Signal Strength

[Jokke]

Hi!

I've noticed that the computer in my room has bad signal strength. In the Connection window, it's listed at "11.0 Mbps" and "Very Weak". The internet is fast enought, and downloads are ok, but the real problem is online games. My router is too far from my computer for a wired connection, and there are a couple of walls separating them. My laptop has "54.0 Mbps" and
"Excellent" signal strengh. Is there anyhing I can do to boost my signal? Is this problem caused by the router? I suspect the network card, since my laptop has excellent signal strength in the same location as my desktop.
My router is a Prestige-660HW-T3, provided by my ISP.
In my desktop I have a ZyXEL NWD-310N, it has three antennaes, so I thought it would give a very good wireless connection.
I have no idea what card is in my laptop.

I also have a multimodem, also provided by ISP, from when I lived in an apartment. It's a Speedtouch ST80WLT. I guess not, but could it possibly be used to somehow relay the signal, or act as a booster in any way?:o

Thanks in advance!
Jokke

[Jokke]

Ok, switched cards on my desktop. I now have my old network card, A Gigabite card of some sort, with one single antenna. It now shows "54.0 Mbps" and "Low" signal strength, so I guess it's an improvement..

[Jokke]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/464531201.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

*sigh*

[Jokke]

Saw this (http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24482) thread, and followed Thrax' advise to put channel to 11, without noticeable improvement, but it didn't noticeably worse either.

[troll]

If your the only one on the wireless you can jig up one of these units... I've used them in the past with good results.

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template/

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/Ez-10/

Your router has to support a Wireless Distribution Mode..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Distribution_System

(My Airport Extreme will act as a repeater / booster...)

Those reflectors are real cheap and easy to build and worth a try first.

[troll]

Cisco has a great explanation of how N wireless works 802.11n Whitepaper (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/ps5678/ps6973/ps8382/prod_white_paper0900aecd806b8ce7_ns767_Networking_Solutions_White_Paper.html)

The 3 antenna on the N card are used in MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) the router has to support this as well... (multiple channels at the same time etc...)

[Jokke]

Thanks, troll. I am unfortunately not the only one on the network.

I am a network noob, I guess. As long as I've been able to connect to the internet, I never cared how it worked, or what happens. Now I'm wondering what is Mbps?
Is it MegaBYTE per second, or MegaBIT per second. Or is it something completely different?
I know we should have a "16000/800 kbit/s", as told by my ISP. Is kbit/ KiloBIT per second? And how is that in relation to the Mbps?

Im confused :s

[troll]

Small b is Bits, I have Eastlink 15Mbits which 15000 kbits... or 1.5MBytes... (kilo=1000 Mega=Million)

You can also try the reflector cut out on the antenna of your PC as well... Or if the antenna unscrews from the card you can get an extension cable to move it around with reflector attached... :)

http://www.speedtest.net/result/464855165.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

The top number is usually around 14 - 18 Mb
Bottom number is always below 1 as we only get 100KB upload :(

You get different speeds from different servers... all due to latency and hops and other net stuff...

[troll]

Your "16000/800 kbit/s" should have numbers the same or higher than mine... there is an issue there for sure. Try the same thing from one of your wired connections to see if it changes.

Also make sure there is little or no internet activity at the time of the test...

[Jokke]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/464881875.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

I relocated both the router and my computer, so now it says "54.0 Mbps" and "Very Good" signal strength..

Ping in L4D still sucks though..

[troll]

I'd inquire with your ISP as you why your not getting what your paying for...

[Jokke]

Hmm, will do.

[Preacher]

jokke,
looking at the 39ms ping you got in Speedtest.net on the jessheim server and the 500-700ms pings you were getting in L4D on a US East Coast server tells me that your problem is in the connections between Scandinavia and North America, not with your computer or router.

[Thrax]

Agreed completely.

[Jokke]

So, can I fix it, can my ISP fix it, or is it unfixable?

[Preacher]

I don't know, jokke. I would raise the issue with them. I do play TF2 and L4D with folks from Britain and there ping is worse than most in the states, but not nearly as high as what you are experiencing. Unfortunately, you may be have to deal with the tyranny of distance.