Wireless Connection or alternative

Hi, I live in a 2 story house(~3000 sq. ft.) There are desktops, laptops on all levels; basement, main floor, upstairs. The router(Linksys WRT54GX2) is located upstairs. My old router WRT54G has worked well too. We don't have any problem at all.

And if there is, try positioning the antenna horisontaly - or nearly horisontaly. That should theoretically give a much better signal between floors.

"starabvmybed" hath wroth:

That depends on what the floor is made from. If just wood, with no foil backed insulation, it just might work. Increasing the signal strength with refectors will certainly help:

if the floor is poured concrete, tile, or something impervious to RF, forget it.

You might consider using phone line networking, power line networking, or sharing the CATV coax cable as an alternative to wireless.

Coax: |

are others, but they are mostly for large apartment buildings and OEM manufacturers: | |

Wireless power line bridge extenders: |

Phone line networking: | Power line Networking: |

you've got a couple of options.

first, depending on the construction material used in your house you likely WILL be able to receive a wireless signal on the second floor. the only way to know for sure is to try it. buy your wireless router from a retailer with a good return policy.

second, if you can put the wireless router ON the second floor and have the family PC access it wirelessly. wi-fi is a radio signal and radio signals will propogate farther as the transmission point gains elevation.

third, you can always used a WIRED router at the family pc and run some CAT5 cable up to the second floor. that may not be so easy but where there's a will, there's a way. the wired router will function the same as a wireless router in that your broadband connection interfaces your broadband connection and your pc's.

as for a recommendation, i'd go with the US Robotics MaxG model 5461

i bought one after a long period of research and am completely satisfied with it. super easy set up. great security options. and not all that expensive. i think it ran something like $39.99.

good luck.

73, rich, n9dko