How to extend wireless coverage?

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BlackWasp

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Hi,

I have a ADSL Mega 200VWR Telkom wireless router.

I want to extend coverage through my whole house as the signal to some parts are very poor (no coverage in some rooms). Router is in top story room.

It is a double story house on a 2300 sqm/m property.

I bought this antenna to test (http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=122_455&products_id=10258), but it doesn't help much.

Can someone advise which antenna I should get to improve signal on the whole property (inside and outside)? Unfortunately my wireless knowledge is very limited.

Will this type of antenna do the trick? http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=122_455&products_id=6455

Any advise is welcome please.

Regards

Pierre
 
This should do the trick.
http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/...d=406&osCsid=d42f18f38a54a85d710bbc6b255b9080

Ask the sales guy for a pigtail from the routers conection to an Ntype which fits on the antenna.

Then run the cable from the router to outside where the signal would cover most of the house.

Bear in mind that the longer the antenna cable the weaker it makes your signal.

Maybe power your router via POE and locate it centrally?

Where do you live?:D
 
Thanks man.

POE = Power over Ethernet? Will have to investigate.

2.4GHz 9dBi Vertical Omni Antenna [ANT-O209] look like a good deal, especially at the price.

Can I fix it to the existing (old) VHF pole on the roof (above the m-net antenna?). Should be high enough, and cable will be around 10m from router.

Same location as you = Just north of PTA = Annlin/Sinoville border.

I switched to 2x E170 3G MTN sticks (2Gig for me and 512 Mb for wife) about a year ago, but this solution is also not ideal, and I want to explore the DSL option again.

IMHO MTN broadband PROS and CONS:

PROS:
Portable (internet anywhere).
Fast, if connects at 3G/HSPA (big if).

CONS:
Expensive.
Downstairs rooms and outside connects EDGE most of time. Only upstairs 3G. (EDGE speeds will soon kill me).
If I want to connect another home pc to internet = have to buy another stick.
MTN bandwith usage and billing (MTN active) sucks big time. Never accurate. Every 2nd month I get a "surprise" R1000 - 2000 extra on my data card account for using out-of-bundle bandwith. I have 2 pending inquiries with MTN which will probably never be resolved, and have to stop debit order payment every month.

From what I heard, Vodacom will work better in my area, but I don't want to take that chance.

I applied for "self-install" DSL from Telkom around 3 weeks ago, never heard from them again, they could also not tell me if the Sinoville exchange support 4MB and said I will probably have to settle for 384 Kbps. I had many problems with Telkom previously regarding my 384 DSL and removed it subsequently, it lost sync every few minutes and Telkom COULD NOT/ DIDNT WANT TO fix it, after many technicians at my house saying "nothing is wrong".

I also had Iburst a while ago through MWEB. Too many problems.

What are you running? What is the best setup for our location? Only thing I havent tried is Neotel.

Apologies for long reply, just looking for best setup that will work.

Thanks for the reply.
 
I also have a fairly large house, and my router is located upstairs in the study. After many weeks of battling with a strong and quality signal downstairs, I neatly laid a normal CAT5 ethernet cable to a central location downstairs, and connected it to a wireless access point. The laptops' wireless cards are set to roam aggressively ie. will always switch to the stronger signal, so when used downstairs it will switch automatically.

The wireless access point can also be configured as a wireless repeater, in which case you would not need a cable from the router to the device, but instead set it up to "rebroadcast" the signal, of course depending how weak the signal is when it reaches your repeater.

Its a Belkin Wireless G Universal Range Extender. I bought it sometime ago from IC.
 
Thanks rudirautenbach.

You have a similar setup as mine.

Your setup makes a lot of sense and seems like the only viable solution. I spoke to people at Poynting Direct – Pretoria, and they agree with you. It seems the 2.4GHz 9dBi Vertical Omni Antenna will only increase signal outside the property walls, not inside.

