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low wireless net signal after upgrading?

M

mikehende

Member
Hey guys, we had DSL for many years, I have a detached garage about 30' from the back of our house, I always used to get good enough wireless signal strength from my pc in the garage. Last year we upgraded to Verizon FIOS and the wireless was working ok since then but for a few months now I am only sometimes able to get to the net with the same pc. First thing I am thinking I need to do is to see if anyone is logging on to our network which may be causing the low signal strength? If yes, how can I do so please or what should I do to get back the to the net please?
 
Someone else using your connection, wouldn't necessarily cause you to have less signal strength. It is more likely, that your router or wifi adapter is aging, and having issues.

I've heard good things about the new 802.11ac "FIOS Wireless Quantum Gateway". You can now order those for $150 from Verizon, if you have a my.verizon.net FIOS account. Go to "Change Services", then on the left-hand side of the page, look for "Wireless routers" (rather than your service info), and then look for "Quantum Gateway". It should be $150 to purchase.
 
Thanks for the info, the router we got with FIOS showed up to 300' range and it is not the wifi adapter on my pc as we tried another laptop and same deal. Before i should shell out more money to buy another piece of equipment, I want to know why upgrading to a supposedly much better technology is not working as good as my older technology?
 
You upgraded to FIOS, that means Higher and more stable Internet bandwidth, it has nothing to do with your Wireless and its range.

FIOS Wireless Modem/Router/Wireless is Not something to be proud of.

Appearing 300' away is meaningless as well.

As for someone using your Wireless??!!!. If you use WPA2 no "normal" person can get on your Wireless.

If your Wireless Router is inside the house and the computer in garage is inside too, that means 30' and few walls.

Get a Good Wireless Router, configure it as an AP and put it in a window facing the garage.

Using Wireless Routers (or Modem/Wireless Router) as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html


😎
 
mikehende said:
That being the case, then wouldn't something like this be easier?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA0AJ12N9043
Click to expand...

Probably not. If you can get a Cat5e cable to an Access Point it would be much preferable since it eliminates wireless interference issues for at least half of the distance. Also, wireless extenders only pass through half of the bandwidth that you started with had you used the router or an Access Point.
 
Hmnn, so this would need to involve myself getting another wireless router to place at the back of the house as close to the garage as possible no matter what, that's would be my only option?
 
Or running a wire to the garage. Or if the garage is on the same main breaker panel as the house, you can run power line adapters to get a connection out there.

300 feet BTW is open air range. Walls reduce that SIGNIFICANTLY. A single 2x4 wall with 1/2" drywall on both sides will reduce range by 30-50%. For each wall. So 300ft with no walls. Maybe 200ft with a single wall. Maybe 120ft with 2 walls. Maybe 75ft with 3 walls and so on. That is for a really weak/slow connection.

Oh and exterior walls attenuate wifi signals SIGNIFICANTLY more than an interior wall will (figure about a 60-75% reduction in range for a single exterior wall. IE if you had the router in a single room house, once the signal punches through the wall, figure that 300ft turns in to more like 80-130ft at most. Now if it had to go through 1-3 interior walls before it punched through an exterior wall...let alone if it has to go through a garage exterior wall then... just the two exterior walls suddenly make it maybe 40-60ft of range, not including any interior walls or distance within the house or garage).
 
Oh I see, I had thought the 300' range was RF so the walls would not matter that much. Alright so the many walls issue makes sense to me now, thanks for explaining. The wired connection would be the most stable but would be inconvenient so my best option would be wireless as I am not sure about the powerline issue since the garage receives electricity from the basement which lines run underground. Meaning, the router is situated on the ground floor which has a separate breaker than the basement.
 
It is RF (radio frequency, though really in the microwave range, but that is still technically RF). A wall will attenuate UHF and VHF as well, it just doesn't attenuate it nearly as much as the shorter wave lengths of 2.4GHz, let alone 5GHz (what I said about wifi above was in reference to 2.4GHz, 5GHz the story is roughly 40% worse impact on range, as 5GHz is attenuated roughly double what 2.4GHz is by obstructions...so if a wall attenuates 2.4GHz by 4dB, it'll attenuate 5GHz by around 7dB). So if you had a range of 60ft after an exterior wall and an interior wall with 2.4GHz, you'd have a range of probably 30-40ft on 5GHz.
 
Upgrading fios wont hurt wifi, but there could be more people in your area on 2.4ghz which will definitely kill your coverage. You could go 5ghz but it lacks penetration.
 
mikehende said:
Hey guys, I got back my older wireless router, this is it:

https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...&sa=X&ei=igZhVOarI-21sQSKloHoCg&ved=0CIUBELkk

So can I use this as the in-between my existing Verizon FIOS router and the Garage? If yes, how I would be able to use this linksys router in a room closest to the garage please?
Click to expand...

