Troublesome Wireless home network

[yannickwellens]

Dear network guru's,

I've been at this problem for weeks now and it's driving me insane.

I'm going to explain my situation and needs and I hope you can help me, because I've been torn in deciding witch router to get (they ALL seem to have something wrong with 'em).

Situation

Internet connection : VDSL2 (30/6), 23mbps download in reality
Wifi connections nearby (2.4Ghz): 7
Range from floor 1 to floor 3: +-10meters

Floor 1: VDSL modem(dhcp off) -> WRT54GL (dd-wrt,TX power 90)
(speedtest result: cable 23mbps, wireless 15-18 mbps)

----concrete ceiling with rebars-----

Floor 2: My laptop (connected to floor 1 wrt54GL), ps3 (same)
(speedtest result: cable N.A., wireless 15 Mbps

---conrete ceiling with rebars-----

Floor 3: PC/laptop -> WRT54GL(dd-wrt, tx power 90, client bridge)
(speedtest result: cable 10mbps, wireless N.A.)

Testing with SSIDer

Networkcard: 6200AGN (dell studio)
Tested signals comming from my 2 WRT54GL routers (stock antennas)

From second to first floor (respectively laptop to WRT54GL 'main'): -50 dbm (RSSI)

From second to third floor (respectively laptop to WRT54GL client bridge): -52 dbm (RSSI)

From third to third floor (respectively laptop to WRT54GL client bridge): -30 dbm (RSSI)

From third to first floor (respectively laptop to WRT54GL 'main'): -70dbm (with jumps to 60 irregularly) (RSSI)

As you can see, this setup is FAR from ideal and we would like to change this so we can take advantage of that incoming internet connection throughout the house(powerlan is not an option,3 floors are on 3 different circuits).

So in short my needs:

1. 23mbps wan->lan throughout the house (wireless)
2. If we need 2 routers to accomplish this, a client bridge has to work flawlessly

Now I've done A LOT of investigating and I came up with 2 routers that could maybe handle the job without needing to setup a client bridge:

Linksys E4200
Asus RT-N56U

What I was thinking here is to put up one of these routers in 2.4Ghz 40Mhz (our wireless cards support it);maybe try 5ghz 40mhz, getting a pci-e wireless adapter for the desktop and forgetting about the bridge all together.

Is there any advice that you could give me given the info above?

Best regards,
A desperate wifi user

P.S.: My apologies if I made any grammar/spelling errors, because English is not my mother tongue.

 

[stevech]

Read the postings here with similar complaints, where the responses tell people to add access points (APs), and these can be re-purposed common wifi routers, and APs connect to the real Router via cat5 wires or HPNA adapter-pairs (LAN over power wiring), or MoCA (LAN over TV coax already in walls), or some combination thereof. You'll likely not cover all those floors/rooms with one WiFi router.

 

[yannickwellens]

We cannot run UTP cables through the walls anymore, and powerline won't work in our situation.

It's the first time I've heared about MoCa though, I'm not sure if I can find the equipment in Belgium and if I can, not sure if it'll work here.

Thanks for the help

 

[yannickwellens]

Alright, so, a little update.

What won't work in our house:

Moca (we are using coax amplifiers, moca doesn't work with those and even then we have a complex coax situation here)

Another AP (can't run the cables through the walls)

Powerline (all different circuits)

What I'm planning on getting:

E4200 + wireless card for the deskto

2x RT-N56U in client bridge (one downstairs, one upstairs)


Could you advise me on the best solution here?

 

[Mangusta1969]

Both Engenius and Ubiquiti make higher power/longer range wireless access points/routers that should work much better for you than the E4200 wireless router you are thinking of using. Because of your reinforced concrete construction, you may still have problems, even with higher powered and more sensitive wireless devices.

Take a look at this thread for some more details and comments:

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=5207


I am not clear on which floor has your existing wired internet/DSL source, since you show cabled test results for both floors 1 and 3. Good luck and please report back what you end up using to work in your situation.

