Signal repeater/extender compatible with Macs?

Hey guys,
My roommates and I live in a 2-floor house. 3 of our bedrooms are on the second floor, and one is on the first in the corner of the house. The router is in my room (corner room) upstairs, and my downstairs roommate has been having connection problems - dropping frequently and no signal.

We have a Linksys WRT54G2 wireless G router. This is an entirely Mac household, and I'm looking for a cheap way to spread the signal better downstairs.

I searched this forum and found some info on Linksys brand extenders, but the amazon reviews are decidely mixed. I read something mentioning a cheap way to use another router to extend the signal.

We are currently using WEP security (26 hex) if that makes a different.

Basically, I'm looking for the cheapest way to get a decent signal downstairs. I am fairly technologically competent, so I can handle setups and whatnot. Thanks in advance.

 

Most of the newer hardware works better with WPA(2) AES Personal. Besides wep is not very secure and most teenagers have fun seeing who can break it the fastest. Normally less than 2 min. And if I recall that particular router is the model they reduced the ram in.

The cheapest way would be to relocate the router to the center of the house, and change the encryption to WPA .

 

Agree with blue68f100 on security- go for WPA2 Personal with AES.
As for signal strength- there are three versions of this router two of them supported by DD-WRT (that's third party firmware)
If yours is supported that you may want to use this firmware as it allows you to increase router's transmit power.
Unfortunately this router has internal antennas only so nothing can be gained by replacing them.
Try relocating the router and upgrading to DD-WRT before you go shopping.

 

The router can't be relocated, unfortunately. It's in the one room with the cable connection. I have heard of tomato - would that really be able to make the signal stronger?

I can definitely change our security. Would a better router be an easier fix? Perhaps one with external attenas?

Thanks for the help. Will find out if tomato is compatible with this model.

 

Get another WRT54G2 and run DD-WRT on it. Or find an old school WRT54G and do the same.