Pathetic Wireless Range...Advice Needed

D-Link WBR-1310 router.

Intel Pro wireless 3945 ABG Card

As long as I am right on top of the router I get 54 Mbps with "excellent" signal strength, as soon as I go into the next room (literally 15 ft away and 1 interior wall) I get "low-good" signal strength.

I just took the notebook outside which is 2 interior walls and 1 exterior wall(vinyl siding) away and maybe 30 ft away from router.

I get "no signal".

That is just pathetic.

What do I need to do to actually get a signal outside?

Better router, better card, better antenna?

 

Try udating your drivers, and seeing if you can get stronger antenna's, wackyT is very good in this department try PMing him.

 

Where do I obtain a stronger antenna?

 

http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/wireless.html

 

personal experience, ditch the D-Link. Go with something like a linksys SRX series or a netgear mimo router.

I've pulled more d-link routers out of businesses and homes than any other brand and replaced them with linksys, Netgear, Cisco, and Xirrus gear with minimal complaints.

The most common router I install in homes is probably the WRT54GX2

PS check out these reviews of your router of on amazon, not pretty:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cu...211261-4583031?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics

 

Thanks Reezin14 for the compliment.

Jh225, your router has a reverse SMA (RPSMA) adapter on it for the antenna. So, get a high gain, 5 or above dBi, antenna.

And here's the link to your wireless card's drivers: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/scripts-df-external/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2259&lang=eng

 

Is it better just to get a different router? I don't want to spend $20+ on an antenna and still have a piece of crap with an expensive antenna.

I previously had a Linksys wrt??? with the booster thing. Very unstable, so it went back to the store.

I don't mind paying some money for a real good router, which is the best to use with the Intel Pro and can I get over 54Mbps?

 

I personally have a Linksys with two 7dBi antennas, and I get great range out of it with the Atheros card in my E1705. It all matters on what you want. The Linksys with speed booster requires the compatible Linksys card in your laptop to take advantage of it. If you want a good solid wireless router, I'd recommend the Linksys WRT54GL.

The Intel cards aren't the best for good range either. I replaced my Intel card with a Gigabyte GN-WI01GT card (Atheros AR500EGS chipset), and that about doubled my range over the Intel.

 

Replacing the router may not fix your distance problem, because most combo routers come with LOW gain (2dbi) antennas. Some of the external antenna have adapters to fit most routers.

 

First update the driver as suggested. Second, if with the updated driver you're still getting ****ty signal see if you can test it with another laptop to determine if it's your wireless card or the router. Third, if you determined it is your router, as suggested, go with another router manufacturer. I personally prefer Belkin because I've had good experiences with them and poor experiences with Linkysis/Cisco and Netgear and Belkin works better with Macs too.