How to improve range?

[armand]

I have the Asus RC-AC66U router (with 374.41 merlin firmware) and several wireless n and ac clients with . I don't have a big house yet it has an annoying area with bad reception. Moving the router is not very practical, neither is using some repeater technology.

How can I get better reception? The annoying thing is I can see other more powerful networks in my home upto -25 (!)dBm, where my router only reaches -50 - -60dBm. My router has to be closer by than any other other router and the signal only needs to travel in inner walls not 2 outer walls.

Does anyone have any suggestions for settings or other suggestions for better reception?

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
You can't move the router to sweet spot to improve situation, next alternative is impractical, then I am afraid you 'are stuck as is. My general rule of router location is
central and higher in your residence. If 2 story, on the upstairs. You might play with router/antenna orientation to make difference somewhat. You won't know the result until you try this. Router is one part of equation, the other part is client WiFi adapter
card.

 

[armand]

But how the hell this one router manages -25dBm in my house, a 1000 times more powerful than my networ and I have no idea where this router is, it must be much much farther away than my own. Is there no way to go beyond the 100 mW tx power?

 

[admiral2145]

Go on amazon and get some 9db antennas... I've seen some for 20 bucks

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[TonyH]

But how the hell this one router manages -25dBm in my house, a 1000 times more powerful than my networ and I have no idea where this router is, it must be much much farther away than my own. Is there no way to go beyond the 100 mW tx power?

Hi,
inSSIDer will show what brand router is putting out such high TX power. I can only get that kinda signal level if my laptop is 3 meters from the router.

 

[chamberc]

Go on amazon and get some 9db antennas... I've seen some for 20 bucks

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Be careful, most don't support dual band EVEN if they say they do.

 

[connorm]

But how the hell this one router manages -25dBm in my house, a 1000 times more powerful than my networ and I have no idea where this router is, it must be much much farther away than my own. Is there no way to go beyond the 100 mW tx power?

$10 would say ur seeing this with inssider

i have seen the program report the same thing,

1 signal that shows -25 and appears to me stronger then mine, however it is inconsistent when it happens, its essentially a false reading.

i have seen the exact same situation u speak of and i also have rt-ac66u

whichever shows -25 is a misreading.

personally i found to get the biggest range improvement from moving to tomato shibby 1.28 (117 build) for rt-ac66u

 

[armand]

indeed, I see this with inssider but with wifi analzer on android I also see some really powerful networks

would these be any good 12dBi antenna:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-12dBi-RP-...osters_Extenders_Antennas&hash=item1e860a2679

 

[RogerSC]

You might consider a wired wireless Access Point for your bad area...if you can't get an ethernet cable there, MoCA or powerline networking might work for you to connect a wireless AP. If you're not acquainted with the idea of an AP, you hook it via an ethernet cable (or a substitute for that) to your main router. Your main router provides routing and DHCP functions, the AP just provides wireless access. Of course, the speed that your wireless AP can run at is set by the speed of the connection between your main router and the AP...an ethernet cable will be the fastest connection, and MoCA and powerline networking slower than that.

Just a thought...improving your antennas is difficult, just because they are listed as having gain doesn't mean that they'll work well with your router. Feel free to try, that might work for you. On the other hand a wireless AP will work, it's a common solution to wireless coverage problems.

 

[armand]

You might consider a wired wireless Access Point for your bad area...if you can't get an ethernet cable there, MoCA or powerline networking might work for you to connect a wireless AP. If you're not acquainted with the idea of an AP, you hook it via an ethernet cable (or a substitute for that) to your main router. Your main router provides routing and DHCP functions, the AP just provides wireless access. Of course, the speed that your wireless AP can run at is set by the speed of the connection between your main router and the AP...an ethernet cable will be the fastest connection, and MoCA and powerline networking slower than that.

Just a thought...improving your antennas is difficult, just because they are listed as having gain doesn't mean that they'll work well with your router. Feel free to try, that might work for you. On the other hand a wireless AP will work, it's a common solution to wireless coverage problems.

