Wifi setup in the house

[KK]

Got a Buffalo WHR-HP-G300N router setup in the basement of the house, the router has to stay down there as thats where the cable(cable modem) and cat 5 cables all come to. Having issues with the cable strength up on the main level, what can we stick up on the main floor to give us better? I was thinking of just having another router upstairs that would be wired to a port back on the router downstairs. Would that be the best way to do it, put a router in, range extender, something else?

 

[JackMDS]

I was thinking of just having another router upstairs that would be wired to a port back on the router downstairs. Would that be the best way to do it?

Yeah, that is the best way to extend the Network.

Using a Wireless Router as a switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

 

[KK]

Thanks Jack.

Well went out today and got an e4200, configured it as 192.168.11.2, my buffalo is .1. Hooked a lan port to lan port, and it appears like the laptop can pull an IP from the buffalo thru the linksys.

One question I have is how fast should pc to pc be across the setup. Basically the layout is

PC -> lan cable -> buffalo -> lan cable -> e4200 -> wireless -> laptop

I know the pc only has a 100mb card, I tried transfer a file up to the laptop and was only pulling 1.7MB/s. Should it be higher?

 

[VirtualLarry]

That does sound low. What is the connect speed of the laptop? (Task Manager, Networking)

It might be interference. Try different wireless channels. (For 2.4Ghz, the only non-overlapping channels, are 1,6,11.)

I get around 3.0-3.5MB/sec on N, with a laptop that connects at 65Mbit/sec. (single-channel 20Mhz 2.4GHz N)

 

[blackangst1]

That does sound low. What is the connect speed of the laptop? (Task Manager, Networking)

It might be interference. Try different wireless channels. (For 2.4Ghz, the only non-overlapping channels, are 1,6,11.)

I get around 3.0-3.5MB/sec on N, with a laptop that connects at 65Mbit/sec. (single-channel 20Mhz 2.4GHz N)

I second this. But before doing so, get an idea of interference around you. Either download netstumbler on a laptop or something, or even easier is wifi analyzer from the market on your android phone (assuming you have an android phone of course). Either of those will show you the current channels and their traffic, then pick either 1, 6, or 11 with the lowest traffic. I have a similar setup as yours (but my secondary router is set up as a bridge as I dont have a cat5 run to it) and was getting 1.3-1.5MB/sec. I discovered my routers were set to auto for channel config, using channel 11, which was the most congested, so I hard coded them to 1, and now Im getting about 3-4MB/sec.

 

[KK]

I seen a website that showed the transfer rate for 100mb ethernet and it was right at 1.7MB. If I can that website again I will post it.

Found it. http://www.dataip.co.uk/Network/Ethernet10or100.php

I did try a speedtest.net test and I pulled 20.8 Mb/s download speed.

 

[JackMDS]

The 1.7Mb/Sec is a typical speed of decent 802.11g Wireless connection.

If the laptop is not capable for Good N then that is waht you can get.

If your laptop is upgradable to 802.11 AGN, then you can get much better Wireless "Speed" from the e4200.

I have the AGN version of the Bufflao 300 and an e4200.

Depending on the laptop I get anywhere from 1.7 to 7.5 MB/sec.

The consumer Wireless Devices are part of the "Old West culture".

Some laptops, even if they have a decent AGN card might not produce High Speed Wireless because of the Antenna. Many of them would work with Dual Frequency but the performance would be poor, their internal Antenna is not really designed for this purpose (or it is just plain crappy of Antenna).

No one sees the Internal Antenna so the OEM can do whatever they want to.

Unfortunately compensated with Shiny Piano Black plastic case and similar cosmetic tricks, "works" on the consumers but does nothing for the technology.