10 Tips For Improving Your Wireless Network

[Saint_Michael 3]

So you want to improve your wireless network either in your home or place of business well Microsoft thought it would help out and provide us with 10 tips on how to improve that lackluster network to uber speeds, well at least to making sure all the computers can receive a stronger signal regardless where the computer is at in the raidus of the wifi signal.

 

1. Position your wireless router (or wireless access point) in a central location.

 

When possible, place your wireless router in a central location in your home. If your wireless router is against an outside wall of your home, the signal will be weak on the other side of your home. Don't worry if you can't move your wireless router, because there are many other ways to improve your connection.

 

 

2. Move the router off the floor and away from walls and metal objects (such as metal file cabinets).

 

Metal, walls, and floors will interfere with your router's wireless signals. The closer your router is to these obstructions, the more severe the interference, and the weaker your connection will be.

 

3. Replace your router's antenna.

 

The antennas supplied with your router are designed to be omni-directional, meaning they broadcast in all directions around the router. If your router is near an outside wall, half of the wireless signals will be sent outside your home, and much of your router's power will be wasted. Most routers don't allow you to increase the power output, but you can make better use of the power. Upgrade to a hi-gain antenna that focuses the wireless signals only one direction. You can aim the signal in the direction you need it most.

 

 

4. Replace your computer's wireless network adapter.

 

Wireless network signals must be sent both to and from your computer. Sometimes, your router can broadcast strongly enough to reach your computer, but your computer can't send signals back to your router. To improve this, replace your laptop's PC card-based wireless network adapter with a USB network adapter that uses an external antenna. In particular, consider the Hawking Hi-Gain Wireless USB network adapter, which adds an external, hi-gain antenna to your computer and can significantly improve your range.

 

Laptops with built-in wireless typically have excellent antennas and don't need to have their network adapters upgraded.

 

5. Add a wireless repeater.

 

Wireless repeaters extend your wireless network range without requiring you to add any wiring. Just place the wireless repeater halfway between your wireless access point and your computer, and you'll get an instant boost to your wireless signal strength. Check out the wireless repeaters from ViewSonic, D-Link, Linksys, and Buffalo Technology.

 

 

6. Change your wireless channel.

Wireless routers can broadcast on several different channels, similar to the way radio stations use different channels. In the United States and Canada, these channels are 1, 6, and 11. Just like you'll sometimes hear interference on one radio station while another is perfectly clear, sometimes one wireless channel is clearer than others. Try changing your wireless router's channel through your router's configuration page to see if your signal strength improves. You don't need to change your computer's configuration, because it'll automatically detect the new channel.

 

 

7. Reduce wireless interference.

 

If you have cordless phones or other wireless electronics in your home, your computer might not be able to "hear" your router over the noise from the other wireless devices. To quiet the noise, avoid wireless electronics that use the 2.4GHz frequency. Instead, look for cordless phones that use the 5.8GHz or 900MHz frequencies.

 

8. Update your firmware or your network adapter driver.

 

Router manufacturers regularly make free improvements to their routers. Sometimes, these improvements increase performance. To get the latest firmware updates for your router, visit your router manufacturer's Web site.

 

Similarly, network adapter vendors occasionally update the software that Windows XP uses to communicate with your network adapter, known as the driver. These updates typically improve performance and reliability. To get the updates, visit Microsoft Update, and then under Select by Type click Hardware, Optional. Install any updates relating to your wireless network adapter. It wouldn't hurt to install any other updates while you're visiting Microsoft Update, too.

 

Note When you go to Microsoft Update, you have two options: the Express Install for critical and security updates and Custom Install for high priority and optional updates. You may find more driver updates when you use Custom Install.

 

9. Pick equipment from a single vendor.

 

While a Linksys router will work with a D-Link network adapter, you often get better performance if you pick a router and network adapter from the same vendor. Some vendors offer a performance boost of up to twice the performance when you choose their hardware: Linksys has the SpeedBooster technology, and D-Link has the 108G enhancement.

 

10. Upgrade 802.11b devices to 802.11g.

 

802.11b is the most common type of wireless network, but 802.11g is about five times faster. 802.11g is backward-compatible with 802.11b, so you can still use any 802.11b equipment that you have. If you're using 802.11b and you're unhappy with the performance, consider replacing your router and network adapters with 802.11g-compatible equipment. If you're buying new equipment, definitely choose 802.11g.

 

Wireless networks never reach the theoretical bandwidth limits. 802.11b networks typically get 2-5Mbps. 802.11g is usually in the 13-23Mbps range. Belkin's Pre-N equipment has been measured at 37-42Mbps.

