Hello all, I have a linksys 802.11g router for the last 8 years. My mother has it in her house now and the signal is able to reach from the shed in the garden (where her office is and her modem) into the house. We thought if we bought a 802.11n router it would be able to reach further into the house but as it turns out, nothing could pick up the router in the house (2 laptops and an internet radio) so we brought it back to the shop. The reason why we wanted to get a new router is that for some reason the old router wont allow a wired connection periodically and then at other times we get DNS server is not responding and the internet radio reads "network error" when using the wireless. We can leave the radio on all day and it will return to playing music for about 2 minutes, then turn off again, then back again and then maybe off again and then maybe return to full connection for a couple of days. It's become quite unreliable. Any ideas on a) how to fix this or b) a router that will reach into the house and is reliable and will work with Windows 7 wired connection. Cheers in advance...
no i haven't yet as i wanted to get some opinions on what would be a good one. if anyone has tried a particular brand of 802.11n router and it worked well between walls etc. then I would go ahead and get it. i read a review of the linksys E1000 802.11n router and it just said it was awful. I find it so hard to understand that the n's are turning out so much worse in performance than the old g type.
Might be worth looking at the Belkin Play Max, which is reviewed here. According to the write-up, it's extremely easy to set up, and it mentions range - with the unit providing a decent connection at 25m (admittedly, in a "domestic setting"). Hope that's of some help...
thanks very much for the suggestion. will have a look around for a supplier of that make so...cheers methalin!
wireless N 5GHz actually has less range. the tradeoff is less interference and higher thoroughput. if you're using wireless N 2.4GHz, the range would be the same as any wireless G. also, you have to consider the hardware trying to connect to the router. if they don't support wireless N, then they won't pick up the access point. for a nice router, a linksys E3000 and DD-WRT 15962 mega firmware.
hmm i get what you're saying cee43, it explains how that N router turned out to be worse than the linksys g router i have ... i do need a router that will work more reliably than the linksys i have now, so does the 3000 do a good job? i'm pretty sure its quite expensive but if it will definitely do a better job then we could go for it...
Placement of your router can affect its range. I like mine on a high shelf and away from cordless phones especially. Any electronic or even large metal surfaces could deflect signal. I have a Belkin N1 Vision and is the best router I have owned so far. I used Netgear, D-Link and Trend Nets in past. Its a MIMO (multiple antennas)dual band N router. My Niece next door shares my internet, appox. 110 feet from my router and she has full bars on signal strength, through 2 brick and 1 wooden walls. She is using a Netgear G adapter with no problem connecting. The Netgear and other routers 1 or 2 bar signal and unreliable. Says its range up to 1600 feet, I still was barely connected at appox 400 feet with going through 1 brick 1 wood wall to outside. I bought it at Newegg on one of their super discounts at $60. normally was $150. I bought it for the Gigabit connection, not the wireless portion But, wireless is best of all routers I owned so far.
Treepro...now that's what I'm looking for, it sounds fabulous. The belkin I have in my own house is much better than the router i got off my new internet provider so i'm not surprised your super dooper one is a belkin. thanks for that and the heads up on where to get although unfortunately i'm in ireland...hopefully will find one at a good price somewhere over here... the router is next to a filing cabinet so might try putting on top of it so that there's no deflection...
Hi again Treepro, had a look on Amazon, the reviews for your router are pretty bad and pretty good so totally mixed messages! had a look at another router by netgear that is a G model but with MIMO. here's the link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-Ran...UTF8&coliid=IJF3U05VC3BO6&colid=1AZZ6U4OPO38T any opinion?
I agree about the mixed reviews on the Belkin N1 Vision. When I got mine half was bad, half was good. At $150 I would not have bought it But, when NewEgg put it on sale for $60 I went for it. A lot of the problems was with the version 1 and now they are version 2 so, check date on the reviews. I saw complaints of having to reboot often, losing signal I can't remember what else But, I have used mine for appox. 6 months without any reboots and no lost signal. I wanted the Gigabit Ethernet to transfer movies on my network But, the complete router is great. Wireless signal is three times of any router I have owned, never dropped a wireless connection, has neat LCD display which tells you total download and upload speed, who is connected and their download speed they are using currently and usage in past 24 hours. The Netgear Rangemax WPN824 you linked to I have owned and it lost the wireless signal in the same room as the router was in. It finally lost all wireless, only wired connections worked But, I used it over a year. My Niece is using the wireless adapter(WPN111) from this Netgear router to connect to the Belkin. The Netgear WPN824 is only a G router. I prefer wired connections, when I first got the Belkin I set up a desktop wireless with a cheap wireless N adapter and had a wired next to it, after a while I forgot one was wireless But, the downloads was just as quick as the wired computer. Is it possible to get a wired connection from the shed to the house? You can run run Cat 5e up to 100 meters I believe and then make a second wireless network for the house. I bought direct burial cat 5e cable to run to my Nephew who lives appox. 200 feet from my router But, in metal sided mobile home. The Netgear did not reach inside, then I set up wireless inside for him. I haven't asked if the belkin wireless reaches inside. He does have a I phone 4 and picks up my router appox. 1000 feet from my house, that thing picks up a very weak signal. They do have signal boosters/repeaters and some routers can upgrade antennas (external antennas) to increase range. I don't like to recommend anything so, Please don't buy the Belkin because of me unless you can return it.I LOVE mine so far and would buy it again!I would not buy the Netgear Rangemax WPN824 again though. Do you have Walmart there? they sell the vision 1 and will take almost anything back. I would consider the wire to house to eliminate as much distance and obstacles as possible and then set up a second wireless router for house. Depending on reviews is kinda hard, I have bought some highly rated items and did not like them and vise versa. Good luck !
hi treepro, dont worry i wouldn't blame you if the router didn't suit my needs! i'm a seasoned afterdawner and appreciate all the advice that i get off the experts here. thanks for the really comprehensive reply. will look out for the pitfalls that you mentioned and persevere on the wireless side as the present linksys can reach into the house so a better range wireless router should be able to too. i will make sure that i can return said router however, just in case! cheers
