I bought a Gateway 802.11 G and It is so pathetically weak signal. I live in a conventional house with sheetrock and wood studs. I have the wireless router in one end of the house, 50 feet away in a straight line is the reciever end. I sometimes can connect at 50% signal strength with 24mps Half the time I can not connect at all due to poor strength like 33% to
45%. Everytime someone wants to try to use it, I have to move it around try different things always very uncertain if it will connect or even stay connected. The thing that gets me is there are about 4 or 5 other networks in the list and sometimes my own wireless router signal strength is even less that these others which are in houses who knows where. If anyone ever wants to know about a wireless network I tell them its lousy and maybe it will work for them but most likely wont. This has been a real dissapointment to me.
- Is there any foil backed insulation in the walls.
- Any chances of interference? Try a different channel (1, 6, 11).
- What model Gateway 802.11g? Latest drivers? If laptop, have you tried it at a wireless hot spot or other open access point to check the range?
- Where are the 4 or 5 other wireless routers? If you're shooting through a window directly to one of these, you'll get much better signal than trying to drill through a few walls.
- Can you borrow a different model wireless router and see if it works any better?
2 or maybe 3 walls with no insulation or foil My router is at the end of the hallway. Her computer is in a bedroom and is offset from straightline hallway by 7 feet. I have played around with different channels no help there. Which channel is best?
The router is model WGR-250 the reciever is a Gateway wireless usb adapter model WGU-210 I would not really want to buy different equiptment, they are both
802.11g standard. why are some stronger signals and some weaker?
My rule of thumb is: 1 wall - no problem 2 walls - iffy but can be made to work. 3 walls - unreliable.
The problem is that you'll probably get a connection through 3 walls, but you won't be able to stay connected. As things move around the house, so will the signal level.
Can you move the computer into the doorway for a quick test?
Incidentally, your initial description seems a bit different: "I have the wireless router in one end of the house, 50 feet away in a straight line is the reciever end." A 7ft offset is NOT a straight line.
There is no "best" channel. Channel 6 is most common because it's in the middle of the band. The bandwidth limited devices (filters, antennas, etc) tend to work better in mid band. The non-overlapping channels are 1, 6, and 11. Use one of those. The idea is to find a channel that has the least amount of inteference from other users. Otherwise, all the channels are equal.
I couldn't find any reviews that included any kind of performance tests.
Wireless USB is not known for spectacular range. The WGU-210 at least has a decent built in "flip up" antenna.
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The problem is that I can't tell exactly where you're having a range problem. If the computer is portable, try walking down the hallway while monitoring the signal strength. I think you'll find a very abrupt drop when you turn the corner in the doorway. I've seen this in many building. RF just does not like turning corners (or going through additional walls). With 2-3 walls, the number of walls may be the problem.
Before doing anything, I suggest you invite someone over with a known working wireless laptop and run a comparison test. If it does the same thing, it's not the client end. Also, if possible, borrow a different access point and see if it makes a difference. In other words, troubleshoot this by substitution.
Also, make sure you have the latest firmware for the wireless router and the latest drivers for the client radio.
Sigh. The general answer is differences in construction, antennas, chipsets, and quality control. Things like processor noise trashing the receive sensitivity are impossible for users to detect. Variations in antenna construction make a huge difference. From what I've seen (several years ago), the transmitters are all roughly with a few dB of specified output, but the receivers are all over the place.
Material? Mine are "breeze" which has a high iron content -> can't recieve wireles 30ft away horizontally, works fine 30ft vertically....
Does it work if you stick the computer's USB adapter in the doorway, or out in the hall? Experiment with different locations, see if you can find somewhere it *does* work.
If you want it to work, then given your geometry, you may need to.
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