advice sought - improve wi-fi connection in home

Depending on your USB adaptor/Router, you can buy a cheap higher gain antenna for either. Depends if they are screw-in or fixed Might make the difference. Worked for me.

Something like this:

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Well, in my oinion, wired is really far and away the best option. I have a wired connection to two switches, 3 desktop computers, two TVs and an AP. I use wireless only for laptops and tablets and phones (basically anything portable). Anything fixed, like desktops and TVs are hard wired.

Ok. I guess we don't deserve to know the various model numbers and Ubuntu version. It really does help to be a bit more specific by supplying numbers instead of vague descriptions.

Dropouts are usually NOT due to lack of signal strength. Most commonly, they are due to interference from other Wi-Fi systems, EMI/RFI from non-Wi-Fi sources, or broken wireless drivers. You can usually tell what's happening by monitoring the SNR (signal to noise ratio). A really low SNR is a sure sign of some kind of interference.

Well, he best option is to troubleshoot the problem before throwing money at it. Do a site survey with a wi-fi analyzer program to see what sources of Wi-Fi junk you have out there. If your wireless router is sitting in a window, and picking up junk from all over the neighborhood, it might help to hide it behind a wall. If that doesn't play, find a ham radio operator with a spectrum analyzer and see what non-Wi-Fi junk is in the neighborhood. I've found odd sources of interference, such as microwave ovens, plasma TV's, wireless door bells, RF dryers, RF lights, LED lights, etc, that have caused problems. Even an ordinary switching power supply or charger, located close to the wireless router, can cause interference.

Also, check if you have the latest firmware in your wireless router.

I'm not going to pass judgement on the quality of your unspecified model 3-4 year old Gateway router until after you deliver a model number.

I pay about $40 for decent routers. Look for factory refurbished. For example:

Switch to wired ethernet for the desktops, printers, routers, and devices that don't move. Wired is faster (gigabit), more reliable, more secure, and easier to deal with than wireless. Use wireless only for devices that move, such as smartphones, game controllers, tablets, and laptops.

Be wary of signal boosters, repeaters, and range extenders. They can be made to work under specific circumstances, but in general, are a PITA and are really slow. I have some examples of performance graphs with and without a range extender showing the effect. Bug me if interested.

If the router has more than 1 antenna, have you tried rotating the router? Changing its antenna angle(s)? The antenna on your adapter and the antenna(s) on the router should be at least somewhat the same orientation (vertical, horizontal; relatively perpendicular is what to avoid). Just something easy to try... -WBE

Do you have the adaptor plugged directly into a port on the computer? If so, then try connecting it in using a USB extension cable of suitable length. This will allow you to get the adaptor out of any radio shadow caused by the PC or any equipment near it and place it in a position to get the best signal from the router, which can be found by trial and error. It may not improve things much, but it costs little and is worth a try.

Not sure what the Ubuntu gversion number has to do with a piece of hardware other than to make sure a specific piece of equipment will theoretically work in a Linux/Ubuntu O/S. FWIW, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. For now, I'm not trying to hone in a a specific brand and model. I'm just trying to understand what my options are. I've only been dealing with the ins and outs of a wi-fi network set up for about two months now.

I don't know my neighbors that well to know if there really is anyone who has either those skills or equipment like you're describing.

I'll have to see what I can do there. Getting support from AT&T is at times like having a tooth pulled.

My primary set up is already as you suggest. Has been that way for literally 10+ years. I only turned on the wi-fi component of the router in order to connect the Roku TV to the internet. The laptop I have I only use its wi-fi connectivity when I would go to the library. At home, ran ethernet from the router to the laptop.

I'll be wary of that type of equipment.

John

There's no external antenna on the router that I can see. It's a Gateway router provided by AT&T as an enticement when I originally switched from DSL to their internet service (about 4 or 5 years ago). I have it sitting horizontally but it can be placed in an upright position.

