How do I increase my wi-fi strength? HELP!
FarFrumLEET
LA, CA
A while back I bought a linksys wireless-b router and it worked fine. But now, my connection sucks downstairs. I barely get very low strength if I get a signal at all. The computer isn't even that far away but I do have thick walls. It seems slower that 56k and then it locks up, while upstairs I always get a great connection strength. So what do I do to strengthen my connection. I've tried changing the channel and still nothing. Can I buy or build some sort of super antenna so I can get a signal miles out? Something not too expensive. I'm just really sick of loosing my connection a few rooms away. Thanks.
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The common misconception is that you point the top of the antenna towards the receiving computers. Don't. Sides of the antennas.
I actually got my connection back after lining up the sides of the antennas. Thanks alot for that info. But what other concerns should I address?
O, I wanted to say that I was going to buy the antenna adapters that work with my linksys router.But was looking for some online guides on how to make an antenna out of a copper pipe (or something like it because im making an omni). Because I've found a bunch of sites that have guides on making a can or sat dish into an antenna but nothing on omnis.
You've addressed the main concern, just regaining your signal strength. The other tricks now are to see how good you can really get it by fiddling minutely with your WAP antennas, and the card antennas.
Wireless is not an omnidirectional thing, normally, it is a near-ground multidirectional broadcast thing. What hams do to get wireless to a broadcast for long distance is patch into a ham omni. The omni's need a bounce surface, and in the case of ham it is bounced atmospherically with freqs that would not be absorbed or be so focused and strong as to totally escape the atmosphere layers.
Wireless, if you boosted it and made it omni, would not be anything but incompatible with a solely wireless receiver, you would have to do a two way freq conversion to get an out and in with an omni antenna. Thus, wireless sticks on your G and B and A wireless use a side-of stick XMIT receive propagation, NOT a pole end XMIT\RECEIVE.
To stay with cheap things, cheapest is either a same-brand compatible wireless or a dedicated booster or a can antenna whihc DOES by its nature radiate more out of sides. The can be high up like near sceiling if no electrical stuff that gens fileds is between it and main router, and hard wired to a wired router with a media adapter, but the gates or an extra router of same brand tend to be cheaper after rebates than trying to adapt to a pole-oriented linear XMIT.
Most of the network conversions with focussed beams are highly expensive because a media conversion in terms of frequency FAMILY translation in both directions needs to be done to get practical beaming of focused kinds. This is part of why WAN BANDWIDTH IS SO HARD TO DO and is so dang expensive. satcom uses satelllites to relfect and in also now to manage stream switching in the atmosphere to just outside it.
What you might be able to do with G is a thick guage wire horizontally oriented LOOP antenna for boosting, but that is what the cans are used for besides providing in some cases weather resisitance for outdoor use also. Adapting to and from omni, in other words needs an XMIT\REC adapter pair inline as far as the comm connect to get the conversion to work well enbough to be relaible for data. In the US, this is license-only work for freq rights and takes dual kinds of XMIT\RECEIVE to do.
Unlike a ham radio, which is freq'd for this, wireless is not designed at all even frequency wise for this. I understand what you want, but doing it right will be an expensive PTIA to do. 3COM made didsh to dish WAN tunneling adapters for building to building, but homemade wireless natives use repeaters to spread hotspots, with non-omni antennas.
Even TV freqs use end-of-fether-rodding in antenna for most reception, adn are not truely multi except as allowed for by feathering of thin rods off of thick middle rod. Thick conductor loops are best other than can structures fro wireless freqs unless you want a HAM pair, which will be hyper-unsecure. Use relays of can antennae for what you want to do for best results, or hardware a multifunction main router to a booster relay closer to where you want to have outside access, then let the realy handle input. Withotu a semi-wasteful and relatively slowing conversion, cans are best bet for what Wireless LANning is meant for, which is close proximity networking and not WAN-like merging of data flows without a lot of aux gear involved.
I got kinda lucky as kid, had a friend who was ham way back, who was a neighbor and a major Ham freak who was licensed and a long distance COMK engineer also. He explained quite clearly what was up with basic antennae structures. He and Dad got along, so I was able to get permission to go over and hang out in this person's ham shack.... That is how I know this particular set of ideas.
John D.