Useless Wi-Fi range

Is it normal? My Acer's 5024 (yes, that unlucky one) WiFi range is unbelievably short. Even standing 3 meters away from D-Link router it says that signal is very low. When I go to next room (only one thin wall in the way) it is hard to even to detect a wireless network.

My other laptop (low end Fujitsu Amilo) has compleately different WiFi abilities. I can go pretty much everywhere even upstairs and connection is stable.

I am afraid those guys in warranty service have swapped my wifi module with defected one. I just realised that one of two WiFi cover screws is gone. Why did they open that cover if the problem was faulty video card?

 

RealArt,

To boost the performance of a Wireless Module (usually with Intel)
1) you should go to Control Panel
2) go to Network Connections
3) open Wireless Network Connection and hit the Properties button
4) (you should be in the Wireless Network Connection windows), Click the Configure button
5) (you should be in a new window) go to the Advanced tab
6) under the Property section, scroll down and look for Power Management
7) (as you can see it defaults at Lowest) UNCHECK the "Use default" option, and change it to Highest (for max performance)
8) hit OK and OK.

Thats it.

You should notice an increase of wifi performance, both in speed and range.

NOTE: open the pane to physically look at the Wireless Module, there should be 2 wires connected (ANT and AUX) to the module to have optimal performance and range. If even one is loose or not connected, your wifi will not function well.

Enjoy

Game On People,
-Gophn

 

Thanks for detailed instruction. However mine is not Intel. Its AMD/ATi laptop with Broadcomm WiFi module. I did not find Power Management option in Property list but I have lots of other options and they are already set to Max, Performance, Use highest and so on. Wi-Fi connection icon in system tray shows that I have "no signal" but I still can browse internet but in very very limited range. Can it be the superior Intel Centrino Wi-Fi module witch makes the difference in Fuj Amilo?

 

I'll tell you somethng, I am actually using an Intel 2200BG Wireless modules inside of a AMD64 notebook.

You can literally use any wireless module in your notebook... its all standardized (mini-PCI or mini-PCIe)

I am using the Intel module because thats what I had when I was building my notebook. Turns out that the Intel module has decent power management tweaks.

In any case, you can always get another wifi module and change it out of your notebook, its very quick and painless. The Intel modules go for about $30-40.