John

It's plugged into the USB port on the front of the pc. I had cleared a space and put it on a table next to where the TV sits; no accurate measurements here, but the distance between the TV and pc is about 1 foot away. When I first plugged in the USB adapter, I put it on the rear, but realized quickly that the rear was a lousy place to put it.

The adapter is from Edimax. It is a very small dongle that fits into the USB port. IIRC, Edimax describes it as "nano" technology.

The reason I chose it was because the first one I had (one from Rosewill) quickly became too complicated to get to work under Linux/Ubuntu. I bought it because I found users who said they got it working in Ubuntu 16.04. However, When I searched for how other people got theirs' working, it was bewildering. By the time I threw in the towel, I found perhaps six or seven fixes. Each one was different and had at times contradictory instructions and required serious attention to editing config files and re-compiling source code with no guarantee that it would work. I want'to get back into 'toying' with programming, but I wasn't ready to do that straight out of the chute. I did make sure that it worked by plugging it into a Windows laptop I have.

That experience (getting it to work under Ubuntu) was too frustrating, So I bought the Edimax adapter because their ad literature and users both said it would work with linux. It does. I plugged it in and Ubuntu immediately recognized it as part of the hardware. If it turns out that I buy a wi-fi adapter for the pc, I will definitely make sure it works with linux :-)

John

I improved WiFi coverage by installing a second access point.

I was able to do that with minimal effort because I already had a wired network connection available where I wanted to put it.

However, from the way you describe your installation, if you had a wired connection available where your PC is, you'd probably be using it rather than a USB WiFi adapter in your PC.

I've always used wired connections for fixed devices, like our PCs.

I have 3 PCs, a printer, my ham radio transeiver, a satellite STB, and a Blu-ray player on my home lan using wired connections. My laptop, our 2 iPads, the Roku box and our phones use WiFi.

I previously replied with suggestions that began:

to which "Yes" replied:

[If you feel like posting the model number, it'll be easy to see whether it's supposed to have an antenna, etc.] [You might try that, just to see if it makes any difference.]

Look on the back of your router. Is there a screw-on connector where an antenna is supposed to be attached? If you've lost the antenna, you can buy one fairly cheap: search for "replacement wireless router antenna".

Lots of routers have removable external antennas. Some have internal antennas. I don't know of any (intended to have any decent range) that have no antenna. The main ones with internal antennas that I see are the tall, cylindrical shape routers, although there are routers like the TP-Link TL-WR840N that have internal antennas and sit horizontally.

[In a separate article, you said your adapter was an Edimax "nano"-style unit]

If there's no antenna at either end, I'd expect the distance at which you can get any connection at all to be limited, and the connection speed to drop off rapidly with distance.

If all else fails, there are lots of Wireless nano USB adapters, some with antennas and some without, for under $10 at both Newegg.com and Walmart.com, among other places. -WBE

Unable to answer your question about the router. It was provided to entice switching to AT&T internet service. AT&T chose it, not me; for all intents and purposes, it's a black box to me. AT&T was pretty closed mouth about it. I know where and how to change aspects of its operation, but not the manufacturer. It has no discernible antenna. Both the Ethernet ports and the wi-fi component work. I have a Roku tv that uses the wi-fi signal. It is situated next to the spot where I plan to put the pc . I have not noticed wi-fi reception problems on the tv.

Getting another USB adapter is not in the cards until I feel comfortable understanding the wi-fi tech and can make a more informed choice. I'm getting there but not yet.

Anything that goes on the pc must be supported by the manufacturer to work with a Linux/Ubuntu 16.04 LTS O/S. The adapter I have is the second one I've gotten for this pc. Regarding the first one I bought, I found quite a few posts from users who got that make and model to run under linux and Ubuntu; the posts described how they got it working. Sadly, I discovered that they didn't work, and I'm still too new to programming and the linux and Ubuntu environment to implement the steps they took. I chose the Edimax because users and the company both confirmed it was explicitly supported for Linux. That was a good decision on my part because it worked straight out of the box with no special tweaking needed on my part.

