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10tipsforimprovingyourwirelessnetwork
Extendtherangeandthestrengthofyourwirelessnetwork
ByTonyNorthrup

IfWindowsevernotifiesyouaboutaweaksignal,itprobablymeansyourconnection isn'tasfastorasreliableasitcouldbe.Worse,youmightloseyourconnection entirelyinsomepartsofyourhome.Ifyou'relookingtoimprovethesignalforyour wirelessnetwork,trysomeofthesetipsforextendingyourwirelessrangeand improvingyourwirelessnetworkperformance. 1. Positionyourwirelessrouter(orwirelessaccesspoint)inacentral location. Whenpossible,placeyourwirelessrouterinacentrallocationinyourhome. Ifyourwirelessrouterisagainstanoutsidewallofyourhome,thesignalwill beweakontheothersideofyourhome.Don'tworryifyoucan'tmoveyour wirelessrouter,becausetherearemanyotherwaystoimproveyour connection.

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Movetherouteroffthefloorandawayfromwallsandmetal objects(suchasmetalfilecabinets). Metal,walls,andfloorswillinterferewithyourrouter'swirelesssignals.The closeryourrouteristotheseobstructions,themoreseveretheinterference, andtheweakeryourconnectionwillbe.

3.

Replaceyourrouter'santenna. Theantennassuppliedwithyourrouteraredesignedtobeomnidirectional, meaningtheybroadcastinalldirectionsaroundtherouter.Ifyourrouteris nearanoutsidewall,halfofthewirelesssignalswillbesentoutsideyour home,andmuchofyourrouter'spowerwillbewasted.Mostroutersdon't allowyoutoincreasethepoweroutput,butyoucanmakebetteruseofthe power.Upgradetoahigainantennathatfocusesthewirelesssignalsonly onedirection.Youcanaimthesignalinthedirectionyouneeditmost.

4.

Replaceyourcomputer'swirelessnetworkadapter. Wirelessnetworksignalsmustbesentbothtoandfromyourcomputer. Sometimes,yourroutercanbroadcaststronglyenoughtoreachyour computer,butyourcomputercan'tsendsignalsbacktoyourrouter.To improvethis,replaceyourlaptop'sPCcard basedwirelessnetworkadapter withaUSBnetworkadapter thatusesanexternalantenna.Inparticular, considertheHawkingHiGainWirelessUSBnetworkadapter,whichaddsan external,hi gainantennatoyourcomputerandcansignificantlyimprove yourrange. Laptopswithbuiltinwirelesstypicallyhaveexcellentantennasanddon't needtohavetheirnetworkadaptersupgraded.

5.

Addawirelessrepeater. Wirelessrepeatersextendyour wirelessnetworkrangewithout requiringyoutoaddanywiring. Justplacethewirelessrepeater halfwaybetweenyourwireless accesspointandyour computer,andyou'llgetan instantboosttoyourwireless signalstrength.Checkoutthe wirelessrepeatersfrom ViewSonic,DLink,Linksys,and BuffaloTechnology.

6.

Changeyourwirelesschannel. Wirelessrouterscanbroadcaston severaldifferentchannels,similarto thewayradiostationsusedifferent channels.IntheUnitedStatesand Canada,thesechannelsare1,6,and 11.Justlikeyou'llsometimeshear interferenceononeradiostationwhile anotherisperfectlyclear,sometimes onewirelesschannelisclearerthan others.Trychangingyourwirelessrouter'schannelthroughyourrouter's configurationpagetoseeifyoursignalstrengthimproves.Youdon'tneedto changeyourcomputer'sconfiguration,becauseit'llautomaticallydetectthe newchannel.

7.

Reducewirelessinterference. Ifyouhavecordlessphonesorotherwirelesselectronicsinyourhome,your computermightnotbeableto"hear"yourrouteroverthenoisefromthe otherwirelessdevices.Toquietthenoise,avoidwirelesselectronicsthatuse the2.4GHzfrequency.Instead,lookforcordlessphonesthatusethe5.8GHz or900MHzfrequencies.

8.

Updateyourfirmwareoryournetworkadapterdriver. Routermanufacturersregularlymakefreeimprovementstotheirrouters. Sometimes,theseimprovementsincreaseperformance.Togetthelatest firmwareupdatesforyourrouter,visityourroutermanufacturer'sWebsite. Similarly,networkadaptervendorsoccasionallyupdatethesoftwarethat WindowsXPusestocommunicatewithyournetworkadapter,knownasthe driver.Theseupdatestypicallyimproveperformanceandreliability.Toget theupdates,visitMicrosoftUpdate,andthenunder SelectbyType click Hardware,Optional .Installanyupdatesrelatingtoyourwirelessnetwork adapter.Itwouldn'thurttoinstallanyotherupdateswhileyou'revisiting MicrosoftUpdate,too. Note WhenyougotoMicrosoftUpdate,youhavetwooptions:theExpress InstallforcriticalandsecurityupdatesandCustomInstallforhighpriority andoptionalupdates.Youmayfindmoredriverupdateswhenyouuse CustomInstall.

9.

Pickequipmentfromasinglevendor. WhileaLinksysrouterwillworkwithaD Linknetworkadapter,youoftenget betterperformanceifyoupickarouterandnetworkadapterfromthesame vendor.Somevendorsofferaperformanceboostofuptotwicethe performancewhenyouchoosetheirhardware:Linksyshasthe SpeedBoostertechnology,andDLinkhasthe108Genhancement.

10.

Upgrade802.11bdevicesto802.11g. 802.11bisthemostcommontypeofwirelessnetwork,but802.11gisabout fivetimesfaster.802.11gisbackward compatiblewith802.11b,soyoucan stilluseany802.11bequipmentthatyouhave.Ifyou'reusing802.11band you'reunhappywiththeperformance,considerreplacingyourrouterand networkadapterswith802.11gcompatibleequipment.Ifyou'rebuyingnew equipment,definitelychoose802.11g. Wirelessnetworksneverreachthetheoreticalbandwidthlimits.802.11b networkstypicallyget25Mbps.802.11gisusuallyinthe13 23Mbpsrange. Belkin'sPre Nequipmenthasbeenmeasuredat3742Mbps.

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