Cheapest way to extend wireless network signal?

Tek7

Tek7

CGA President, Tribe of Judah Founder & President
Staff member
As mentioned in previous threads, my wife and I are living in an apartment without Internet access. We can take our notebook computers to the common library area to get online, but that proves inconvenient sometimes.

So I'm wondering: What's the cheapest way to extend a wireless network signal? I tried boosting my Linksys WRT54GL (running DD-WRT v23 SP2) to 70mW, but still couldn't reach the apartment.

I'm terrible at estimating distances, so I won't even try to tell you how far it is from the router to the apartment. All I can say is that a WRT54GL running at 70mW cuts out about 2/3 of the way from the router to the room.

I was thinking of picking up a Linksys wireless access point, but those can get pricey.

I also thought of a directional antenna, but am afraid of things getting too technical for my limited experience to tackle.
 
I have a linksys router with dd-wrt that allows me to get to 128 mw. The main thing is how many walls you are having to go through and how many other 2.4 ghz(this includes many microwave ovens, cordless phones, bluetooth devices, and other wifi devices.

The only other thing you can do is either buy a access point and put it into repeater mode or buy a "n" mimo router. they tend to have greater coverages but are subject to the same wifi issues i noted above.
 
Hescominsoon said:
I have a linksys router with dd-wrt that allows me to get to 128 mw. The main thing is how many walls you are having to go through and how many other 2.4 ghz(this includes many microwave ovens, cordless phones, bluetooth devices, and other wifi devices.

The only other thing you can do is either buy a access point and put it into repeater mode or buy a "n" mimo router. they tend to have greater coverages but are subject to the same wifi issues i noted above.
Click to expand...

n routers require the laptop to have an "n" card to take advantage of the MIMO.
 
I recommend avoiding the above product at all cost. I work in neighborhood tech and this was a product that I originally used a lot of...until they all broke or caused conflicts or dropped signals or constantly had to be plugged/unplugged. They are a mess and not worth it. I actually just had to throw one away yesterday that went bad on a client. Crapware in my opinion. Much better to invest in a Long range MiMo or even use addtl wrt54gs to pass on the signal.

I have had great luck using Apple Airport express to expand range. They are very easy to setup and work great, but they are expensive.
 
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pbshaver said:
I had a similar problem a couple years back and solved it one of these. Not sure exactly how far your talking but I put this about half way between my router and where I was normally playing/working and it worked great.

Linksys WRE-54G Wireless-G Range Expander
Click to expand...
I recommended this item to my wife's parents...and wish I hadn't.

The hardware was very difficult to configure to "play nice" with a Linksys WRT54GL, the signal cut out frequently, and I had to unplug it and plug it back in every time I visited.

On top of all that, the Range Expander up and died for no apparent reason. Less than a year after purchase, it no longer lit up. It had been plugged into a surge protector; no other devices plugged into the strip had any issues.

What really drives a nail into the coffin is the price of this item: $90 USD. It doesn't work consistently, it died less than a year after purchase, and it's nearly $100.

I know some people have had success with the Linksys Range Expander, but, from what I've read, they seem to be in the minority.

I will never recommend this item again and, given the sheer crapitude of the Linksys wireless NIC my in-laws purchased, I probably won't recommend Linksys products (with the exception of the Linksys WRT54GL, for purposes of installing DD-WRT) again. Linksys used to be the king of the hill. It seems these days they're closer to the bottom of the p00 heap.

EDIT: What do you networking experts think of this as a replacement antenna?
 
I think in your situation a direction antenna is going to give you the best results. You don't need it to cover anymore than just your apartment and a single antenna should be able to accomplish that.

I would recommend trying to build one yourself before you buy one. I've seen several people get very good success rates out of a homemade cantenna. Since you can usually build one for really cheap I'd say give it a try before you spend too much on a directional antenna.
 
pbshaver said:
I had a similar problem a couple years back and solved it one of these. Not sure exactly how far your talking but I put this about half way between my router and where I was normally playing/working and it worked great.

Linksys WRE-54G Wireless-G Range Expander

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
there's issues with that thing. It's only compatible with a short list of products..most of them linksys. Also you get the expanded coverage but it cuts the bandwidth in half as well.
 
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