I especially need the signal enhanced downstairs,indoors.

I found the wireless AP you referred to here:
http://www.nivo.co.za/buy~linksys.wre54g.wireless.range.expander~p1654

I notice it is 54 mbps. Are you also running 54 mbps wireless cards on your notebooks / desktops?

Would 108 mbps make a big difference, considering price and effectiveness?

Regards
 
BlackWasp said:
Thanks rudirautenbach.

You have a similar setup as mine.

Your setup makes a lot of sense and seems like the only viable solution. I spoke to people at Poynting Direct – Pretoria, and they agree with you. It seems the 2.4GHz 9dBi Vertical Omni Antenna will only increase signal outside the property walls, not inside.

I especially need the signal enhanced downstairs,indoors.

I found the wireless AP you referred to here:
http://www.nivo.co.za/buy~linksys.wre54g.wireless.range.expander~p1654

I notice it is 54 mbps. Are you also running 54 mbps wireless cards on your notebooks / desktops?

Would 108 mbps make a big difference, considering price and effectiveness?

Regards
Click to expand...

Yes, I run 54Mbps cards on all notebooks. The speed which the card chooses is however dependent on the signal quality, which is excellent most of the time.

My router is 108Mbps, but I have never connected at that speed, as none of my Wifi cards are 108 capable.

If you have desktops you may want to consider a switch with the range extender and use hard cabling instead of a Wifi card, as cabling almost always beats wifi in terms of latency, line speed and network throughput. Plus you can make cabling quite neat using trunking as you would probably not move your desktop(s) around too often.

Glad to be of help!

Cheers Rudi
 
jasweb said:
Just how is that relevant to the discussion.... ;)

Good luck!
Click to expand...

It is relevant in that it shows the area which I hoped a single solution (ie. omni directional antenna) would cover.

Due to money constraints, my first and or best option would be to get a strong signal within the house (upper and lower) of which I already have cat5 cable from top to bottom, whiehc then mages send to add a AP/extender on the lower level.

I want to have a similar setup as I have with 2x MTN E170 stick in each notebook, but would work out cheaper monthly and have better coverage.
 
rudirautenbach said:
Yes, I run 54Mbps cards on all notebooks. The speed which the card chooses is however dependent on the signal quality, which is excellent most of the time.

My router is 108Mbps, but I have never connected at that speed, as none of my Wifi cards are 108 capable.

If you have desktops you may want to consider a switch with the range extender and use hard cabling instead of a Wifi card, as cabling almost always beats wifi in terms of latency, line speed and network throughput. Plus you can make cabling quite neat using trunking as you would probably not move your desktop(s) around too often.

Glad to be of help!

Cheers Rudi
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for the info. Might I ask how many notebooks you have running on the wireless network? What are the wireless cards' their makes/models?

What router are you using?

Regards
 
1 x Acer Aspire One A110 netbook
1 x Sony VAIO Notebook
1 x Dell D620 Notebook
1 x HP Notebook

All have their built-in wireless cards. Brands are Intel (HP, Dell, VAIO) and Atheros (AspireOne). I am not at home to check the exact model no's, but the brand and cards really don't matter too much IMO.

Router = Netgear WGT624 v3
 
Great thanks.

I have older notebook, so looking at the Netgear 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card for the 2 notebooks, model WG511T. I guess it wouldnt hurt selecting all the cards and AP with 108 mbps.

The Telkom 200 VWR only support 802.11g (54 mbps). Will the lan speed drop to 54 mbps becuase of the router? Or will it assume the speed of the Wireless AP at 54 mbps through out the wirleess network?
 
If your wifi card connect to the 108mbps AP, then you will connect at a max of 108mbps. This could mean even 1mbps. If your wifi card connect to the telkom router (54mbps), you will get a max of 54mbps. If your AP is connected to the router via cable, you should be able to theoretically get a thoughput in the range of 100mbps to other machines on the LAN. Hope this helps.
 
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