Some of you folks out there must be having a wireless or WIFI connection at your place. If you have MyT, the LiveBox has it included. I don't have it, but I have a Netgear router that gives me wireless access throughout my place. I've gathered some tips which might help you improve your wireless network, specially it's reception throughout your wireless zone.
1. Position your Wireless Access Point (WAP) / Router centrally
Always place your WAP or Router in a central location of your wireless zone. If you want to have wireless access in your whole house, try placing the WAP/Router in a room which is almost in the middle of your house. Avoid placing the router in corners of the room. If possible, place it away from walls for better performance.
2. Keep your WAP off the floor, table-top and away from metal objects
The floor is not the best place for a router, since furnitures will tend to distort the signals, nor is the table-top which places it near your computer devices. These too will tend to distort the signal and degrade performance. The worst thing is metal objects. They literally absorb the signal and greatly affect range. Never place anything metallic near, or on your WAP/Router.
3. Use a more adapted router antenna
Most WAPs/Routers come with omni-directional antennas that broadcast in all directions around your wireless device. This can be a good thing if your router is in a central location of your wireless zone. However, if it is in a corner of your place, and cannot be moved, most of its transmission power is wasted when the broadcast is sent outside of your place. In that case, you will want to change the omni-directional antenna, to a directional antenna (sometimes called a Yagi antenna). These broadcast predominantly in one direction. You can then orient it to suit your needs. Eg. Point it at a room where you will need wireless access. Also, you might invest in Hi-gain antennas which have longer range.
4. Replace your wireless adaptor
As technology evolves, adapters get better. Therefore, you might want to buy a new one. This will certainly increase the range. I experienced that personally. Using a USB adaptor, I used to get Poor Signal rating, reported by Windows. Now that I updated it to a newer one, I get Very Good.
5. Use a wireless repeater or a secondary WAP
If you want to furthur extend the range, you might want to use a Wireless Repeater. It's a device that takes the wireless signal, amplify it and re-transmit it. This extends the range to about twice the normal range. However, WAPs/Routers don't like their signals being repeated, and some data might get corrupted. According to me, a better solution is to get a second WAP, configure it normally, but set it's "Gateway" IP address to the primary WAP/Router IP address. You can then place this WAP in range of the primary WAP/Router. This will extend the range even furthur, without the need for repeaters. The secondary WAP will connect to the primary WAP/Router wirelessly, and send all its data to it. Please note that both devices must be on the same network, eg. 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2 for the 2 devices.
6. Change your wireless channel
WAPs/Routers can broadcast on several channels of different frequencies in the order of GHz. Channels 1,6 and 11 are fairly common. If you use the same channel, and several other people are using that same channel in an area, there is interference. Eg. your neighbor and yourself might be using the same channel. To reduce interference, change the channel from the default value to something else apart from 1,6,11. You can normally do that in your WAP/Router configuration panel. Check your manuals if need be. You don't need to change anything on your computer(s). It will detect the channel change automatically.
7. Update your firmwares
Firmwares are softwares found inside your hardware devices, which allow the user to change settings and manage the devices easily without tinkering with hardware things. It is always a good thing to update your firmware often, so that you have the latest features, bug corrections and improvements. You can usually get firmwares from your manufacturer's website. Read the update instructions, and do the update. Your updated firmware will often provide much better performance. However, even if it is easy to flash, note that an improperly updated firmware (flashed device) can often stop working, or completely die. If you don't know what you are doing, don't do it. That is, DO AT YOUR OWN RISK!
8. Switch from 802.11/a/b to 802.11g/n
These are just standards that use different technologies and frequencies, so don't bother about them. What you need to know is that 802.11 represents Wireless Networks, and the letters represents standards, with "a" being the slowest, and "n" being the fastest (till now). Always buy equipment that supports at least 802.11g for better performance. 802.11n is still a draft standard which will be official estimated Sept. 2008. You can already get "Draft-n Ready Device" WAPs/Routers out there, but these are a bit more expensive.
Protocol..........Speed(mbps)..........Range/indoors..........Range/outdoors
802.11............2...............................20m................................100m
802.11a..........54.............................35m................................120m
802.11b..........11.............................38m................................140m
802.11g..........54.............................38m................................140m
802.11n..........248..........................70m.................................250m
9. Use equipment from a single manufacturer
Always try to use equipments bought from one manufacturer. Eg. if you have a DLink WAP, use a DLink adaptor. This also for other manufacturers. This is because devices from one manufacturer might not be well supported by another, so better get something which will ensure compatibility, and thus performance. A simple example is the 108Mbps devices from Netgear. This is an unofficial standard, and only available if you use a Netgear 108Mbps capable WAP/Router and a 108Mbps adaptor from Netgear. Other adaptors cannot get the 108Mbps speeds. They will be restricted to 802.11g's 54Mbps.
10. Check Transmission Power
With most adaptors, there is a feature that allows you to set the Transmission Power of your adaptor. This applies particularly to laptops. Your OS will usually set the Transmission Power to low/medium/power-save to conserve battery. However, this will also degrade your wireless network receptivity. Check your transmission power. It is usually in Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device manager -> (your Wireless Adaptor name) -> Advanced -> Transmit Power. This is under Windows. I still haven't tested that under Linux. Updates on that later. You might want to set it at maximum, but if you are on a laptop and on battery, it will drain significantly faster. You might want to set it at 3 (medium) when on battery, and on 5 (maximum) when plugged-in. You can also adjust these settings under Power Management for laptops. If you can't find it, check your manuals.
