Belkin wireless N starter kit - wifi not working?

515

I have Magnet Force10, which uses a Telsey modem/router with wifi. I want to move my pc to a location where I don't have cable and the wifi from Magnet isn't very strong.

I know Magnet keep control of the Telsey router, so I didn't want to try to replace that. I bought the Belkin wireless-N starter kit, which plugs into an existing modem.

I set it all up, had to connect with a cable to my pc to set it up. I then wanted to check the wifi, so I unplugged the cable and plugged in the wifi adapter, but the signal strength is almost non-existent (weaker than the existing Magnet signal).

Has anyone else used this kit? Any tips or advice?

PogMoThoin

515 wrote: »

I bought the Belkin wireless-N starter kit, which plugs into an existing modem.

I see Your problem right there

515

Can you give a bit more info? You think Belkin are rubbish? Can you recommend an alternative? Or is there a compatibility issue?

PogMoThoin

Belkin are the make recommended all the time in Harvey Norman/PcWorld/Currys and are complete rubbish. They can give awful trouble, reset themselves for no reason and You may just about get through Your warranty with one. Threads appear here about them regularly. If You can return it, do so

I can recommend anything by Linksys, use a lot of them at work, they just work, set them once and walk away.

Try changing channel on the wifi router You had to see if it improves the signal.

515

Before I bought it I asked if I could return it if there were compatibility issues and they said no problem... thanks for the feedback.

515

Pog, I see a wireless N router from Linksys here but will I need to keep my Telsey as the modem with it? Is there likely to be compatibility issues there?

PogMoThoin

Why not just get a set of Homeplugs?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Solwise-Home-Ethernet-Networking-works/dp/B000SO94FA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260114088&sr=8-3

Both locations need to be in the same electrical circuit

515

I want to boost the wifi throughout the house... for laptop, ipod touch etc...

PogMoThoin

The best way of doing this is to use the homeplugs or run a cable and add an access point to the other side of the house, set the ssid and password identical to the wifi router You got and set it to a different channel, this way Your devices will roam and jump to the strongest signal giving You best coverage

Tar.Aldarion

I concur about Belkin, tried three of their routers, returned each, constant trouble, useless. Picked up a linksys one that was way cheaper, perfect.

PogMoThoin

Anyone know why bricks and mortar shops always recommend Belkin? I see it with customers all the time, Harvey Norman/PcWorld/Currys always recommend crappy Belkin.
Is it the shiny device or the fancy box makes it easy to sell? Has it a higher mark up?
Rate of returns must be quite high.

515

That I could do. What is the difference between a router and an access point though? And should I go for a wireless-N access point?

PogMoThoin

515 wrote: »

That I could do. What is the difference between a router and an access point though? And should I go for a wireless-N access point?

A router routes

Simplest way I can describe it is that an access point doesn't handle ip addresses, it just bridges You to the other router which handles the routing to the net

Why wireless-n? It dosen't give better coverage and Your broadband package is the limit of your speed. Also all devices/laptop need to have n wireless cards otherwise they'll run in g mode

515

So a wireless access point is like a wireless switch?

I thought wireless-n did incease the range... wiki says indoor range for an n network is about 70m, compared to 38m for a wireless g.

Also I'd hope it would futureproof it a little so I don't need to buy another one in a year or so. And my own pc doesn't have wifi, so I'd buy a wireless n wifi adaptor and hopefully enjoy better speeds.

PogMoThoin

515 wrote: »

So a wireless access point is like a wireless switch?

Nope, access points have only one port which would connect it to the router

515 wrote: »

I thought wireless-n did incease the range... wiki says indoor range for an n network is about 70m, compared to 38m for a wireless g.

Also I'd hope it would futureproof it a little so I don't need to buy another one in a year or so. And my own pc doesn't have wifi, so I'd buy a wireless n wifi adaptor and hopefully enjoy better speeds.

Enjoy the better speeds, Your internet connection would be the limit. G does 54meg but what speed is Your broadband, this is the limit

Tar.Aldarion

It does have an affect though, if I had a g at home I lag, but teh better range helped. I imagine because the net is bad

515

So if the money is similar go for a wireless n access point, if a big difference a g will do?

And can I be sure it will work with the magnet router? Or does that not matter a jot as I'm simply extending from the switch?

(Thanks for ye're help by the way.)

515

Is there any way for me to know for sure this will work before I try it?

I'll probably be buying online, which makes returns slow, difficult and costly, so I'd really like to know before I buy.

PogMoThoin

http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_extend_my_network_wirelessly.html

Down at the bottom wired backbone, this is what You're doing.

515

I guess I'll just jump right in then. Hopefully the linksys will work right out of the box for me. Thanks for your help.

515

PogMoThoin wrote: »

The best way of doing this is to use the homeplugs or run a cable and add an access point to the other side of the house, set the ssid and password identical to the wifi router You got and set it to a different channel, this way Your devices will roam and jump to the strongest signal giving You best coverage

Well the access point finally arrived (Linksys WAP610N). Set it up, didn't know what security protocall Magnet used so set it to WPA. It seemed to clash with the Telsey, both phone and internet got scrambled... spoke to Magnet and they thought maybe the WPA was the problem. The Telsey is set to WEP...

We were going to switch the Telsey to WPA, but decided to just turn off the wifi on the Telsey altogether... believing the Linksys is so strong it would just overrun it anyway. It seems some thick walls in the house mean there are still some areas not reached though.

So I want to try to get both going at the same time, as initiallly advised.

QUESTION - is the WPA/WEP likely to have been the conflict that caused the internet to be scrambled? If we turn the wifi back on on the Telsey, but change it to WPA, will that allow both to be used without scrambling the signal?

I'll probably try that tomorrow anyway, but if anyone knows what else might be the issue/solution, I would welcome the help.

Thanks.

PogMoThoin

Need to be identical ssid, encryption and encryption key, its case senditive but wep or wpa shouldn't matter as long as they're both set identically, but it needs to be a completely a different channel. If there's a dhcp option on the linksys it'll need to be disabled to let the Telsey handle dhcp.

515

It has "Automatic Configuration - DHCP"... I can only change that to "Static IP"?

I'm told by Magnet that the Telsey was on channel 11, the linksys says "standard channel - 1"

The linksys is set to WPA2 Personal, does the Telsey have to be exactly that too?

PogMoThoin

515 wrote: »

It has "Automatic Configuration - DHCP"... I can only change that to "Static IP"?

I'm told by Magnet that the Telsey was on channel 11, the linksys says "standard channel - 1"

The linksys is set to WPA2 Personal, does the Telsey have to be exactly that too?

Leave it automatic.

Yes, Linksys and Telsey need to be using identical ssids and encryptions, if it doesn't work with wpa 2 try wpa, needs to be exactly the same. Can Magnet tell You exactly what its using?

We want a position where Your laptop/devices connect to both wifi devices with the same settings and therefore will jump from one to the other depending on which signal is strongest