Structured Wiring box

I'll bet he got that information from the "experts" at one of the big box stores.

Nope. I think it was Frys and the salesman was right. The WRT54GC does not come with an external antenna (although there is a well hidden antenna connector available). My friend asked for a small router so it would fit inside the Leviton box. The rest of the logic was all his own. Lacking a visible antenna, I guess he thought the RF was radiated through the ethernet or AC power wiring, but we didn't get that far. He apparently didn't consider the possibility that there might be an internal antenna. Also, a plastic structured wiring box would have worked somewhat, but it was too late to exchange it.

Ring.... I received another phone call this morning from my friend. Wireless coverage inside the house is still awful, but coverage all over the neighborhood is quite good. The structured wiring box is in the garage, where the common wall to the house is a "fire wall" which requires foil backed insulation to prevent the spread of fire. It makes a nice reflector. So, I get to put the router back inside the box, punch a hole in the wall, and run an inside antenna. Of course this has to be done for free and immediately so his kids can play online games with their new Christmas toys.

"Jeff Liebermann" hath wroth:

Ring.... Same friend again. He can't connect via wireless to his WRT54GL router from one of his laptops, which was working when I left last week. WPA encryption handshake failure. I spend 30 mins on the phone helping him put the laptop setting back to where there is some hope of proper function. No luck. Several times, I ask him to power cycle the WRT54GL in the garage in case it was the problem. Still no luck. I eventually determine that he's power cycling the power to the entire structured wiring box at the (easy to reach) AC outlet. Unfortunately, that goes to a small UPS which continues to supply uninterrupted power to the WRT54GL. The UPS has the buzzer disabled so it doesn't freak out the dog that lives in the garage. I eventually convince him to climb up a ladder, power cycle the router, and all is well.

He also did me a big favor by dealing with the wirless coverage problem from the garage. The garage "fire wall" had aluminum foil backed glass mat insulation inside the wall. So, he just cut a big chunk of drywall out of the wall, removed the foil, shoved what was left of the insulation back into the wall, patched the damage, and planted the wireless router in front of the foil free area. He says it works much better now.