I don't want wires, I don't think powerline will work (the router gets its power from another apartment)

 

[icece]

Please provide a inSSIDer screen shot.

 

[armand]

Here from wifi analyzer but inssider also sees this very powerful unnamed network, arhu is mine (it gets higher too though than you can see here)

 

[ikoul]

Try another channel, like 11. You don't want to have another network that's more powerful than yours on the same channel drowning out your signal.

Also, if you take a look at inSSIDer you'll see a number of "co-channel" and "overlapping" networks. You want to minimize both of these, but especially overlapping. If you're in a situation where you have to have one more co-channel network to have one less overlapping, it usually works out better to have the co-channel one.

 

[dlandiss]

Here from wifi analyzer but inssider also sees this very powerful unnamed network

That "unnamed" network is named "GOGOGADGET_EXT" and is a Netgear router.

One way you can find it is to approach your apartment from various directions, while watching the signal strength on inSSIDer, and zero in on the the strongest area. You could also start INSIDE your apartment and check the signal strength from all sides and corners. With a signal that strong it must be within a few feet.

 

[armand]

That "unnamed" network is named "GOGOGADGET_EXT" and is a Netgear router.

One way you can find it is to approach your apartment from various directions, while watching the signal strength on inSSIDer, and zero in on the the strongest area. You could also start INSIDE your apartment and check the signal strength from all sides and corners. With a signal that strong it must be within a few feet.

They are different networks, it erratically shows up as a very strong one (along with WWL2) on both my phone and laptop, the unnamed network is always there and strong

 

[armand]

I bought tp-link antennas but reception didn't really improve (nor deteriorate) anyway, in the wireless menu it says power output is limit to region regulations, how do I find out my real transmit power and is there anyway to circumvent regional regulations?

 

[dlandiss]

They are different networks, it erratically shows up as a very strong one (along with WWL2) on both my phone and laptop, the unnamed network is always there and strong

In the image you posted the only network stronger than ArHu is GOGOGADGET_EXT. There are no unnamed networks in your screen clip.

The lack of a name in the cell phone clip does not mean it has none -- look at the real computer image you also posted. If the "unnamed network is always there and strong" where is it on the laptop clip?

--Dan in St. Louis

 

[armand]

In the image you posted the only network stronger than ArHu is GOGOGADGET_EXT. There are no unnamed networks in your screen clip.

The lack of a name in the cell phone clip does not mean it has none -- look at the real computer image you also posted. If the "unnamed network is always there and strong" where is it on the laptop clip?

--Dan in St. Louis

eg here it is in inssider too in yellow

 

[dlandiss]

eg here it is in inssider too in yellow

I think you have been looking at two or more possibly different unknowns.

1) The first clip you posted, of your cell phone 2014-04-28 13.14.02.jpg, shows an unknown in green on Channel 3. The strength is about -43dBm, pretty strong but not unusual. That's about what I see from my main router if I am 20 feet away with no walls in between.

2) The second clip you posted, from your laptop 04-28-2014 8:25 am, shows nothing on Channel 3. The is a very strong signal named GOGOGADGET_EXT using the MAC address 84:1B:5E:49:EE:52 on Channel 6 at -25dBm. That MAC address is registered to Netgear. The strength is unusually high -- I don't see that much signal even if I hold my cell phone right against the main router's case.

3) The third clip you posted, from your laptop 05-03-2014 11:14 am, displays the MAC address 84:9C:A6:BE:B3: D4 in yellow with no name on Channel 3. That MAC address is registered to Arcadyan Technology in Taiwan. The strength is -61dBm, not terribly strong. That's about what I see from my my main router if I am 30 feet away with three reinforced plaster walls in between.

If the "unknown" continues, capture its MAC address and try to get closer to its physical location by moving around your apartment. If you can find a location where its strength is above -40dBm (that is, closer to 0dBm) then you are closer to discovering it. Be patient with this exercise, radio waves reflect from conducting surfaces so you will find many "false alarms."

--Dan in St. Louis

 

[Flying Dutchman]

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=116935&postcount=10