Wireless router questions

PittSpeed Automotive PittSpeed Off Topic
1

Got a good deal on a Motorola wireless router so the wife can use her laptop where she wants.

Finally figured out it wouldn’t connect because the signal was too weak from the basement (where the cable modem is). :mad: So I hooked up the old hard wired router in the basement, then hooked the wireless router to one of the lines upstairs. I assume that’s okay to do?

I now get a strong signal (54 Mbps) on the desktop since the router is right next to it. Her laptop in the kitchen is a low signal (11 Mbps).

  1. Is that normal for only being about 20 yards away with just a few drywall walls between?

  2. Does the low signal speed have any significant effect on anything?

  3. Should I setup a password to connect to the network or is it secure how it is?

Thanks!

2

The signal will degrade, depending on how many walls are between the wireless router and the notebook

You will only see a real effect of low signal speed when transferring files, web surfing should be fine

Yes I would def at least enable WEP protection on the router

My question to you:
What kind of wireless card does she have in her notebook? or is it integrated?

3

yeah… i get strong signal for about 50 feet at work and thats’ with an extender :doh:

check out the belkin or linksys extenders… they shouldn’t be too expensive and will help cover the entire house.

at least 64bit WEP

4

Gotcha. I’ll enable it, read through the manual, play with a bunch of settings, then ask you guys what I did wrong. :slight_smile:

5

WEP = useless
WPA with PSK = way way way better

Remember that wireless has to send/receive the same signal strength, so if your notebook has a crappy receiver then you are at the weakest link which might not be your wireless AP.

My Suggestion: Linksys WRT54GS $79
Firmware Addition: http://www.sveasoft.com

This will allow you to adjust the radio transmitter power which will help if you are having problems with range and it’s the AP not your card.

6

Woohoo got the protection working!

I :love: not going to work.

7

I didn’t see what IEEE standard the router and the card are. If your router is 802.11G and your card is 802.11B then it will work but your cut down to 11mbps right off the bat…Like I can go down 3 floors and across to the other corner of the house and still have a faster connection than 11mbps, but again thats using both wirless G nodes.

8

WEP != protection

Make sure the firmware is up to date on your router and you should use WPA at the least. Your wife will have to run WinXP SP2 though for WPA accessibility. Then you can enable SSID broadcast as well again to make it easy to configure.

9

i just suggested the WEP so that he wouldnt leave his connection WIDE OPEN

most people have a tough time configuring WPA, so thats why i suggested it

10

man, you guys are nerds. :rofl:

11

I had done the WPA-PSK with TKIP encryption, whatever that all means.

12

It means you have done good :slight_smile:

just long as you didn’t set the SSID and the password the same :slight_smile:

13

Hahaha,

Well at least he’s not as bad as I am, I’m actually cross compiling apps now for the router and working on turning it into a mini webserver…

Do you want to see under the hood of my router hehe:

BCM4712
BCM2050 802.11b/g radio transceiver

  • 32 MB RAM/8 MB flash
  • integrates BCM4702 and BCM4306 into one chip
  • 200 MHz MIPS processor
  • integrated on chip USB (not available on the WRT54GS)
  • integrated on chip Ethernet
  • Afterburner/Speedbooster for wireless speeds up to a claimed 125 Mb/s

The GS looks identical to the V2.0 model

14

yeah… i only said wep so that he could have the lowest level of security… i mean, if he can’t even get signal in his kitchen, i don’t think haxkzor2 are outside waiting to compromise his files :kekegay:

15

Hmm…

With the right antenna and a little war driving you would be suprised to see what you could find…