Source

 

Here

[tatati 0]

the USB bluetooth dongle is a source of interference in the 2.4GHz channel, no matter wich channel you use for your wireless access point (item #6) the bluetooth dongle will sweep trhough all frequencies looking for bluetooth devices, this is called Frequency Hop Spread Spectrum. In a given time slot you might have the bluetooth trying to negotiate on the same frequency band as the access point operates, and since wifi listens for the busy medium before it transmit, you might disasociate from the AP.

[longtimeago 0]

Adding on to the above valuable tips i need to bring to notice to all admins/home users who use a wifi device, there is yet another important factor to be noted when you set up a wireless network.When ever you set up a wireless network you should make sure that it is not accessed by any one else illegally.First of all if some one else is going to access your wireless network illegally you are gonna loose the speed in your network more over there is going to be a security risk also.If the other person does some activity which can break the cyberlaws and cause some problem it is you( the one who is actually supposed to use the wireless network) who is going to be in problem.So in order to make your wireless network secure the primary step one has to do is that create a wep password, that is the password which is use to access any wireless network by a 3rd party.So with this password your wireless network is safe upto a certain extent (only) .Now if you have your friend in the room with his laptop, you can share this password which will enable him/her to use the connection.Now the big question over here is that is this password safe??? or can any one hack this password ??The answer is so simple, this password is not safe unless you take an extra step,Now let me explain to you the vulnerabilities in this area there the password can get hacked,yes it can , usually the ADSL router which are supplied to home use the default user name admin and the default password admin.If this password is not changed then your wep password is unsecure.Let's have a closer look at this.Lets say you have a wireless network , and the wifi device is connected through a wired network,if some one else who is in you wired network comes to know your IP he/she can easily connect to the router using the default username and the password and can login to your router,now once he is login he can view the wep key just by selecting the password and by giving view source.Or he can also change the WEP key, So all of you have to learn 2 things here , keep a secure wifi password change your default router password and your wireless network is safe to a higher extent , you can save your bandwidth from getting stolen , and can avoid all kinds of misuse of your network by a third party.

[Xalor 0]

Thats pretty good for help, but sometimes its the router itself. I have a Motorola Router and it hasn't worked properly from the day it was opened. Its cheap, and inefficient, and while now Verizon packages their own router, for FIOS, the old DSL people get left behind in the times. I supposedly have a speed up to 5mbs, but I get a max of 49kbs, it has never went over 50, even over the best connections, when I am directly infront of the router. Even my wired connection doesn't work well. The modem may be bad, but I did have a Linksys router for a while, when my Uncle came, but now that he took it back, its slow again. I guess I'm going to try what you did, but thats not always helping me. The best thing to do, though for increasing signals is to get a better router. Its not the DIY sort of thing, but it does seem to work for some people who get the free routers, during Black Friday. Oh and on securing, its best to enable MAC/ Physical Address setting on Routers. This only allow certain Addresses to be accessed by the router, and vice-versa. So only my two computers are allowed on the network. Just get the phsycial address on run, cmd, ipconfig/all and look for the phsyical address of your wireless card on a laptop, and for a desktop, search for the regular MAC Adress.

[proskiier23 0]

real good guide, thanks man im gonna hafta do some of that to make it span my whole house

[Diffusr 0]

Nice tips.I will now expound upon your mention of 802.11 networks.In the TCP/IP protocol stack, wireless architecture resides at the Network Access Layer which is the provision of an interface with the physical network.The components of the wireless protocols are equivalent to standard wired protocols in the OSI and TCP/IP models. The 802.11 standard is frequently referred to as wireless Ethernet because of how similar it is to the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard.In the OSI networking model, 802.11 specification occupies the MAC sublayer of the Data Link Layer of the OSI stack which sits just above the physical layer.The physical layer provides options for different wireless broadcast formats including:Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS), Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and High Rate Direct Sequence Multiplexing (HR/DSSS).

[rpgsearcherz 5]

This is some pretty solid information. I had no idea there were wireless extenders or that the antannae can be upgraded to make them more efficient.I've been dealing with signal weakness for quite a while but couldn't figure out what it was. Even with our router set up and only two rooms away from mine (going through one wall) I've lost signals every hour or so and had major slow-downs otherwise.I'm definitely going to check out these things and see if they help, .Thanks!

[makemoneyonline10 0]

Thanks good tips.

[karenna 0]

Very useful tips! Thank you very much! I've always been searching information about WiFi sharing. And this post ,I have got to say, it has inspired me a lot.