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High powered routers

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:08 am
by John Cartwright
I have recently moved into a new house which was way bigger than my previous (yay!), although my new router doesn't seem to be able to fully pierce the upstairs bedrooms.. the best I can get is a low signal with many lost packets. Simply put, I'm looking for a much higher powered router than the Linksys WRT54tG. The position of the router is in the basement, and this cannot be moved unfortunantly.

Can anyone recommend anything, or perhaps another device I can install to boost signals? Image

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:24 am
by aaronhall
Something like WRE54G?

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:52 am
by John Cartwright
aaronhall wrote:Something like WRE54G?
I have searched a whole bunch and there are plenty ones I have found, although I should have made this more clear I am looking for people who have actually used a high powered router to expander, simply because I don't believe most of the marketing junk they throw at you. Although I still do appreciate suggestions.

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:18 pm
by feyd
The D-Link and Linksys "N" routers are mostly decent.

I've got a Linksys WRT54X4 that works quite well. I'll say this however, place the router on the second floor of a two or three story house as close to the middle as possible.

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:22 pm
by John Cartwright
feyd wrote:The D-Link and Linksys "N" routers are mostly decent.

I've got a Linksys WRT54X4 that works quite well. I'll say this however, place the router on the second floor of a two or three story house as close to the middle as possible.
Unfortunantly moving the router is not an option. Although thanks for pointing me in the right direction. 8)

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 2:21 pm
by Chris Corbyn
Dude, just buy a AP (Access Point) and stick it somewhere in the middle to act as a bridge. APs are handy to have around since you can hook them into a wired network to provide wireless access without a wireless router too.

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 2:22 pm
by nickvd
Make sure you get a router that will allow you to change the antenna...

There are lots of aftermarket antennas that will boost the signal (and allow you to position the antenna ~6 feet away from the router)

You can also try ddwrt firmware on wrt54g routers, it gives you the option to increase the transmit power of the router.

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 2:37 pm
by John Cartwright
d11wtq wrote:Dude, just buy a AP (Access Point) and stick it somewhere in the middle to act as a bridge. APs are handy to have around since you can hook them into a wired network to provide wireless access without a wireless router too.
Cool, I think I'm going to go with the AP considering it is cheaper than another router. We'll see how that goes anyway.. thanks for the advise guys.

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:02 pm
by RobertGonzalez
I used a Linksys Range Expander (WRE54G) with my Linksys Wireless Router (WRT54GS) and it covered a pretty decent range in my one-story house. I am totally not sure what would help a two story, router in the basement set-up though.

I can say this about my router/expander setup... My router was literally on the farthest outside wall of the house and the expander, which was on the opposite end of the house, boosted the signal to almost 90% across the street. So an expander may help you.