Any easy way to extend wireless signal in rental house?

Just buy an USB wireless adapter, and a USB cable. Plug the cable into the laptop, the other end into the adapter, and "travel it" around until you get the best signal. Just check the cable has the right "sockets", and is long enough to move around the room. My 1.8 meter USB hangs out of the window. < $40 []'s

To quote:

Move the laptop.

I recently picked up a Netgear Powerline Networking Kit, model XAVB2501, to put a wired Internet connection in a part of the house that previously had no Internet available. It worked great.

With a two piece kit, you'd plug one unit into an outlet near the router and run an Ethernet cable from it to an unused LAN port on that router, then plug the second unit into an outlet in the back room office and run a cable from it to your laptop. If wireless mobility is really what you want, you can run the cable from the second unit to an Access Point which you'd locate in that back room.

When you leave the rental, just unplug the two devices and there's no trace left behind. The model I bought was just under $130, but there are less expensive models to choose from to help you hit your price point.

Heather-

If you have a wireless router at home, take it along and see if it might have greater range than the Linksys.

Also try moving the wireless router to different positions. For example, if it were in a shielded spot next to a metal cabinet, it should work better on top of the cabinet.

Fred

Sigh. I hate to mention wi-fi repeaters and range extenders. They've been a big problem whenever I run into them, but miracles do happen.

Make sure you can return it in case it doesn't live up to expectations.

Also, it's possible to attach an external antenna to the wireless card in your unspecified model laptop, and yes, it does involve a little wiring. What you would need is a U.FL to SMA or TNC pigtail:

which then connects to the external antenna of your choice. Keep the cable lengths short as they are very lossy at 2.4GHz.

For a "couple of weeks", I would just run CAT5 cable down the hallway and be done with it.

Netgear used to make a wireless access point integrated into a powerline networking unit as well.

No idea if that is still around in the US - they sell different units in places with different mains plugs.

they no longer make/sell the built in ap model, (had a X104, it died, no repair/replacement)

see what they do have (and some background on powerline and coax networking)

I have two no cost solutions for you to try.

1. Relocate WIFI router to higher location. (top of bookshelf).

Higher up there is less metal (in walls/wiring/appliances/plumbing) to block the RF signal.

Note: Avoid placing router near any type of mirror.

1. Change WIFI channel .. to 6 or 13.

Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the usual suggestions since they are the only non-overlapping channels here in the US. Since the OP is in Florida, channel 13 is probably not a good choice.

otoh, if the OP uses channel 13 it's less likely to have interference from neghboring AP's...

Yeah, but can he actually call up ch. 13? I can't, not without lying to my routers about where I live.

The problem with doing that is that you also have to drag all the CAT5 and power wires to the top of the bookshelf. That works, but due to all the wires, the router really wants to live near the floor, while the wireless really wants to live near the ceiling. My usual solution is to use seperate boxes for the wired router and the wireless access point, which only requires one CAT5 cable and one power cable. You can also add an extension coax cable and put just the antenna on the bookshelf. Just keep the coax cable short to reduce RF losses.

Actually, the walls and wiring are about the same once you get off the floor. It's things like aluminum foil backed insulation that kills wi-fi signals going through walls. Such foil goes from floor to ceiling.

Huh? Mirrors are the solution for many Feng Shui related Wi-Fi problems, where they are commonly used to expand the environment and improve the flow of Chi. However, you can't just randomly install or remove mirrors.

The usual non-overlapping channels are 1, 6, and 11 in the US.

Run CAT5 cable. $0.15/ft.

Here is a nearly $0 solution that worked for me:

Also moving the linksys away from the wall, if you can, will help too.

If you want to take the guess work out of it, as suggested elsewhere paying for powerline adapters bypasses the whole wifi thing. I use these for my home entertainment center.