 

[yannickwellens]

Both Engenius and Ubiquiti make higher power/longer range wireless access points/routers that should work much better for you than the E4200 wireless router you are thinking of using. Because of your reinforced concrete construction, you may still have problems, even with higher powered and more sensitive wireless devices.

Take a look at this thread for some more details and comments:

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=5207


I am not clear on which floor has your existing wired internet/DSL source, since you show cabled test results for both floors 1 and 3. Good luck and please report back what you end up using to work in your situation.

FLoor 3 cable test are to the wireless bridge. Is such a high power device a good idea in a residential area?

*EDIT*
So if I get this straight, I should buy the POWERAP-N - Ubiquiti PowerAP N Long Range Wireless-N Router 300Mbps

 

[Mangusta1969]

FLoor 3 cable test are to the wireless bridge. Is such a high power device a good idea in a residential area?

The PowerAP N has a power output control slider as part of its software; you could dial the power down as needed to just cover your three floors.

*EDIT*
So if I get this straight, I should buy the Ubiquiti PowerAP N, connect it to my wrt54GL at the bottem floor and then just enjoy wireless throughout the house?

I am not a wireless network guru, but I think that is all you would need for your setup. Again, your reinforced concrete construction will degrade your wireless signal quality, especially for the top floor location since two concrete floors must be penetrated.

*EDIT2*
Alright, why haven't I foudn this before. My next plan is to buy two Ubiquiti airRouter (50 bucks each, cheap as hell). This almost seems to good to be true, is it?

I think I would try a single PowerAP N (appx $95) first and see if that would cover your needs. I have seen only positive internet feedback on this unit, while I have seen some range/distance complaints on the much lower power AirRouters.

The Engenius ECB-3500 is also highly regarded, although it is a little lower in transmit power than the PowerAP N; it seems to have similar receive sensitivity; you may want to try that as a high power access point connected to your existing equipment. I am going to check the following supplier tomorrow and see what they recommend for my difficult to cover situation, as I am tired of my "mostly acceptable" E4200 coverage for my large property:

http://www.wirelessnetworkproducts.com

 

[yannickwellens]

The PowerAP N has a power output control slider as part of its software; you could dial the power down as needed to just cover your three floors.



I am not a wireless network guru, but I think that is all you would need for your setup. Again, your reinforced concrete construction will degrade your wireless signal quality, especially for the top floor location since two concrete floors must be penetrated.



I think I would try a single PowerAP N (appx $95) first and see if that would cover your needs. I have seen only positive internet feedback on this unit, while I have seen some range/distance complaints on the much lower power AirRouters.

The Engenius ECB-3500 is also highly regarded, although it is a little lower in transmit power than the PowerAP N; it seems to have similar receive sensitivity; you may want to try that as a high power access point connected to your existing equipment. I am going to check the following supplier tomorrow and see what they recommend for my difficult to cover situation, as I am tired of my "mostly acceptable" E4200 coverage for my large property:

http://www.wirelessnetworkproducts.com

I'm very sry about the edits, halfway through I noticed that I made a mistake. I didn't know the PowerAP N was also a router, so yeah, I'm gonna buy one of these and go from that.

Thank you very much for helping, I think this is finally going to solve the problem .

 

[Mangusta1969]

Experiments in longer range WiFi

I hope this works for you.

Please be sure to post your results (throughput speeds and distances/walls/floors) back to the forum. Tomorrow, I am going to purchase either an ECB-3500 or a PowerAP N after I talk to the guys at Wireless Network Products and I will post my performance results, too.

 

[stevech]

Be sure to remember that a strong transmitted signal from the WiFi access point or router has no affect on or improvement for a weak signal FROM the client device (PC, etc). Higher gain antennas benefit bi-directionally, but not so more transmitter power on just the AP/router.

WiFi is two-way.