mathew Posted September 3, 2006 Share Posted September 3, 2006 im currently with orange and all is fine except for one thing. the pc is in the living room and the 2 laptops running off this connection can pick it up all around the house except the attic, which just happens to be my bedroon. ive contacted orange about this and they said the only way to overcome this is to buy one of their plug in things for the laptop which will cancel out my wi fi connection and give a stronger signal pick up. they want £85 for this thing!! is there any other way i can pick a signal up in the attic??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted September 3, 2006 Share Posted September 3, 2006 perhaps you could get either: a repeater to boost the signal and extend the range OR get another wireless access point and run it as a repeater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathew Posted September 3, 2006 Author Share Posted September 3, 2006 cool, so could this repeater thing be purchased in somewhere like pc world?? does it have to be a specific one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 3, 2006 Share Posted September 3, 2006 Yep. From when I looked they're fairly expensive though. About £85. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 Not always the case, some of the cheaper access points can be configured into "repeater" mode. Not sure if it works across platforms though guess it would depend on whether its part of the 802.11 standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathew Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 got myself one of those repeater things today but as the assistant said to me it not might work with my wireless connection. so would it be possible for me to replace my router that wanadoo supplied and use the one i purchased today (belkin) instead of it as this one is more powerful??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wez_p Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 absolutely, you'll just need to configure your new router with the connection settings that the Wanadoo one is configured with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 got myself one of those repeater things today but as the assistant said to me it not might work with my wireless connection. why wont it work? surely if you are running it all as 802.11b or g (= standard protocols) then it will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edd_t Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 you havnt got a lead lined ceiling have you? can you get an extension aerial for the laptop in your room? (obviously depends on which laptop you have) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathew Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 it says that all internet connection security needs to be switched off so something must still be left which iv missed. its a packard bell laptop if thats any use. im not to clued up about all this sorta stuff. wanadoo offered an extension thing for the laptop at a cost of £85 but because 3 laptops are running at home a stronger signal would be the easiest and cheapest option. il give wanadoo a ring tomorrow and question why the signal is soooooooo crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 the number of laptops has no bearing on the signal strength. to me this purely sounds like a distance OR like said earlier thick walls, lead walls, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Err, not so correct either. Wireless is a shared medium, the more kit on it the less bandwidth is available. With regards to the 802.11 standard i am not sure if repeater mode is part of that standard or more of a proprietary thing. For the people i support on home based installs i used to use Ozenda devices, they are a break away company from 3Com. But i have now also used Linksys and i have to say the wireless signal is so much stronger that i doubt i will install anything other than this from now on. Plus Linksys is part of Cisco and they dont come much better than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRalphMan Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 MaveriK, But he cannot even connect to the wireless in his attic room. Don't like the sound of the repeater if you have to turn off all security. Can you stick an external ariel on the router or move it to middle floor of the house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Ralphy, Wasnt really answering he query, just correcting Imi. Turning wireless security off is not a good thing, please dont do it. Put the Belkin unit in place of the original device. Get all setup as it was before, once you have a wireless connection walk around the house and see how far your signal extends. If it doesnt get into the areas you need it you will have to tweak the channel incase there is interference or get another unit and configure it as a repeater. Place the repeater unit at the furthest point away from the original unit but still within a strong signal radius. You will have to link the units using the MAC address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Ralphy, Wasnt really answering he query, just correcting Imi. Turning wireless security off is not a good thing, please dont do it. Really now, perhaps you should read my post again....this time with care. Not sure why you need to switch off security in repeater mode...what security is available anyway, TKIP, MIC, WEP, WPA. MAC address, PEAP ??? Err, not so correct either. Wireless is a shared medium, the more kit on it the less bandwidth is available. With regards to the 802.11 standard i am not sure if repeater mode is part of that standard or more of a proprietary thing. What does that have to do with the distance which is what I was replying back to? Smarty pants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRalphMan Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Oops... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 the number of laptops has no bearing on the signal strength :sly: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 And i wear boxers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Err, not so correct either. Wireless is a shared medium, the more kit on it the less bandwidth is available. Yeah, thats elementary wireless knowledge, what does that have to do with? the number of laptops has no bearing on the signal strength. to me this purely sounds like a distance OR like said earlier thick walls, lead walls, etc. He seems to be having a signal strength issue, probably due to thick walls, distance, etc...nothing really to do with the lack of bandwidth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 matlee, i would try the below, i am sure IMI will try and correct it as he obviously wrote 802.11C (C for condescending) Put the Belkin unit in place of the original device. Get all setup as it was before, once you have a wireless connection walk around the house and see how far your signal extends. If it doesnt get into the areas you need it you will have to tweak the channel incase there is interference or get another unit and configure it as a repeater. Place the repeater unit at the furthest point away from the original unit but still within a strong signal radius. You will have to link the units using the MAC address. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Put the Belkin unit in place of the original device. Get all setup as it was before, once you have a wireless connection walk around the house and see how far your signal extends. If it doesnt get into the areas you need it you will have to tweak the channel incase there is interference or get another unit and configure it as a repeater. Place the repeater unit at the furthest point away from the original unit but still within a strong signal radius. You will have to link the units using the MAC address. Good luck! BELKIN- Thats rubbish - Linksys all the way (I have targets to meet) Sound advice there Maverik - although that has NOTHING to do with the BANDWIDTH ISSUE that you highlighted. Perhaps youve changed your mind BTW: 802.11C is the standard for bridging - not condecending - I have a proprietary protocol for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathew Posted September 5, 2006 Author Share Posted September 5, 2006 right guys youre just confusing me now lol i switched off the security before reading th eposts the range extended then succesfully picked up the signal but as the security is now back on it doesnt wanna play ball!!! the unit that i got with my package from wanadoo is inventel,is this any good? just to prove how crap i am with computers and such iv just realised that my mouse i bought yesterday for my laptop turns out to be for a PS2!!!!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Just a thought have you got, or are you thinking of a mobile contract? i was/am with Wanado/Orange and i found that if i took out an Orange mobile contract for £30 or over you get the broadband connection for free plus a wireless box, so worth considering, also get 300 + 200mins and 1,000 texts with the phone;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BASHTHEBISHOP Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Just a word of warning if you decide to go the repeater route that the bandwith coming out of the repeater will be half or less of the original wireless access point i.e if it was 54mbps you will get about 20mbps via the repeater. Best to set up an identical access point than a repeater. You may also find success with your current setup if u drop the frequency. Its probably set to 11ghz - so change it to 5.5. I would also consider a 10metre(or whats required) length of CAT 5 cable and run it upto your bedroom from the main PC if pos. will be best signal without any niggling wireless issues and the cheapest option. Just if you can find a way of routing the cable easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wez_p Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 right guys youre just confusing me now lol i switched off the security before reading th eposts the range extended then succesfully picked up the signal but as the security is now back on it doesnt wanna play ball!!! the unit that i got with my package from wanadoo is inventel,is this any good? just to prove how crap i am with computers and such iv just realised that my mouse i bought yesterday for my laptop turns out to be for a PS2!!!!! LOL 2 things: if you are turning wireless security on, this could be via using a 'WEP key' that is being used & therefore any device that wants to connect will need to know that WEP key the 'PS2' mouse that you bought is more than likely a 'PS2' connector as opposed to a PS2 games console mouse, which is an older style mouse connection on PCs, they're normally a 'USB' connection now, however, mice also quite often come with an adaptor that lets you plug a PS2 (the PC port not the games console) not connection mouse into a USB port finally: step away from the computer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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