my wireless connection sucks

D-Link wireless B and built-in whatever on the laptop. It drops off and I have to go turn it off and back on again to get a connection. And when the signal is weak, it's slow as hell. I have it upstairs in the office because the other two computers are up there, but the laptop pretty much floats downstairs.


I'm thinking of going to a Linksys G 54mbps and a new G card for the PC

suggestions?

 

Get one of those new-fangled ones with wider coverage. I don't know if the 54Mbps will do you any good without the stronger signal.

 

you're not much help

 

Does your suggestion have a broader range, or just better throughput? Fuck off.

 

You might get better signal with the 80211.g standard, but it's no guarantee. Log onto your laptop, walk around the house and note where your signal tapers off....possibly re-locating your router/adjusting your antennae may help your problem.

The weak signal is slower because it drops packets and still has to authenticate, so it is re-sending often.

 

I've decided the shit sold to consumers is just that - shit.

I sell wireless backbones to heavy industry - and have for 9 years. It doesn't drop much. It is expensive.

I've considered putting it in my house, but haven't felt the need. It would consist of a wired router with a wireless Access Point off the router. I could likely use the standard rubber duck antennae, but i could stick a 3dbi omni on there if i wanted.

one of the more economical AP's that I sell loads of goes for $495. I can likely discount a tad to folks here and can take credit cards. I can get them used too.

Symbol AP4131:

http://www.symbol.com/AP4131/

Cisco makes good stuff too, but it's more $$. Never have complaints about the 4131 units, ever. And they get used in harsh conditions.

Back in the day before standardized protocols, these things were slower but solid - and they cost $5k apiece. I'd say there's more problems with client backbones nowadays than there were when you had to have FCC licenses for narrow band UHF radios.

I'm not whoring these - just pointing out that you get what you pay for.

 

You can't get around physics. Old houses with plaster/metal mesh walls, microwaves, 2.4ghz phones, etc. just are bad spaces for wireless. Businesses are less so - wired phones, open warehouses.

That said, my new netgear MIMO WAP/Router is fantastic - super range compared to what I had before (a linksys G), never drops connections. But it cost $100 and cards cost $90, like most tech that'll drop as it gets older.

 

Linksys is Cisco's consumer brand, and I've always had good luck with it. Maybe give it a try if you're investing any cash to solve this issue.

 

Linksys sucks. I have it.

The Cisco 1200 units are nice, and I sell them, although they seem no more stable than the Symbol units.

 

Everything I've ever read has said to put the wireless router on the lowest level. This might help your signal strength issues but it won't fix issue if you have a POS router.