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    Should 15 more feet make this big a difference?

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by abaddon4180, Apr 11, 2010.

  1. abaddon4180

    abaddon4180 Notebook Virtuoso

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    I recently switched from Clearwire to Comcast because Clearwire, obviously, sucks for gaming or downloading anything but I am still having a bit of a problem.

    My wireless router (Linksys WRT160N) is about 35-ish feet and 3 wooden walls away from my 360 and my laptop and, on my laptop, I am still getting about 6/3Mbps of the 20/10Mbps my desktop gets and I figure that isn't bad for that type of distance. The problem is I am still having trouble playing online on the Xbox for some reason even though Microsoft states that a 2Mb/s connection is fine for online play. I have the newest 360 wireless N receiver and it should be getting almost the same speeds as my laptop but it apparently doesn't because it lags online sometimes. But when I move the 360 into another room about 15 feet closer to the router I have a perfect connection nonstop.

    I guess what I am asking is there any setting that I could change or anything I could do to the router to alleviate this problem, aside from moving it closer?
     
    abaddon4180, Apr 11, 2010
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  2. Clutch

    Clutch cute and cuddly boys

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    It could be a metal support beam in the way.
     
    Clutch, Apr 11, 2010
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  3. downloads

    downloads No, Dee Dee, no! Super Moderator

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    If you own a WRT160N version 1 or 3 you can install DD-WRT instead of the original firmware. That would allow you to increase transmit power of the radio chip over the limit. This is not dangerous to the router (unless you really overdo it- go to DD-WRT forum for more information).
    That should give you better reception and speed resulting in less/no lag- plus it's free and you can always flash the router back with the default firmware if you choose to do so.
     
    downloads, Apr 11, 2010
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  4. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    metal support beams, mirrors (usually metal-backed), lots of wiring or copper piping in the walls, old-style plaster & lathe wall construction with a lot of chicken wire, new neighbors with higher-powered 2.4/5.2 Gz phones, other 802.11 devices within 500 feet, microwave ovens, etc, etc.

    It's not a mystery as to why 802.11 doesn't work. It's more that it's a mystery that it works at all given the number of active and passive sources of interference it has to deal with.
     
    newsposter, Apr 11, 2010
    #4