Support NeoGAF

[Edwardo]

Hi GAF,

I have a wifi and router question and i'm looking for some suggestions.

For the past few years my family has been using the Linksys e2000 router. It is set up in our office, which is in the corner off of our living room. We have our printer, a phone, and an xbox 360 connected via ethernet to this router and none of them have any problems. All of those being located in that room means I don't have much say in moving the router elsewhere in our house. The problem is that the wifi will not reach my bedroom. If anything, I get one bar at most on my laptop. My xbox 360 will connect then disconnect back and forth when using the wireless.

I'm not sure if the problem is the router's wifi signal, or if the distance to my room is just unrealistic for a router's range. Something else to know is that we used to have a Linksys wrt54g router, which could reach all the way up to my room from the basement without any connection problems. That's why i'm thinking the problem could be our current router.

I set up a set of powerline adapters that work fine, but the outlets in my room are on a different power grid, so I have to run the ethernet out into the hallway where I have the adapter plugged in. It's just a temporary thing for now because people will trip over the wire and pull it out as well as it sort of being an eyesore.

An option could also be to buy a range extender to put in my brother's bedroom, which is just over halfway between my room and the router.

I'll soon be purchasing either a ps4 or xbox one and want to be able to get a connection in my room for both my laptop and a console, so this is pretty much why i'm coming here for help.

Here is a crappy mspaint layout of my house to give a visual of what i'm working with.

I'm currently at work, so I can update any detailed information when I get home in a bit.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

I used to have that router as well, and wasn't blown away by the performance either. Even upping the radio strength with custom firmware (you should be running either Tomato or DD-WRT on any router) it was less than ideal. Also, I don't believe that router can broadcast both signal bands simultaneously, which may be impacting your signal also.

Since running a Powerline adapter won't be a permanent fix in your scenario, I would be looking into a newer higher-powered router/AP with stronger antennas, or antennas you can swap out. I'm not a fan of WiFi extenders since they sacrifice bandwidth throughput for signal strength.

The best solution may be to use a Powerline adapter from your office to somewhere else in the house that is on the same circuit, and then put an access point there.

 

[Edwardo]

I used to have that router as well, and wasn't blown away by the performance either. Even upping the radio strength with custom firmware (you should be running either Tomato or DD-WRT on any router) it was less than ideal. Also, I don't believe that router can broadcast both signal bands simultaneously, which may be impacting your signal also.

Since running a Powerline adapter won't be a permanent fix in your scenario, I would be looking into a newer higher-powered router/AP with stronger antennas, or antennas you can swap out. I'm not a fan of WiFi extenders since they sacrifice bandwidth throughput for signal strength.

The best solution may be to use a Powerline adapter from your office to somewhere else in the house that is on the same circuit, and then put an access point there.

Thanks. I'm most likely going to look into a new router.

Should I assume something higher-powered will be pretty expensive?

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

Thanks. I'm most likely going to look into a new router.

Should I assume something higher-powered will be pretty expensive?

Yes, the top of the line routers tend to run $150-$200. But since you already have the Powerline adapters, a less-expensive model may be enough if you can get the router plugged into a Powerline adapter only a room or so away, or directly underneath your room.

 

[Edwardo]

Yes, the top of the line routers tend to run $150-$200. But since you already have the Powerline adapters, a less-expensive model may be enough if you can get the router plugged into a Powerline adapter only a room or so away, or directly underneath your room.

Is it better to use two of the same routers if I am going to use one as an access point?

I can't place it under my room, since that's the garage. So I would end up putting it in my brother's room, which only has the stairs between us. Would there be a significant reduction in my connection speed with an access point?

Sorry for all the questions, i'm new with networking.

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

They don't need to be the same. You also don't even need to broadcast the same SSID on the second access point; broadcasting the same SSID on both (but on a different channel to limit interference) would help for transparent roaming from one access point to the other. That's basically how WiFi is handled in office buildings that run multiple access point for coverage.

If the extra access points is hardwired (aka on a Powerline adapter) to main access point/router, then there will be no loss of speed. The reason adding an extra access point that is purely wireless drops speed is because it now has to talk to your devices as well as the main access point on the same wireless radio, so bandwidth is effectively halved. Your additional access point would be hardwired to the main access point, so its wireless network will be solely utilized for serving wireless devices.

 

[mug]

Is it possible to move your modem/router? If it's cable internet you should be able to locate it to another outlet with a coax connection. The ideal location for a wireless access point is up high - top floor - away from obstructions (people/walls/electronics).

Do you also have a wireless phone system in your house?

 

[clav]

Is there a possible way to put the router on the second floor instead of the first?

 

[Edwardo]

I'd like to move it upstairs, but originally our office was in the basement. Then we moved everything upstairs to the current room because of water damage. So now all of our bedrooms are on the top level and there are too many hardwired devices that i'd rather not move the modem and router out of that room if I dont have to.