Should I Upgrade My router?

Snazzy_Chazzy

I have a D-Link DI-524 as speced in the below attachment. Im in a standard Semi d with stud walls. Just lately the signal is not great in the back rooma and down stairs on the far side of the house its hit and miss. I got this router about 4 years ago. Is it time to upgrade? Should i get a stronger router or should i get a router signal extender? How does this router rate on the router scale? Or is this router ok and i should move it maybe to a more central location in the house?

PogMoThoin

There is no stronger router, what you need is another wireless access point on a different channel the other side of the house and a cable cleverly ran between the two devices

Any router that advertises itself as being stronger is just go faster stripes TBH, you cannot defeat the laws of physics, the walls will always be the obstacle

Snazzy_Chazzy

PogMoThoin wrote: »

There is no stronger router, what you need is another wireless access point on a different channel the other side of the house and a cable cleverly ran between the two devices

Any router that advertises itself as being stronger is just go faster stripes TBH, you cannot defeat the laws of physics, the walls will always be the obstacle

Crikey, I assumed as it was a 4 years old they would of improved on range etc by leaps and bounds! So if i basically buy another router say the same model and just run a cat cable from my main router to it that will act as a kind of relay station? At the moment i have a password on the network, will this still apply if i get another router and run that on a different channel?

PogMoThoin

Snazzy_Chazzy wrote: »

Crikey, I assumed as it was a 4 years old they would of improved on range etc by leaps and bounds! So if i basically buy another router say the same model and just run a cat cable from my main router to it that will act as a kind of relay station?

Not a router, you need an access point, buy a Dlink access point, access points don't route, existing Dlink router will handle all routing and dhcp for the network. Connect it to the existing Dlink router lan port by ethernet cable and give it identical network ssid (name) and encryption key (password) settings. Your devices will then roam to the nearest wireless device. Having both devices being Dlink will make it easier to setup

http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-DWL-2100AP-108Mbps-802-11G-Wireless/dp/B00019EYVG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1301493882&sr=8-6

You need to ensure you manually set the wireless channel of each device, give one channel 1, the other channel 11 so they don't interfere

the_syco

Had a similar problem not so long ago. Main router was in the converted garage section, and the rest of the house didn't have good wireless signal. Had a dlan homeplug, and added put a wireless dlan homeplug in the "main" part of the house. Instant success.

This is what you'd be looking for: http://elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=MMEN150258&productID=S8612419

Plug one end into the router, the other into a random plug in the section of the house which you want the wireless. Homeplugs transfer the data though your electrical cables, so no wires needed.

Snazzy_Chazzy

Thanks Pog and Pyscho Would yas have a preference which is better? The Plug in device that runs on the cables seems the most simple but i wonder is the extender Pog talks of a better job in the long run?

PogMoThoin

What syco's on about is connecting another wireless device with homeplugs rather than running a cat5 cable.

the_syco

Depends what the you want. If you are able to, I'd say Cat5 as below would be the best option.

PogMoThoin wrote: »

What syco's on about is connecting another wireless device with homeplugs rather than running a cat5 cable.

The benefit of the homeplugs is if you can't run the Cat5 (eg: if the house is rented, or you dislike drilling holes), you just plug one into the wall at your router, and one at the wall at the other side of the house. The Cat5 + access point would probably be the best option, if you are able to do it.

Snazzy_Chazzy

Old thread i started but just to anyone looking this up with the same question.

By Chance I got a new thompson Router from UPC and the range has literally DOUBLED. I can actually get the Interwebz at the Very back of my garden and the very front gate Perfectly.
It has 2 antenna if that has anything to do with it ! WELL IMPRESSED
The range has been near Doubled !

srsly78

Ehhh there are many stronger routers than the OP. That's a wifi G device, the wifi N devices have much better signal/range/bandwidth. Only thing is to make sure the clients also support wifi N.

@snazzy: Yeah your newer router probably has wifi N. 2 antennas means **** all btw

Snazzy_Chazzy

srsly78 wrote: »

Ehhh there are many stronger routers than the OP. That's a wifi G device, the wifi N devices have much better signal/range/bandwidth. Only thing is to make sure the clients also support wifi N.

@snazzy: Yeah your newer router probably has wifi N. 2 antennas means **** all btw

Cheers its a New UPC 100mb Thomson TWG870UIR Router.
Is that an "n" i didnt get your last post.

srsly78

Yes there are different categories of Wifi. All modern gear supports class N which has a lot better range and bandwidth. The older gear uses class B or more commonly class G, which can be a bit crap sometimes as we all know.

Note to use the class N you must have the router set up to use it, and the clients to use it. A lot of the time the router is in compatibility mode and falls back to G.

You will see it written on product descriptions etc as "802.11g" or "802.11n".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11n-2009