weak wireless signal strength

I have a eee 1000h and i think my wireless connection is weak. I've upgraded to the lastest driver (i'm pretty sure i have a rt2860) and am still having problems. I'm next to the router and the signal says Very Good...and when I'm barely gettin any connection my friend's connection is fine. How do I make it better? Do I need to replace the wireless router?

I'm now also having a problem with the Windows Zero Configuration. Everytime I shutdown my computer and restart it, the default setting doesn't start Windows Zero Configuration.

 

I honestly believe the eeepc's Wireless Adapters are weak in general. Because at home I can be in my bedroom with my netbook and the signal strength to my Main Router outside in the living room is like 2 and 3 bars; whereas I have a regular notebook in the room and it would be very good, or excellent most of the time. Hence the reason I have an Access Point in my bedroom to boost the signal.

Something you could check though...I don't have this option since i'm using Windows 7 drivers for my WiFi but you seem to be using XP so Go Here select your model and download the latest WiFi drivers for XP and install it. Then go to Control Panel--> Device Manager and look for the Wireless Card under Network section. Right click the Wireless Card and choose Properties and then Advance. Under the Advance section you may or may not see options to use the maximum power on the Wireless Adapter; If you have the option make sure it's set to use full power.

For the WZC issue; go to Start, right click My Computer and select Manage. Under the Services section scroll down to Windows Zero Config. and verify it's set to Automatic and it's Started. Once it's set to Automatic it should start everytime you log on to the netbook.

 

Ok thanks for the info! Fixed the WZC. I think the max power is Max_PSP, which is already set.

Is there a better wireless router you would recommend for the netbook?

 

^ Good to hear.

I honestly don't think getting a new Router would fix the issue. As I personally believe the issue is the not-so-great WiFi Adapter in these netbooks. [Maybe they have a hard-coded power limitation on the WiFi Adapters?] But as always I would recommend the Linksys G2! But you can do searches on google and amazon etc. for reviews of various Routers.

 

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but, am having the same problem. Can one get say a Linksys usb wireless stick and plug it in and try it? Could that improve reception?
Thanks

 

A router which you can ramp up the transmit power would be great. E.g. linksys wrt54G or Asus wl-520gu.

Also, the wifi adapters in these netbook are not weak. They're exactly the same on other laptops.

Have you tried readjusting the connection between the antennae and the wifi card? Sometimes, the antennae are not connected properly thus reducing the signal.

 

Not exactly the same...most significantly, there are only two antenna leads in the netbooks I have seen, whereas laptops that support wireless N have three (not so much an issue with the wireless G cards that only support two leads).

Also, antenna leads are typically a couple inches shorter in the netbooks, again, reducing your reception.