How can I boost my Wireless Signal?

[dad3and3]

I just had Verizon FIOS installed and terminated my DSL account. So far, FIOS works great and seems much faster than DSL

My problem is, I have to have the router in my office which is in a building about 150 feet from my house. I get a weak signal in some portions of the house but most areas are not usable. The house is an old stone wall building so that seems to make it worse.

Are there any products that are recommended to boost the strenght of the signal and do they work? Possibly an outdoor antenna or some type of transfer station?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[powernoodle]

Someone smarter than me can tell you how, but I know it can be done. We know someone who did this at a business so that he could access the wireless network at his home maybe 300 yards away. Its a hardware solution.

 

[dad3and3]

That's what I thought but when I started to search I found a lot of conflicting information and not sure what works and what doesn't.

I asked the Verizon installer but he didn't really seem to know.

 

[macforsale]

Try this web url and at the bottom look for EZ-10 10 db corner reflector.

http://www.freeantennas.com/

Easy to make and free. It might give you the gain you are looking for.

 

[NextLight]

1) Arrange an unobstructed path (line of sight, out the windows)

2) Use a passive reflector (EZ-10 or similar) for gain on existing antennas

3) Better, use outside, (semi)permanently mounted gain antennas, preferably at both ends.

4) Mount a router/range extender near the outside antenna, and bring ethernet into the house. (and go from there)

More ideas here:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

 

[Illum]

I originally came up with the idea of soldering the "antenna" wire to a 25 feet spool of mono speaker wire. Install the wire in a loop behind my PC furniture
seems to give better signals

YMMV

 

[gadget_lover]

two of my friends use the belkin repeater. For $30 or so it's a quick and easy solution.

It can be set to use wep, WPA, or unsecured.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FTLOL0/?tag=cpf0b6-20

My neighbor is retired. My Terms Of Service do not prohibit sharing, so I set up a wireless point for him. He could see the signal weakly from one corner of his house even after I put up a directional antenna. He put the range extender in that room, and now has a clear signal thoughout his house.

Another friend was using the signal from the coffee shop across the street. The sigmal went down when they remodeled. She also installed the belkin (near a window overlooking the coffee shop) and now has a clear, steady signal throughout her apartment.

Daniel

 

[mechBgon]

You might also consider the other solution: if possible, run a cable from one building to the other and be done with it. 50 meters is well within the ~100m recommended limit of Ethernet cable lengths.

 

[f22shift]

http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/productlist.php?CatID=32&FamID=60&ProdID=280

i have one of these and it works really well.

or
you can use a usb wifi stub connected to a pole on your roof or window and run an active usb extension cable to your pc.

 

[axolotls]

Bought some Buffalo Router and hacked it (online instructions) to turn it into a repeater. It extended the wireless range quite dramatically. $40 -$50 IIRC.

 

[electromage]

Are you using this with a laptop or a desktop?

 

[kingoftf]

Try a Repeater from Linksys, works very well.
I´ve used in my house cause the signal from the Router was to weak to reach my Mac downstairs.

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...nksys/Common/VisitorWrapper&lid=7813839789B06


Or a stronger Router like the Netgear which I use now, the first time it works without the Expander mentioned before:

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Rou...MaxNEXTWirelessRoutersandGateways/DG834N.aspx

 

[dad3and3]

First, thanks for all the replies. I am exploring each one.

My wireless router is positioned in a building that is away from the house. I am trying to get the internet to work in the house with two laptops that have built in WIFI. I also have a desktop that has a wifi card attached through a USB cable.

I think I am going to try one of the repeaters to see if that will help. I would love to find a more permanent solution so that we could have wireless access anywhere in the house and even outside on the patio.

Thanks

Are you using this with a laptop or a desktop?

 

[electromage]

I would recommend setting up a wireless point-to-point backhaul. Use two dedicated wireless AP/bridges with directional antennas to connect the two networks. Connect one access point to the network in the building with the internet connection, and one to a switch or access point in your house. In this network, your house would have the same signal as if there were a "wireless router" in your house, but the gateway would still be connected to the fiber, and providing NAT, DHCP, DNS resolution, and whatever else it might be configured to do.

Here's a cute little diagram:

You may have an all-in-one "wireless router", this is just a gateway, switch, and AP all in one box. If this is the case, just omit the "Wireless AP" in the building, and connect "Bridge node A" directly to one of the switched ports on the back of the "wireless router".

Assuming you have an all-in-one in the building, you could probably get away with this for about $250 in new equipment. The signal and consequently, speed improvement will be well worth it if you plan on doing anything other than text email. Since you have FiOS, and notice a difference, I'm assuming this is the case.

---Edit---
I just re-read your last post, if you want to increase the coverage at home even more, simply connect a switch to "node b" and more APs to that.
--Edit again--
Fixed pic url

 

[dad3and3]

Well I went with a LInksys G Range Extender for $100. at Circuit City. Took a little bit to get it set up but that's because I'm not very savy with the computer stuff but I did get it to work. Now getting 5 bars in the other building.

