WiFi (802.11G/N) signal strength
WiFi is such a strange beast to work with.
I recently had a customer in a high-set house, who would have the internet dropout fairly often.
The setup was: adsl modem connected to a netgear WGR614 “G” wireless router, 2 WiFi laptops, and a PC downstairs which connected using Wifi (a netgear WG111 USB WiFi adapter).
The wireless router was located at one corner of the reasonable small house, the downstairs PC was almost directly below the router, and the two laptops are in the lounge-room, with the signal having to pass through about 4 thin walls.
I have a similar setup, and have no internet problems.
With the customer, the downstairs PC would work fine, but the two laptops would occasionally lose WiFi signal… When the signal was “re-acquired”, it would show a signal strength of 5 bars (ie very strong signal)…
I tried a few different channels, but that made no difference.
The customer eventually moved the router to a more central place in the house (the kitchen), just 1 room away from the lounge room.
Now, the laptops no longer lose the internet connection, but the downstairs PC can barely connect at all.
So I figure: a newer “N” wireless router should do the trick… lots more coverage, fewer dead spots.
I install a Netgear WNR2000, but it ends up having similar coverage (and dead spots) as the WGR614 (despite my using a new WN111 USB wireless adapter in the downstairs PC…)
This is so strange, as the Laptops/PCs don’t detect any other neighboring WiFi signals that could also be causing interference.
I even tested the WNR2000 at home, and I was able to take my laptop down the street, and when I had about 2 houses between the laptop and the router, the signal started to drop out…
In the end, I could only guess that there is a lot of shielding / attenuation causing problems with the 802.11G/N radio signals.
The final solution: put the WiFi router in the kitchen, and get a tech to run a CAT5 Ethernet cable to the room downstairs.
Sometimes, you just can’t beat a wired networking solution!
I think sometimes the orientation of the router/antennae makes a difference. I don’t think the signal travels from the router in a perfect sphere. With connected devices at significantly different heights, there may be an impact there, too.
But you’re right. When feasible, wired will always be better.
By looking at the antenna gain profile graphs (which most people would struggle to understand), I’d say most WiFi antennas have more of a “dounut” rather than a spherical signal.
So yes, you get a lower signal directly above and below a “vertical” antenna.
So if I come across multistory WiFi connections, I generally tilt the antenna towards the PC on the other floor (this results in tilting the “donut” signal.
But all this tends to go out the window when you look at MIMO “N” routers with multiple antennas, as you get overlaps and bounces, which should help with weak signals.
Hi,
I’ve read you blog regularly and I came across your post about superspyware. It had a horrible time taking the program off my computer and now I find out I still have some of their stuff on my computer. Do you know how to take off the remaining files from computer that so many of these programs leave behind. I’m sure I’m not the only one that has the same question. Thanks
Hi Mom’s Choice,
Thanks for reading my blog.
In the last month or so, I’ve seem a large increase in infected PCs.
What I use to fix infected computers is Malwarebytes’ AntiMalware
Just remember that often, a PC will never “feel” quite the same, even after malware is removed.