Wireless'ing our place, need more wireless range

[Phizinza]

Simple question first. I need more range, how should I get it?

Heres the complex part.
First I'll show a picture of the setup we have right now
http://offroadingsubarus.com/images/temp/buildings.jpg
Router is a ZyXEL P-660HW.

The big circle is the range we get at the moment.
The little circle is the "adequite" speed connection we can get right
now.
Blue lines indicate network wires. We have the router in the house
which now only operates the printer by cable and the two laptops
(Dell's) in the house are wireless. And that works fine. Computers "down
stairs" (second building with bed rooms which is about 6ft lower then
the house) are soon to be upgraded to laptops as well, and although we
have the wires down there I want wireless access so we can use the
laptops anywhere in the building. I also want more then two connections
available on the "left" side of the building.

What I want is to be able to use the laptop anywhere in that picture.
At the moment it won't work on the lawn, or in the workshop or most of
the "down stairs". These are the places I want the wireless to work with
hopefully good speed and good connectivity. I like playing games so I
need half decent signal.

I've been looking at amplifers and bigger aerials. Plus I've been
looking at maybe another wireless switch instead of the hub down stairs
using the uplink stuff to connect the two buildings together. But this
won't get wireless in the workshop or lawn.

Some of the products I've been looking at are
'500mW b/g Indoor 2.4GHz Amplifier [MBAM05BG1P] - $144.20 : City
Technology, Micro Beam Wireless Products' (http://tinyurl.com/2mhz6z)
'RadioLabs || Wireless Range Extender' (http://tinyurl.com/47bfe)
And some antennas on ebay, around 9db they say.

Looking to not spend anymore then about $150. But I'll keep an open
mind.

Should also add that the ZyXEL router doesn't have a detachable antenna
but I'm happy to open it up and solider what ever to it.

Any suggestions?


------------------------------------------------------------------------
View this thread: http://www.wirelessforums.org/showthread.php?t=37366
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[John Navas]

Leave the existing wireless router in the house to cover the house.
Add a wireless access point (cabled to the wireless router) up on the
roof with a high-gain omni antenna. Engenius/Senao is one such option.
Use the same SSID on both wireless with the same WPA passphrase.
For more coverage in remote buildings, you might need directional
antennas aimed at the house.

On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:21:32 -0500, Phizinza
<Phizinza.33mj1h@no-mx.wirelessforums.org> wrote in
<Phizinza.33mj1h@no-mx.wirelessforums.org>:

>Simple question first. I need more range, how should I get it?
>
>Heres the complex part.
>First I'll show a picture of the setup we have right now
>http://offroadingsubarus.com/images/temp/buildings.jpg
>Router is a ZyXEL P-660HW.
>
>The big circle is the range we get at the moment.
>The little circle is the "adequite" speed connection we can get right
>now.
>Blue lines indicate network wires. We have the router in the house
>which now only operates the printer by cable and the two laptops
>(Dell's) in the house are wireless. And that works fine. Computers "down
>stairs" (second building with bed rooms which is about 6ft lower then
>the house) are soon to be upgraded to laptops as well, and although we
>have the wires down there I want wireless access so we can use the
>laptops anywhere in the building. I also want more then two connections
>available on the "left" side of the building.
>
>What I want is to be able to use the laptop anywhere in that picture.
>At the moment it won't work on the lawn, or in the workshop or most of
>the "down stairs". These are the places I want the wireless to work with
>hopefully good speed and good connectivity. I like playing games so I
>need half decent signal.
>
>I've been looking at amplifers and bigger aerials. Plus I've been
>looking at maybe another wireless switch instead of the hub down stairs
>using the uplink stuff to connect the two buildings together. But this
>won't get wireless in the workshop or lawn.
>
>Some of the products I've been looking at are
>'500mW b/g Indoor 2.4GHz Amplifier [MBAM05BG1P] - $144.20 : City
>Technology, Micro Beam Wireless Products' (http://tinyurl.com/2mhz6z)
>'RadioLabs || Wireless Range Extender' (http://tinyurl.com/47bfe)
>And some antennas on ebay, around 9db they say.
>
>Looking to not spend anymore then about $150. But I'll keep an open
>mind.
>
>Should also add that the ZyXEL router doesn't have a detachable antenna
>but I'm happy to open it up and solider what ever to it.
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>View this thread: http://www.wirelessforums.org/showthread.php?t=37366
>http://www.wirelessforums.org

--
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John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
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Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

[Bill Kearney]

You're on the right track thinking about adding other access points. Add
one downstairs and be done with it.

It might be worth considering the placement of a second router in the house.
Move them both to the sides of the structure. This might facilitate
coverage for the exterior areas. You'd be shifting your circles of coverage
to one that encompassed the lawn/gym/house and another for the
house/workshop. You might also consider directional 'sector' antennae to
help shape the coverage pattern. They make sector antenna with different
degrees of coverage spread.

But if the workshop doesn't get covered then setting up a point-to-point
link and another access point might be necessary. You could start by
putting a router in 'client mode' in the workshop and using a directional
antenna on it. Then hang another access point off it. This will make a
wireless link back the house, connect via wire to another access point in
the workshop, which in turn provides local wireless coverage. The same
thing could be set up in the gym building. But I'd start by
adding/repositioning the router setup in the main house first.

But bear in mind that shifting from one access point to another may well
introduce problems if you're actively running sessions. I wouldn't go
expecting things to slide from one to the other without interruptions.

At some point it may be worth second guessing the notion of just how
"necessary" is all this?

[Bill Kearney]

> First I'll show a picture of the setup we have right now
> http://offroadingsubarus.com/images/temp/buildings.jpg

Oh, and nice job on posting that picture!