I have a Cisco/Linksys E4200 wireless router in my basement.
There are dead spots in various parts of my house. I do not want to run more ethernet cable. Instead I am hoping to add one or more wireless devices to get the signal throughout my house.
Do I need a signal booster, a bridge, an access point or another router? If possible, please suggest something that is compatible with the E4200.
Thanks.
"signal booster"'s that are "amplifiers" are illegal (that is in the USA, and if the effective radiated power exceeds a certain amount). Certain external antennas are also illegal - again if the signal level exceeds a certain amount.
Your E4200 doesn't seem to have any external antenna (at first glance, I'm not familiar with that guy).
There are a number of ways to solve your problem.
1. Reorient the transmitter (that is place the wireless access point in a different location in the basement. Perhaps in another corner, or in a central location. 2.4ghz is absorbed by just about everything, and reflected by things like metal and concrete to some degree. At consumer approved power levels, it might be enough to just mount it up on the ceiling in a central location.
2. Obtain and install an external antenna. This doesn't seem to be an option with your WAP.
3. Replace the access point (wireless router) with one that does have an external antenna, or the ability to add one. Once this is done, you might be good to go. Different devices have different results, but generally those with external antennae work better and farther than those without. You can also purchase something from a place like Hawking Technology, or L-Com or another manufacturer. This takes a bit of doing as sometimes you need to purchase a short bit of cable with the right connectors on it. Typically Hawking stuff is good to go out of the box.
4. If the device supports DD-WRT, you can possibly install that, which does allow for signal level adjustment. You might find better results with less power (which *might* give you a cleaner signal), or more power (which would tend to get noisier, and is precisely why this sort of thing is contrary to FCC rules). Most DD-WRT compatible devices are good for a 10-20% boost in power without too much trouble. Your mileage may vary. This sort of thing takes a lot of experimentation.
a. as an aside, how about changing the channel? This might be good enough by itself.
Recall that most antenna devices trade off directionality for gain. A perfect antenna radiates in a sphere. This doesn't exist in the real world - the most likely pattern is that of a donut. (that is when an antenna is in the typical "rabbit ear" formation, or vertical.) When you place the antenna on its side the donut goes on its side along with it. That gives you 2 deep nulls on either side of the antenna, with "gain" (as compared to a sphere) on either side, also up and down.
As such, perhaps simply mounting the device on its side will give you enough gain towards the ceiling to get to the rest of the house?
I would suspect that if this isn't sufficient, that a simple gain antenna would work (something about 5-7db). I wouldn't recommend going much more than that as the beam turns more into a laser than a spread out pattern.
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