Just split the difference in your home/garage and put the main router at one end and the Linksys at the other end and connect the Linksys to the main router as an Access Point using JackMDS's link.
 
Sorry, looks like we posted at the same time, as mentioned in my last post, I am new to networking so some of this will be a technical challenge for me and most likely I may need some detailed help. Therefore can I ask for any detailed help whenever I should get stuck on this forum so I can create a specific thread for this?
 
Wait a minute, looking at those instructions:

Second Step: Switch Off the DHCP on the Wireless Cable/DSL Router, and set to Off any filters or special settings that is On if it is used as the main Router.

​
Plug the Wireless Router to the main Router. Regular Port to Regular Port, using crossover cable (or straight patch if one port is an Uplink). ​

This won't work as our main router is located at the end of the house and if I need to hard-wire it would be hell to run that wire unseen to the room at the other end of the house closest to the garage? That's why initially I had mentioned the range extender because of the wireless capability.
 
mikehende said:
Wait a minute, looking at those instructions:

Second Step: Switch Off the DHCP on the Wireless Cable/DSL Router, and set to Off any filters or special settings that is On if it is used as the main Router.

​
Plug the Wireless Router to the main Router. Regular Port to Regular Port, using crossover cable (or straight patch if one port is an Uplink). ​

This won't work as our main router is located at the end of the house and if I need to hard-wire it would be hell to run that wire unseen to the room at the other end of the house closest to the garage? That's why initially I had mentioned the range extender because of the wireless capability.
Click to expand...

Then get a powerline adapter between the router and the Linksys. Same idea but with powerlines instead of Cat5e. For the same $$$ or less you'll get a lot better performance unless your electrical wiring has issues.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA4...erline+adapter
 
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Alright so I guess one plugs into the same power strip as the router and the other plugs into any electrical outlet on the ground floor, is this correct? If yes, would it be possible to add a 3rd adapter to another room where I would need a wired ethernet?
 
mikehende said:
Alright so I guess one plugs into the same power strip as the router and the other plugs into any electrical outlet on the ground floor, is this correct? If yes, would it be possible to add a 3rd adapter to another room where I would need a wired ethernet?
Click to expand...

As long as the adapters are plugged into outlets on the same circuit then you can pretty much just network them like you were plugging in ethernet cables. The adapters just create a Cat 5e connection at the power outlet so you can run an ethernet cable to any device(s) that you want to have connected to the network.

You can plug the router's AC cord into a powerstrip of course, but I would very strongly suggest running an ethernet cable from the router to the adapter that is plugged directly into the wall outlet.
 
Ok thank you very much for the help! Whenever I get the devices I will attempt it following the instructions in the link and get back here.
 
Oh just one more question before I order the adapters please, since I only need net signal on a saturday and for the other room mentioned only once in a while and not for regular use, I am thinking I could simply unplug one adapter from the room closest to the garage with the linksys and use whenever needed in my other room? Question is would I need to reset any configurations on the linksys in any way when I plug back in the adapter?
 
mikehende said:
Oh just one more question before I order the adapters please, since I only need net signal on a saturday and for the other room mentioned only once in a while and not for regular use, I am thinking I could simply unplug one adapter from the room closest to the garage with the linksys and use whenever needed in my other room? Question is would I need to reset any configurations on the linksys in any way when I plug back in the adapter?
Click to expand...

No, you should be fine. The router will take care of any addressing issues. Networking doesn't care about the layout of your house, just the path of least resistance between two devices that are pinging each other. At worst, you just reboot the router but that probably won't be necessary.
 
Thanks for the info, will refer back to this if the methods mentioned above should not work. Would be best for me to try what's mentioned above as the only thing I will need to purchase for around $40 are the 2 adapters which will come in handy for other uses around here if that method does not work so won't be a loss in any way as I already have the 2nd router needed.
 
Janice.Heiser said:
I've heard good things about the new 802.11ac "FIOS Wireless Quantum Gateway".
Click to expand...

We bought this unit and set it up on Saturday but same deal with the connection in the garage so I am thinking this coming Saturday I will try a USB device I am currently using on my desktop inside the home:

http://us.dlink.com/products/connect/xtreme-n-dual-band-usb-adapter/

since that will cost me around the same as having to purchase the 2 powerline units for the WAP, if that works I'll simply purchase another one, if not then I will do the WAP as last resort. Meantime I wish to confirm something guys, my ground floor has different AC outlets going to different breakers on the main panel in the basement, I am pretty sure that the outlets in the room with the router runs to another breaker than the outlets in the room where the powerline adapter and alternate router for the WAP will go so will that work?
 
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