our setup could theoretically have signal for a mile. In fact, he told me that our current setup is violating FCC regulations because it's so strong for a residential setup (I don't know if that's true or not).
5) My said housemate also has a Dell desktop w/ 802.11g (as well as a Dell laptop, also w/ 802.11g) and receives a perfectly fine connection at the other end of the house. He attributes this discrepency to the fact that the antenna on my PBG4 is substantially weaker than on his hardware.
Question: What the hell is going on? Why can't I get good connection? The cable bandwidth is not a problem as I subscribe to a 6MBit connection. My current plan is to invest in a strong wireless repeater to place at the opposite end of the house (the end w/o the modem/router/booster setup). Any suggestions on either a really good wireless repeater or any insight at all for that matter are more than welcome.
Long version:
1) I have a PBG4 12.1" w/ an AirPort Extreme card.
2) I reside in San Francisco, living in a 106-year-old Victorian with a ton of interference, both architecturally speaking as well as the fact that there are at least 2-3 other networks within my range at any given time. Quick fact: We've already optimized our channel settings.
3) Problem: My house's layout is set up so that there are two bedrooms at one end of the flat, then there's about a 30-40 ft. hallway where the router and cable modem reside. IOW, the setup is at one end of the house and I am unable to get decent signal at the other end. Even when my AirPort reports 3 out of 4 bars I still find the connection to be rife with latency.
4) Our ORIGINAL setup had a simple Netgear 802.11g wireless router. When that didn't work AT ALL, we upgraded to a D-LINK (model #DI-624) 802.11g router and added a 18 decible antenna. When THAT didn't work, my housemate got a signal booster, so that it went: Cable Modem --> D-Link Router --> Signal Booster --> Huge antenna that's in our hallway POINTING toward the other end. It is with this current setup that I get a laggy connection at best. My housemate said that with no obstacles and complete line of sight our setup could theoretically have signal for a mile. In fact, he told me that our current setup is violating FCC regulations because it's so strong for a residential setup (I don't know if that's true or not).
5) My said housemate also has a Dell desktop w/ 802.11g (as well as a Dell laptop, also w/ 802.11g) and receives a perfectly fine connection at the other end of the house. He attributes this discrepency to the fact that the antenna on my PBG4 is substantially weaker than on his hardware.
Question: What the hell is going on? Why can't I get good connection? The cable bandwidth is not a problem as I subscribe to a 6MBit connection. My current plan is to invest in a strong wireless repeater to place at the opposite end of the house (the end w/o the modem/router/booster setup). Any suggestions on either a really good wireless repeater or any insight at all for that matter are more than welcome.