The Glade 4.0

I'm kinda stumped here...we moved into this rather large two-story townhouse. Despite some initial issues, we got hooked up with Comcast cable.

Now, as the heaviest usage is centered around the TV (Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, XBL, PSN, Google TV, Apple TV, etc.), I like having the cable modem/router there, to have the entertainment devices hard-wired. However, my office is upstairs and virtually on the other side of the house. I have constant problems with the wifi in there; it shows connection to the network, but the internet connectivity is intermittent and really quite crap.

I don't have this problem working on my laptop/iPhone/iPad in the den. So I would assume it's a signal strength issue.

What are my options? I'm renting, and I really don't think going through the trouble/time/expense of running cable is the way to go. What say you?

Maybe look into getting a better router that can handle the distance.

Either a better router, some kind of wired solution (Powerline), or a second router to act as an access point/extender.

I'd been eying this...does anyone have any experience with how well it works?

It really depends on how good the wiring in your home is.

Powerline has the problem in that it doesn't cross breakers well. If you have coax running through your home, you may want to look into a couple of media converters.

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I had some powerline adapters for my house network for a while because my wireless is ****. I had no problems with stability. Speed kinda sucked. If you don't usually transfer files between computers, or stream stuff over the network, you'll probably be ok with a powerline network.

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Try changing the channel the wireless is using. If you're using 'n' based equipment, I'd expect it to reach just about everywhere in the house. The exception is if the house is plaster lathe or something like that.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/setup/wirelesstips.aspx

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In time, this too shall pass.

How many wireless networks are 'in range'? Are there any sources of interference? What distance are we talking here, and how many walls? Is your AP enclosed, or are the antenna blocked? How are they arranged?

This is a pretty good read..

http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestor ... or=RSS-182

A cursory read indicates that the IEEE standards for power line data transmission are rather new (introduced in 2010). Bear this in mind, as it means individual user experiences could be widely varied, especially for anyone who tried it prior to 2010.

There are some additional problems that can arise. The wiring in your house tends to be very long. It was designed to pass 50hz and 60hz AC power signals signals. As a general rule, things that pass low frequencies don't usually play nicely with high frequencies such as those used in data transfer. This leads to Shuyung's comment about it not passing breakers very well - the breakers in your home are also designed to make sure the low frequency signals from the power company get through.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

I'm gonna go with setting a second router up as a repeater or bridge.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Are you running wireless-N? I've found the signal strength to be much stronger on my N router.

This. My "N" router has much, much better range/strength than my "G" router ever had.

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"I Live, I Love, I Slay, and I Am Content."
- Conan the Barbarian

I would go with a second router running as a repeater.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Hmm.. It seems Mr. Sky has abandoned his own thread... :p

Nay, I'm just lost. I think I'm running N, but I need to check (in a hurry, I purchased a modem/WAP, and I don't remember what it is). I've got a router that I plugged into it (which worked with my old, regular cable modem, but I haven't gotten it to work with the new modem), but the signal strength looks to be the same (but with no internet connectivity).

If it's dependent on wire quality, I kinda doubt the Powerline stuff would work much if any better.

I'm intrigued by the idea of using a router as a repeater, but I have utterly no idea of where to start with that, and haven't had a chance to go all Google-fu on it.

You can buy wireless repeaters out-of-the-box, but they rather overcharge for it. Far more economical is to do some 'net researchings to find an appropriate model (there are several popular Linksys models for this kind of thing) and flash it with (usually freely distributed open source) custom firmware designed to work on that model.

Then, you set it up where the signal begins to weaken, but before it gets unreliable, and it will rebroadcast to extend the range.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Btw, here's my connection list from the iMac in my office.

"SkyNet 2" is a b/g broadcast from my cable modem. "SkyNet" is an n broadcast from a wireless router. The n doesn't seem to be substantially stronger than the b/g.

Hold down the option key and right click on the Airport menu item. Among other things, you'll see a RSSI value. This is your received signal strength indicator. Change networks and look at the value, and use that instead of the little bars.

Then try changing channels. Use channel 1, 6, or 11 on the b/g 2.4 Ghz "SkyNet 2" network and put the "Skynet" 5 GHz network on "auto". Check the signal strength, wash, rinse, repeat.

There's a "WiFi Scanner" app in the Mac App Store that looks fairly nice, you might want to check that out if the info from it is worth the $7.99 they want for it.

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In time, this too shall pass.

Yup, there's a good chance every single one of those routers is on the same default channel.