WiFi Question

[Sean Troy]

Hi all, I have an older Linksys WRT54GS wireless router. I'd like to get more distance from it if possible. Is there a way to do this without spending more than the router is worth? Thanks, Sean

[Matt Meiser]

There are high gain antennas all over eBay. I've used some with success. Not sure if yours hs removable antennas. Also, loading ddwrt if you can allows you to adjust radio power.

High gain antennas on my Buffalo router lets it cover my whole house nicely.

Also positioning can make a big difference.

[paul cottingham]

+1 on ddwrt. great way to extend the life of a router.

[Sean Troy]

I see on ebay High Gain antennas made for my router and they are pretty cheap. Would anyone know what firmware version I can upgrade to. I have v 1.52.2 now but see you have to be really careful updating firmware. Thanks for the help, Sean

[Steve Meliza]

WiFi is a two way communication system. It may help to boost the signal strength of your access point if you do a lot of downloading, but it's not going to help receive signals from your portable device unless the receiver and filters used are of higher quality. Other options include finding a better location for your access point, removing objects that tend to block or attenuate the signal, removing sources of interference such as a microwave or cordless phone, and adding additional access points. Sometimes switching the wireless channel that the access point uses can help if you have other access points or sources of 2.4 GHz noise near by.

[Scott Shepherd]

I posted this question a couple of months ago. It's been outstanding and it does allow to increase your wifi range.

Read through it all the way if you have time and it might be what you want without spending any money...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?185614-Computer-router-problems

[Matt Meiser]

I used the ones offered in eBay listing 350568217239 with good results. Had you asked a week ago I would have sent you the pair I had but I just sold the router.

[Sean Troy]

I updated the firmware and for 14.00, I ordered the new antennas. We'll see what happens. Thanks all for the gtreat help, Sean

[Jim Becker]

You have to take into account not just your router/access point, but also your environment. I need multiple access points in our home to provide good coverage due to how our home is constructed and the materials used. Actually, I have three APs...two set to 802.11G and one set to 802.11N. The latter is specifically to support our streaming needs from the media room and the other two insure that all of our portable devices have good coverage throughout the house. Note that when using multiple APs, one must be careful to set frequency channels carefully so that they do not interfere with each other was well as with neighbors' units.

[Dave Mura]

High gain antennas should do the job, putting on dd wrt would help too. If not, adding an AP would work.
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