Increasing WiFi range/power

The problem is in certain part of the day, usually morning through afternoon, the internet connection ridiculously slow. The signal strenght is excellent the speed is 54.0mbps as usual but its so slow!. And for some reason at night, the connection is back to normal speed, alot faster..So whats going on with the connection?

I use a linksys router connected a cable modem. And I use WPA security.

 

Brobands better and do you use any other pc or wireless devices durung the day.

 

With cable internet your connection is shared with other people, how many depends on your individual cable company. During the day more people around you are using the internet, at night less people are using it which means it'll run faster.

 

ahh man so theres no solution? well my family uses other pcs.

 

I have the same problem. I also use a linksys router but with dsl. I have found that unpluging the router's power cord for about 10 seconds seems to do the trick but this is only a temporary solution as it goes back to being slow with 20 minites.

 

well this never happened before...could the problem be related to the WPA?

 

for everyone,

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.

Enjoy

Game On People,
-Gophn

 

the default setting for Power Management is fine as it sets it for max battery when on Battery and Max performance when plugged it.

Unless you don't care about have the battery die quicker, which you probably do care if you are using your computer on the battery, I would leave it at default settings.

 

then its the cable companies fault for this weird situation? Cause like I said this never really happened before.

 

hey guys I just disabled my WPA-Pre-Shared Key security and the connection is so much smoother. Has someone else experienced slowness with wpa?
Whats the differece between WPA-Pre-Shared Key and WPA-Radius?
Which one is better?

 

I'm using sysinfo Yahoo widget and it says my signal from the router is 67%.

I notice that I lag sometimes when playing CSS or Quake4. Not too bad --

maybe every 2 times out of 10 games I play. I'd like to get a stronger connection than "Low" or "Good".

I have no access to the router itself.

But I do have some information about the router:

802.11G
2.437 Ghz
Channel 6

...Then I have some numbers related to PowerTX levels (important?).

I've looked at the properties of the INTEL PRO/WIRELESS 3945ABG connection. I've put the Power setting to the highest. Supposedly Intel says this will improve the wireless quality?

 

Apart from the normal stuff, like get closer to your router, remove obstacles in the path, get a new MIMO/pre-N router, or install a high-db antenna?

There doesn't seem to be much one can do. Anyway, its all hardware really. There are supposedly some "broadband speed improver(s)" one of which made by Hawking is supposed to be decent. It just gets the packets read faster.

 

I'd avoid pre-N, but MIMO should help a little.

Also, change the router to Channel 1...that will decrease the frequency of the signal and it should get less interference (because of the longer wavelength) from objects in the way.

Wait...you don't have access to the router? Why?

 

Your question reminded me of the days when I would "borrow" my neighbor's wifi connection

There are two main aspects to a weak connection/signal - transmit power and reciever sensitivity

Ubiquiti Networks makes a pcmcia card that has 300mW output (most retail cards are between 20-50mW) and that also has very good sensitivity for recieving a signal. I think this would be the best choice. The card also needs to be hooked up to an antenna you can get on the same website, it uses a regular "MMCX" connector.

Consider busying a directional antenna so that you can focus the signal towards the router and also remove interference from other directions.

 

Thanks for the info everyone.

I'll look into the UBI Network card.

I don't have access to the router because I'm at school housing.

 

look at the properties of you wireless card in the device manager .there you can increase the power to the card for a beter reception but with loss of battery life .

just put the slider of "power managment" to highest .that can give you some increase.

 

How can i acquire wireless card brand and specifications in my laptop and is there any way of extending the range , if so how much difference can be reached ,
thanks!