802.11a/g Signal Booster

My new Dell E1705 with Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 will connect, then periodically drop the signal. Also it seems to be very finicky as to where it will pick up a signal. The wireless is turned on, and power saving is turned off.

My house has thick plaster and steel lathe. It is very solid, but all the steel and concrete has created similar problems with my cordless headphones and telephone.

I have heard that 802.11 repeaters/boosters are available. I do not know how the technology works, but would like to be able to leave the hub down in the basement, and have a repeater plugged in upstairs, and move it outside when I want connectivity in the yard. Is there such a beast?

 

Yes you can get repeaters. Depedning on your needs you might see if you can get some High Gain Antenna's as well. Do a google search on your rotuer brand for a repeater/ high gain antennas. While 802.11g should work with different products , but it is always best to stick with the same vendor.

You can also play with different Router postions (keep it in the basement -maybe if possible put it on a shelf higher ) or adjust the antenna's.

If you like to build things try http://www.freeantennas.com/

Good luck

 

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the repeaters. Many will extend the range, but at a cost of 1/2 the bandwidth, since they only have one antenna to do both the transmitting and recieving. I would save it as a last resort.

Which router are you using? I know the Linksys WRT54G (earlier than v5, or the -L model) can accept third party firmware that can increase the power to the signal. In combo with a high-gain antenna (or dirrectional antennas), this may solve your problem.

 

Good point - just have to be carefull to not boost the power too much as then noise becomes an issue - as Imychajluk mentions I have a linksys and use third party firmware - I think the default 'power setting' was 27% and I changed it to 40% ish - that comnibed with High Gain Attennas give me access through out my 2 story house as well as most of the backyard (at least on the deck which is ok for me no need to sit in the garden with my Laptop !)

 

Can I use a high-gain antenna with the internal wifi adapter on the E1705?

 

No, the high-gain antenna is for the router/access point. Generally, laptops with built-in wireless have decent antennas, and the antenna and it's connector are built into the laptop. There are PC WiFi cards that can accept an external antenna, such as this one:
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detail.php?productid=32&categoryid=7