Belkin Pre-N Router and Mac Powerbook: Any good way to increase signal strength?
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Posted by RoqueJa on February 1, 2006, 3:24 pm
Please log in for more thread options I'll try to keep this simple and straightforward. I have a Belkin Pre-N Router set up in a utility area one floor below and across an outdoor access corridor from my apartment. Cannot run CAT-5 to the apartment. I get a good to excellent wireless signal on several WinXP-SP2 machines using the internal antennas on the notebooks. I get only a very weak signal on a Mac Powerbook (no surprise) and sometimes lose it completely. Before I went to the Belkin, I had a Netgear router which gave a weak signal with the PC's and nothing with the Mac. So, the Pre-N router works well if there's an adquate antenna on the receiving end. Question: Is there anything I can do to increase the signal sufficiently to use the Mac without running cable? I have a Belkin Pre-N notebook card that greatly increases signal strength on the Windows machines, but does not run on the Mac. Is it possible to set up some kind of wireless device in my apartment that will forward the signal? I do not know the difference between an access point, bridge, repeater, whatever. Will any of those do the job? Would a USB dongle or something that I can add to the Mac get me a better signal, at least bringing up to the level of the PC's? If I lose some speed, I'll probably not notice, so that's not that big a deal. Cost (while obviously important) is not the primary driver here. I need to get the signal strong enough to run steaming applications on the Mac; a few bucks more or less isn't going to make that much difference. Hope this is clear. I obviously don't have detailed knowledge on wireless systems (or Macs for that matter). My efforts to educate myself haven't been all that successful. If anyone can recommend a good primer on wireless (through Pre-n technology ideally) I'd appreciate knowing about it. much thanks for any help. | |||||||||||||
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Posted by on February 2, 2006, 10:52 am
Please log in for more thread options You could use WDS - Wireless distribution system. Good choices for routers are the WRT-54Gs, but it is best to buy two (identical) ones. Then load up DD-WRT on them, and you can boost the power output of the anntenaes so you get largewr coverage. Note you will need anything but a V.5.0 of the router. Best plave to look is eBay :-) | |||||||||||||
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