Wifi range?

[Xain]

I presently have an access point that is 802.11b/g compatible. It's a DLink DWL-2100AP, about 20 months old. The range, well, sucks, it always has. Devices in the same room get a decent signal but any other room get a weak signal or no signal at all, regardless of where I position the AP. Directly upstairs, through just a thin floor, probably about 5 feet away, my PDA gets a weak signal and my brand new high performance laptop rarely gets any signal at all, particularly when it's on my desk (about 1" thick wood). Is this normal?

I bought another AP, a DLink DI-634M, which claims to have 4 times the range (of what, it doesn't say, so I presume standard G hardware). Surprise surprise, it's not 4 times the range. However, what is a surprise is that it's not even 1x the range, as I can't even get a signal through the floor!

What can I do to get a signal throughout my small house? Does Belkin pre-N offer better range? It claims 6x the range but I don't know how true that is. Is the range any better when the receiver is G (my laptop) or B (my PDA), or does it need a matching pre-N network card? When will N hardware (not pre-N) be out?

 

[spidey07]

change your channel to 1, 6 or 11 and that should resolve your problem.

 

[JackMDS]

The Brand that sells Wireless Network devices do not lie, they just do not disclose up front the environment and the conditions under which they measure ?Speed? and coverage.

What ever they use, it is not typical home environment with obstructions and heavy electrical noise.

A first step you might want to find away to evaluate the ?Noise? in you environment, and how to maximize hardware physical setting. May be this can Help, http://www.ezlan.net/wbars.html

Otherwise achieving good wireless coverage is not a matter of finding the Magic Wireless Router, but rather the best method to your environment.

The most common method used by professional to provide sold coverage is multiple sources connects by Cat5e.

This section of the following site has short easy pages that might help you in your endeavor. http://www.ezlan.net/#Wireless

:sun:

P.S. The 802.11n is finalized as we speak.

My guess that in the summer we would start to see preN standard (the current preN does not conform with any standard) that would be able to be upgraded to final 802.11n hardware that probably would be out by the end of the year.