I think I mentioned it, but just to set things straight. The Edimax adapter works albeit not to my satisfaction. It's a small dongle that fits into the USB port. It has no place to attach an external antenna. When I first used it with the pc in the spot where it will be "permanently" situated near the tv, the linux command reported signal strength was 48%. Some users reported a problem with disconnects, which is what I was experiencing. I moved the pc to a spot next to my router for more testing. The linux command reported that signal strength is now 100%. The frequency of disconnects has dropped to practically zero. The video streams perform comparably with those on my main pc which is connected to the router via wired Ethernet.

The intent of my original post was to learn what things I should consider and be aware of when I read manufacturers' ads and technical specs in order to select equipment. I've only been more serious learning about wi-fi since I built the pc within the last month or so. It's unknown territory to me, and definitely a lot of new verbage and concepts to juggle. I'm starting to get to the point that I can narrow down what I need to know in order to evaluate how I might connect the router and the pc and what to watch out for.

John

My situation is similar. I use wire to connect my main pc and stuff. My roku tv uses wi-fi and sits in my living room far away from the router. The tv is not 'smart', and I started wanting to surf the net using the tv as a display. So I last month I built a pc intending to use wi-fi to connect to the net. I run an HDMI cable from the pc to the tv.

I've had no reason to get very familiar with wi-fi before now, so it's completely new to me. The tv has wi-fi capability built in, and it worked as expected from day one.

John

A few articles back, John posted:

to which I replied:

He replied:

Is it a modem+router, or just a router?

Isn't there a label somewhere on it that has the model number? Most routers I've seen not only have a label with the make and model, but also have labels listing its LAN Ethernet address.

If there really is no label, can you access the router's web pages or TELNET to it? [Use the router's LAN address (your computer must know it).] If even that doesn't find anything and it's a cable modem, try http://192.168.1.100/ (Time Warner Cable's cable modems used that). -WBE

If you define a cable modem as using a coaxial cable to deliver the signal in, then it is not a cable modem.

It uses a two wire cord plugging into a port on the back that resembles a phone jack. So on that basis, I think it's a router. I've owned and used it for a number of years now. My notes enable me to know where and how to change some software-type settings. If it came with a user's manual, I've long since lost that. Sooner rather than later I'll be going to the horse's mouth (AT&T Tech support) to ask specific questions because I need to clarify what I can do with it, e.g., upgrade it to something current, replace it with a third party router, but right now I've taken it as far as my energy has let me.

Until I contact AT&T Tech support, I'll wait; Everything's working, just not up to my expectations and satisfaction with respect to the wi-fi. Their answers to my questions will drive what decision I make going forward with respect to the wi-fi aspects.

John

If it's the standard type of equipment that att hands out, it's a combo unit consisting of a DSL modem, router, access point, and switch.

If you can find the actual physical device within your house, I have no doubt that it has a label affixed to it. It may be hard to read, but you can probably stick your cell phone back there and snap a photo, which you can then view at your leisure. That label will have info including make, model, MAC address, default password, and more.

I commented:

John replied:

I asked:

John replied:

Sounds right. Note that I avoided using the word "cable" and just said modem. :)

Your description sounds like an ADSL modem + router. ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is how phone companies convey data over phone lines. If it were just a router, it'd have Ethernet for both WAN and LAN.

AT&T said the Gateway Router I have was a modem router combo and that the wi-fi was 2.4 GHz. They did not provide more details than that. The only other comment made was that it would be a 50-50 chance whether a third-party wi-fi router, if I hooked it up to the Gateway Router, would work.

John

Unfortunately, it's apparently located in an area of the house that you don't have access to. That puts you at a disadvantage.

If you can't find the device to read its label, you won't be able to find it to connect anything to it. If you were able to find it, however, you could connect a third party WiFi router to it and it would work. Worst case, you'd have two routers in the path, which is not ideal but also not fatal, and best case you could put the at&t router into bridge mode and have a single router in the path.

My mind boggles when I think of all the possibilities of where they installed it. I suppose the tech guys don't have access to it, which is why they can't check it. ;) []'s