I hope this small guide might be of some help to somebody who wants to improve his/her wireless network.
1. Position your Wireless Access Point (WAP) / Router centrally
Always place your WAP or Router in a central location of your wireless zone. If you want to have wireless access in your whole house, try placing the WAP/Router in a room which is almost in the middle of your house. Avoid placing the router in corners of the room. If possible, place it away from walls for better performance.
2. Keep your WAP off the floor, table-top and away from metal objects
The floor is not the best place for a router, since furnitures will tend to distort the signals, nor is the table-top which places it near your computer devices. These too will tend to distort the signal and degrade performance. The worst thing is metal objects. They literally absorb the signal and greatly affect range. Never place anything metallic near, or on your WAP/Router.
3. Use a more adapted router antenna
Most WAPs/Routers come with omni-directional antennas that broadcast in all directions around your wireless device. This can be a good thing if your router is in a central location of your wireless zone. However, if it is in a corner of your place, and cannot be moved, most of its transmission power is wasted when the broadcast is sent outside of your place. In that case, you will want to change the omni-directional antenna, to a directional antenna (sometimes called a Yagi antenna). These broadcast predominantly in one direction. You can then orient it to suit your needs. Eg. Point it at a room where you will need wireless access. Also, you might invest in Hi-gain antennas which have longer range.
4. Replace your wireless adaptor
As technology evolves, adapters get better. Therefore, you might want to buy a new one. This will certainly increase the range. I experienced that personally. Using a USB adaptor, I used to get Poor Signal rating, reported by Windows. Now that I updated it to a newer one, I get Very Good.
5. Use a wireless repeater or a secondary WAP
If you want to furthur extend the range, you might want to use a Wireless Repeater. It's a device that takes the wireless signal, amplify it and re-transmit it. This extends the range to about twice the normal range. However, WAPs/Routers don't like their signals being repeated, and some data might get corrupted. According to me, a better solution is to get a second WAP, configure it normally, but set it's "Gateway" IP address to the primary WAP/Router IP address. You can then place this WAP in range of the primary WAP/Router. This will extend the range even furthur, without the need for repeaters. The secondary WAP will connect to the primary WAP/Router wirelessly, and send all its data to it. Please note that both devices must be on the same network, eg. 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2 for the 2 devices.
6. Change your wireless channel
WAPs/Routers can broadcast on several channels of different frequencies in the order of GHz. Channels 1,6 and 11 are fairly common. If you use the same channel, and several other people are using that same channel in an area, there is interference. Eg. your neighbor and yourself might be using the same channel. To reduce interference, change the channel from the default value to something else apart from 1,6,11. You can normally do that in your WAP/Router configuration panel. Check your manuals if need be. You don't need to change anything on your computer(s). It will detect the channel change automatically.
7. Update your firmwares
Firmwares are softwares found inside your hardware devices, which allow the user to change settings and manage the devices easily without tinkering with hardware things. It is always a good thing to update your firmware often, so that you have the latest features, bug corrections and improvements. You can usually get firmwares from your manufacturer's website. Read the update instructions, and do the update. Your updated firmware will often provide much better performance. However, even if it is easy to flash, note that an improperly updated firmware (flashed device) can often stop working, or completely die. If you don't know what you are doing, don't do it. That is, DO AT YOUR OWN RISK!
8. Switch from 802.11/a/b to 802.11g/n
These are just standards that use different technologies and frequencies, so don't bother about them. What you need to know is that 802.11 represents Wireless Networks, and the letters represents standards, with "a" being the slowest, and "n" being the fastest (till now). Always buy equipment that supports at least 802.11g for better performance. 802.11n is still a draft standard which will be official estimated Sept. 2008. You can already get "Draft-n Ready Device" WAPs/Routers out there, but these are a bit more expensive.
Protocol..........Speed(mbps)..........Range/indoors..........Range/outdoors
802.11............2...............................20m................................100m
802.11a..........54.............................35m................................120m
802.11b..........11.............................38m................................140m
802.11g..........54.............................38m................................140m
802.11n..........248..........................70m.................................250m
9. Use equipment from a single manufacturer
Always try to use equipments bought from one manufacturer. Eg. if you have a DLink WAP, use a DLink adaptor. This also for other manufacturers. This is because devices from one manufacturer might not be well supported by another, so better get something which will ensure compatibility, and thus performance. A simple example is the 108Mbps devices from Netgear. This is an unofficial standard, and only available if you use a Netgear 108Mbps capable WAP/Router and a 108Mbps adaptor from Netgear. Other adaptors cannot get the 108Mbps speeds. They will be restricted to 802.11g's 54Mbps.
10. Check Transmission Power
With most adaptors, there is a feature that allows you to set the Transmission Power of your adaptor. This applies particularly to laptops. Your OS will usually set the Transmission Power to low/medium/power-save to conserve battery. However, this will also degrade your wireless network receptivity. Check your transmission power. It is usually in Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device manager -> (your Wireless Adaptor name) -> Advanced -> Transmit Power. This is under Windows. I still haven't tested that under Linux. Updates on that later. You might want to set it at maximum, but if you are on a laptop and on battery, it will drain significantly faster. You might want to set it at 3 (medium) when on battery, and on 5 (maximum) when plugged-in. You can also adjust these settings under Power Management for laptops. If you can't find it, check your manuals.
I hope this small guide might be of some help to somebody who wants to improve his/her wireless network.
Labels: Geek Stuff, Tips and Tricks
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