Comcast wireless slow

Ok so my room is probably the farthest from the wifi network router but when we had AT&T uverse I never really had as much problems with the connection going below 1 mbps.... but now that my parents switched to comcast, it's constantly below 1 mbps.


I already have a "Alfa AWUS036H Upgraded to 1000mW 1W 802.11b/g High Gain USB Wireless Long-Rang WiFi network Adapter with 5dBi Antenna"

Amazon.com: Alfa AWUS036H Upgraded to 1000mW 1W 802.11b/g High Gain USB Wireless Long-Rang WiFi network Adapter with 5dBi Antenna - for Wardriving & Range Extension: Computers & Accessories

It worked really good when we had uverse but now it's rarely 5-10 mbps.....

Whenever I'm close to it in the living room, it's always fast.

Do I really need to buy another router? I called comcast to see what was wrong but they were gonna charge $10 a month OR $75 which is BS

 

It's because the router has a poor range. If it has external antennas you can try upgrading those which may help to some degree but that's about the only thing you can do apart from changing router's location.

 

Like you said, you could always get a new router, what is the distance between you and the router? First let's determine whether it's because the router function of your modem sucks or because you are very far away.

Another option would be setting up a wireless repeater, but that also means additional hardware and i wouldn't even bother with a repeater unless your router is at least wireless N.

 

and of course you can always try the DIY way of putting a metal plate/foil behind the router to try to bounce off the back wireless emission towards the front, thus to get stronger signal at your location.

 

The router is in the living room and there's about 3 walls in between. We often switch from AT&T and comcast because of the promotional deals like every 1-2 years. How much are wireless repeaters anyways? and are they easy to install?

 

You don't need a wireless repeater (which I find to be annoying little things). Get a real wireless router (Linksys, D-Link, etc) and plug that into your ISP's box after disabling its wireless.

 

This is what i would do, repeaters are really if you have an insane amount of distance to cover and no other way to do it.

By the scenario you describe, i'm assuming you only have a few dozen feet to cover which shouldn't be a problem for a good router.

 

I've had 3 or 4 wifi repeaters that were all complete garbage. Nthing the "get a real router" comments.

 

Well, there should be at least one decent repeater or a decent router you can set as a repeater, but as others and i said previously, going for a better router is likely the best idea. This is what i've personally done every time i wanted more range or a better signal.

The higher end routers obviously have better range, but they cost more too.

also, since a couple of years ago i've adopted the screw the ISP's modem/router combo and use a dedicated router with the combo set as a modem only instead, i've gotten better results since then too.