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    Improving my wireless signal

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by RyanCA, Sep 7, 2008.

  1. RyanCA

    RyanCA Notebook Geek

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    Hello guys, I've just moved into a new apartment with 3 other guys, and given the layout of the place, my laptop is furthest away from the wireless router (around 50 feet). There are also a couple of walls in the way. What can I do to improve my wireless signal, as it's decent for general websurfing, but when I'm playing some online games it can get very unstable.

    Also, connecting my laptop using an ethernet cable to the outlet does not do anything, so I think there's something wrong with my room's outlet as well.
     
    RyanCA, Sep 7, 2008
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  2. Bubbleboy78

    Bubbleboy78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    What brand of router and what wireless card do you have?
     
    Bubbleboy78, Sep 7, 2008
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  3. raynes71

    raynes71 Newbie

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    Do you have a wireless N card in your laptop? if not i would get a wireles N card express card or pcmcia whichever one you have and get a Wireless N MIMO router, the signal, latency and connection speed will increase dramatically. but I see you're in canada like me and bestbuy has some decent wireless N stuff for a fairly cheap price nowadays. I would recommend Linksys or DLink. As long as its draft N 2.0, you're good. Good luck!
     
    raynes71, Sep 7, 2008
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  4. RyanCA

    RyanCA Notebook Geek

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    My wireless card is : Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
    Wireless router: D-link
    ISP: Rogers

    Would a wireless repeater improve my signal strength and stability?
     
    RyanCA, Sep 7, 2008
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  5. raynes71

    raynes71 Newbie

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    what kind of DLink router?

    and a repeater is kind of a band aid solution and you end up adding another hop to your network. a nice router with MIMO and QOS would certainly help with your signal and gaming experience. I live in a condo downtown on the 20th floor, and its a 2 level condo and its all concrete, my old G router couldnt go all the way the first level of my unit, and now even at my work 2 blocks away i can connect to my router, with usable signal.
     
    raynes71, Sep 7, 2008
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  6. Bubbleboy78

    Bubbleboy78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Honestly, I know nothing of wireless repeaters - but I would venture to say yes as their name suggests- thought I have never used one. If you're D-Link is a DIR 625 or some other N router, perhaps using a wide channel would improve your signal. As for your signal - how strong is it to begin with? Look for possible interference with NetStumbler (Windows XP) or VIStumlber(Windows Vista). Also as for the unworking ethernet jack, check with your apartment owners. They may know or have unauthorized MAC addresses blocked on that port.. or someting of that order. But if it doesn't work, seems that they should be the ones to fix it for you, in which case you could then get another D-Link (I think they enable bridging - i can't recall at the moment)
     
    Bubbleboy78, Sep 7, 2008
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