Increasing signal range of Wireless router?

[Atty]

I've got a wired/wireless router set up in my bed room, which is on one end of the house, and my mother is trying to connect in hers, on the other end of the house.

I guess the signal starts to deteriorate near her bedroom becuase she can sometimes connect just fine and other times it won't connect at all/drop off/or is slow to a crawl.

Is there anyway to increase the signal range to her bedroom? I don't want to move the router closer because I don't want to run three network cables off the router into my bedroom.

Don't care what the cost is, just want to get a better signal to her bedroom.

 

[JackMDS]

The general approach that I take for Coverage issues is the following.

The best way is to lay few CAT6 cables to central locations in the house, install Access Points, or Cable/DSL Routers configured as an Access Points ( Using a Wireless Cable/DSL Router as a Switch with an Access Point ), and connect them to the Main Router.

You do not want/can not/hate/your client hate to lay Cables.

You start with One affordable Router that can Do WDS (the reason for the WDS support is in case you need to add more Wireless hardware).

If you are lucky and your environment is conducive to get covered with one Wireless Router you are done.

Routers that can do WDS as is are old by (Zyxel, SMC, Belkin, and some others have models that do WDS as is out of the Box ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...ss_Distribution_System ).

Linksys WRT54GL, and Asus, 520GU can do WDS when flashed with DD-WRT firmware ( http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page ).

Using a Laptop loaded with Netstumbler, do a Wireless survey in the house, http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/

According to the Netstumbler's signal strength reading, identify spots that have strong signal. and spot with weak, or No signal.

Evaluate how you can cover the space and start placing WDS units.

Additional Wireless Routers in WDS Mode (Wireless Network - Configuration Modes. ) has to be placed in spots were the signal is good about Half way to the dead spots.

How many WDS units are needed? It depends on your specific environment (that is a good the reason to buying WDS units one at the time, try it, and decide on the Next step).

Otherwise.

Extending Distance - http://www.ezlan.net/Distance.html

Wireless Router as an AP - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

Wireless Modes - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Modes.html

Wireless Bridging - http://www.ezlan.net/bridging.html

Hi Gain Antenna - http://www.ezlan.net/antennae.html

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: iAtticus
Is there anyway to increase the signal range to her bedroom? I don't want to move the router closer because I don't want to run three network cables off the router into my bedroom.

If the issue is multiple devices, then you could run a single network cable, connect that to a switch, and connect all the devices to that. Wired is always better than wireless, except for the wires.

Another solution in the same vein would be to get another wireless router, configure it as an access point, put it at a better location and connect it by wire it to the existing router.

Wireless repeating may be able to get you some range extension, but it's not ideal -- the wireless performance of the DGL-4300 is not great to start, and repeating adds another layer of inefficiency to that. If that's what you want to try, then a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 would be my suggestion -- it's got a better-than-average wireless radio; with DD-WRT v24, it could be used as a repeater bridge. It could also be tried as a replacement wireless access point, keeping the DGL-4300 for the router and gigabit switch parts. I.e. configure the new wireless router as just a wireless access point, wire that to the DGL-4300, and disable the DGL-4300's wireless.

 

[Atty]

Would adding a better antenna to my router do anything?

 

[Arcanedeath]

I could help a bit but the DGL 4300 has 2 antena 1 is internal and not upgradable. Madwand1's suggestion of just getting a better wireless router & using it as an acess point may be a better idea if you don't want to run any cable.