Reall accomplishment for me and now it seems like my access problems are solved for now.

Funny part that I learned is that Verizon is still using G Routers rather than the new N routers for some reason. Plus I have to have my Coaxial cable hooked up to their router and I haven't seen a N router that has a place to hook up a coaxial cable.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[gadget_lover]

A "G' router is sufficient for their needs. The coax is bringing in a special broadband signal that is (most likely) specific to FIOS, so it's acting much like a cable modem or DSL modem.

When you consider that most broadband is still less bandwidth than the older 802.11 B standard (11 mbps) the G is actually overkill.

Daniel.

 

[electromage]

A "G' router is sufficient for their needs. The coax is bringing in a special broadband signal that is (most likely) specific to FIOS, so it's acting much like a cable modem or DSL modem.

When you consider that most broadband is still less bandwidth than the older 802.11 B standard (11 mbps) the G is actually overkill.

Daniel.

I'm not entirely familiar with FiOS, it's not yet available in most areas that I service, so none of my customers have it, plus many think they're still in the 90s and pay for dial-upthinking. Where is the coax used in the connection if the whole idea is FTTP? I figured that customers would have a fiber termination inside their building.

I have Comcast internet at home, and my G wifi network is a bit slower than my peak downstream throughput. I hardly notice though, since I'm usually only using it for web browsing. If I need to transfer large files to or from my laptop, I plug it in.

 

[Greenlead]

You might also consider the other solution: if possible, run a cable from one building to the other and be done with it. 50 meters is well within the ~100m recommended limit of Ethernet cable lengths.

What he said.

The best way to do it would be to run CAT5 to the other building, from the router to a switch or access point.

Like this:
FIOS > ROUTER > CAT5 > SWITCH > AP

If you only need wireless in one building, place the router in that area.

I'm not entirely familiar with FiOS, it's not yet available in most areas that I service, so none of my customers have it, plus many think they're still in the 90s and pay for dial-upthinking. Where is the coax used in the connection if the whole idea is FTTP? I figured that customers would have a fiber termination inside their building.

FiOS was originally an Internet / Phone service. When TV was added, installers were told to try to use the existing inside coax if possible. The coax is used from the ONT to the router and TV box. The technology is called MOCA. The router is made by Actiontec.

Non-TV customers can request Cat5 instead (from the ONT to the router). This is what we have, as do not use the TV service (not to mention that we got service before TV was introduced in our area). We have a D-Link router, instead.

 

[dad3and3]

Just a quick update that may help others. The Verizon Tech was here yesterday to install the TV portion of the triple play. When I told him what I wanted to do he thought about it and came up with a better solution.

Seems as though you can install FIOS internet over Cat3 lines contrary to what I've been told. He took the router from my one building and placed it in the house closer to where the Fiber Optic comes in from the pole since he needed a stronger signal from the coax cable for video on demand. He was then able to use a regular phone line that was previously installed to my out building and installed a eithernet connection inside which I was able to plug my desktop computer into and it all works great.

I got a super fast connection in the main building and a very strong connection in the out building that I use for my office which is roughly 100 to 150 feet from the main building.

Anyway, it works great.

 

[binky]

Your man found a good solution if you're satisfied with the result. True you can use the Cat3, but it's a 4-wire unshielded cable that maxes theoretically at 10 Mbps. You might or might not notice it for that throughput. Just don't rely on sharing big files over that unshielded 4-wire mess of crosstalk.

In the future you can just get some Cat-5+ direct-bury cable to substitute the Cat 3 and then you'll be better off. If you don't want to put the ends on or punch it down onto a patch panel then it's possible to go & buy a 150' patch cable.

FYI I've got my office in my garage and that's separate from my house. I had a pipe laid when it was built. I ran 250' of 2 Cat 6 cables and that's working fine. I recently bought fiber optic but I can't put it in until the weather's nicer. For now the two trunked Cat 6 is working fine. If you have $300 to spend you can get two HP ProCurve 1800-8G Ethernet switches and trunk more than one line together to double, quadruple, etc, your throughput. Another unmentioned way to go is to run fiber and use a fiber/copper adapter at the ends but good self-repairing adapters are still way too expensive (around $400+ each). If you run fiber though (like 50/125 multimode), you're set for cable and can just swap out the adapters as your throughput demand grows. That's overkill for most people, though.

[edit] Like what Electromage said, you can get WiFi routers to do the throughput. EnGenius sells WiFi adapters that have lethal () power output that'll let you use your FiOS from the next neighborhood. You could either put it together like Electromage said or you could put one high-power access point in the house and use a high-power pcmcia card in your laptop at your office. Just probably don't put your laptop on your lap. (200 mW!)