1. Home
  2. Wireless Networking
  3. Wireless'ing our place, need more wireless range

Wireless'ing our place, need more wireless range

Simple question first. I need more range, how should I get it?

Heres the complex part. First I'll show a picture of the setup we have right now

formatting link
is a ZyXEL P-660HW.

The big circle is the range we get at the moment. The little circle is the "adequite" speed connection we can get right now. Blue lines indicate network wires. We have the router in the house which now only operates the printer by cable and the two laptops (Dell's) in the house are wireless. And that works fine. Computers "down stairs" (second building with bed rooms which is about 6ft lower then the house) are soon to be upgraded to laptops as well, and although we have the wires down there I want wireless access so we can use the laptops anywhere in the building. I also want more then two connections available on the "left" side of the building.

What I want is to be able to use the laptop anywhere in that picture. At the moment it won't work on the lawn, or in the workshop or most of the "down stairs". These are the places I want the wireless to work with hopefully good speed and good connectivity. I like playing games so I need half decent signal.

I've been looking at amplifers and bigger aerials. Plus I've been looking at maybe another wireless switch instead of the hub down stairs using the uplink stuff to connect the two buildings together. But this won't get wireless in the workshop or lawn.

Some of the products I've been looking at are '500mW b/g Indoor 2.4GHz Amplifier [MBAM05BG1P] - $144.20 : City Technology, Micro Beam Wireless Products'

formatting link
'RadioLabs || Wireless Range Extender'
formatting link
some antennas on ebay, around 9db they say.

Looking to not spend anymore then about $150. But I'll keep an open mind.

Should also add that the ZyXEL router doesn't have a detachable antenna but I'm happy to open it up and solider what ever to it.

Any suggestions?

------------------------------------------------------------------------ View this thread:

formatting link

Reply to
Phizinza
Loading thread data ...

Leave the existing wireless router in the house to cover the house. Add a wireless access point (cabled to the wireless router) up on the roof with a high-gain omni antenna. Engenius/Senao is one such option. Use the same SSID on both wireless with the same WPA passphrase. For more coverage in remote buildings, you might need directional antennas aimed at the house.

On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:21:32 -0500, Phizinza wrote in :

Reply to
John Navas

You're on the right track thinking about adding other access points. Add one downstairs and be done with it.

It might be worth considering the placement of a second router in the house. Move them both to the sides of the structure. This might facilitate coverage for the exterior areas. You'd be shifting your circles of coverage to one that encompassed the lawn/gym/house and another for the house/workshop. You might also consider directional 'sector' antennae to help shape the coverage pattern. They make sector antenna with different degrees of coverage spread.

But if the workshop doesn't get covered then setting up a point-to-point link and another access point might be necessary. You could start by putting a router in 'client mode' in the workshop and using a directional antenna on it. Then hang another access point off it. This will make a wireless link back the house, connect via wire to another access point in the workshop, which in turn provides local wireless coverage. The same thing could be set up in the gym building. But I'd start by adding/repositioning the router setup in the main house first.

But bear in mind that shifting from one access point to another may well introduce problems if you're actively running sessions. I wouldn't go expecting things to slide from one to the other without interruptions.

At some point it may be worth second guessing the notion of just how "necessary" is all this?

Reply to
Bill Kearney

Oh, and nice job on posting that picture!

Reply to
Bill Kearney

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.