Wireless router good for gaming with a twist - I'm 2 floors up!

Ok so here are the important details about the kinda router I want:

- ADSL

- Prefer it if it includes a modem

- Wireless

- Needs to go 2 floors up (router is downstairs, my bedroom is in the loft)

- Needs to have quite decent speeds for gaming

- Budget about £80, prefer it to be cheaper really but willing to splash out a bit more for something good

- I'm in the UK so links to uk sites would be great!


Current situation is the router downstairs just about gets its signal upto my room but its really weak (used to be a bit better but its our third Belkin N+ router to go wrong) keeps needing to be reset and the connection keeps dropping so want to get a new one and instead of walking into PC world and getting the first one off the shelf would appreciate some advice or links to good review sites

Cheers guys!

 

Why not just get something like a Netgear 3700 if it fits the budget, or any of the routers that will do 5ghz, and let it serve as a Repeater/access point off the Belkin? Is that something you would consider?

 

How does that work? I'm not brilliant with networking at all, where would it plug in? The only phone ports are downstairs and the signal is pretty weak, not to mention it seems to need resetting about three times a day.... for some reason sometimes the internet will be working on someone's laptop but not another person's laptop until it gets reset. Never used to have this problem.

 

Oops my current router isn't N+ its G+ ... knew there was a + in there somewhere.

Its this one:

 

since your router is in the first floor, get an access point to the 2nd floor and 3rd floor. cable each access point to the main router down stairs

 

i dont trust it myself, but you could look into powerline networking. however, it's not all that cheap if you try it for a whole house. not so bad point to point though

 

Are routers these days really that limited with their range? I just want my wireless internet to be how they talk about it being on adverts etc... I'd like to be able to use my laptop in the garden and xbox/laptop in the loft, do modern routers really not give out that much of a strong signal? When I scan for networks I'm always picking up BT home hubs which had a good signal strength.

This router can send signal up one floor and its only a cheap router so surely its not much more of a push to get one to send it through two floors? On a good day I'll be able to browse the web in the loft with the current router, its just the signal strength isn't good enough for gaming... also it'd be nice to be able to surf outside.

This says it has a range of 300 meters

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6758916/Trail/searchtext>ROUTER.htm

My room is probably about 10 meters up, or do floors really make that much difference?

 

It depends on the router, and the obstacles in between as well as potential interference from other 2.4Ghz devices (which there are plenty now). If you have an older house, it may be plaster walls and not drywall.

It's not too hard to set up a repeater. I believe that the Netgear WNR3500 allows for this as a selectable option without 3rd party firmware.

You could also try just changing the channel that the router transmits on, it could be interference.

 

300 meters is open area. you have to factor barriers such as thick walls, thick floors and thick ceilings.

it's either your transfer your main router on the 2nd floor so that it could give signal to both ground floor and 3rd floor
or
have an access point on the 3rd floor

your access spots would depend on your main wifi routers location. if you want to have an outside coverage - garden, then you have to place your router near the window where you intend to stay

 

factor in microwave ovens, cordless phones, bluetooth devices, anything running at 2.4gz within 100 feet.

 

just put new antennas on it,,, maybe a 7 or a9 DBI antenna,,, that will get ya goin strong