Any networking/wifi gurus out there?

If so, I need some help.....
I need to improve/extend my wifi signal strength/range.

I have a moto surfboard SBG6580 router, it's located in the basement towards the front of our house.....it works pretty well, I get our "advertised" speeds (15M down/2M up) when connected to wifi and I'm in the basement and on most of the first floor. And I get ok speeds (between 3-6M down/1.5-2M up) on the second floor and in the front & side yards.
But on the back deck, in the backyard, or in the (detached) garage I'm getting dial up speeds at best. (0.6 M up & 0.5 M down tops)

I've ran a number of SSID tools/network analyzer programs, and have spent hours configuring the gateway settings to get the "best" signal. I think I've exhausted my options.....but the signal is still not "good enough"

I want to get a stronger/better signal so I can use my ipad out in the garage (especially for Vherf).....

I know the wifi signal degrades the further away you get, but is there anything else I can try? I cannot move the router....
But I do I have an old netgear wgr614 router that's not being used, could I set that up as a repeater?
Or is there any other hardware I could get that would help extend the signal??

Thanks in advance for any help/tips.

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0patience

Netgear extender
TP-LINK booster

Some extenders go to sleep after several hours of inactivity, so you might have to reset them in the morning and when you come home from work.

jgibv

Hmm that 1st one looks promising. That's fine if it needs reset, I'd probably turn it off to save energy anyways and only boot it up when needed. Thanks, going to pursue this further....

blutattoo

0patience:
Netgear extender
TP-LINK booster

Some extenders go to sleep after several hours of inactivity, so you might have to reset them in the morning and when you come home from work.

+1 on this. I have a Netgear extender for the backyard manshack and it works great. Went from dial up to nearly the same as inside. Now I can stream video without any issues. Cost was about $75.

jgibv

blutattoo:
0patience:
Netgear extender
TP-LINK booster

Some extenders go to sleep after several hours of inactivity, so you might have to reset them in the morning and when you come home from work.
+1 on this. I have a Netgear extender for the backyard manshack and it works great. Went from dial up to nearly the same as inside. Now I can stream video without any issues. Cost was about $75.

Good to hear your positive experience with it. How far away is your netgear extender from the "existing router"?

honorknight7

what has been posted is a good idea - "wifi boosters"
If you have the ability you should connect a cat5e Ethernet cable into your router and run it to a good (middle area of the house or farther to the back) {you can run Ethernet cable up to 100 meters} and plug in a Wireless Access Point (somewhere up towards the ceiling on an inside wall) , with a omni directional antenna for a surround signal, or use directional antennas to direct the signal if needed - that way you get a direct line from a router so no data loss/degradation and overall coverage of a WiFi, if you decide to use a separate WiFi "WAP" as well as wireless from the original routers WiFi together, just make sure to keep them the same SSID (to keep it simple to connect from anywhere without having to connect again in different parts of the house) but use different channels, (1)-(6)- or (11) that way they don't overlap and cause trouble with the signals.

EDIT
don't buy the "cheap" cat 5/e cable from eBay/amazon that comes from china etc..., it really is crap, they don't have to adhere to the same standards, and it is crap (speak from much experience with a school that did that many times to save $ only to have to re buy the good stuff) get it from Lowe's/Home depot/Best buy etc

blutattoo

50 ft maybe more, although it has to go through three solid walls before it gets to the extender. They are on opposite corners of a 1800 sq ft house. My throughput is very similar to what is put out by my first router. It drops from 15mbps to 10-12mbps outside. Oddly enough in the middle of the house the download speed is identical from either.

Jetmech_63

I'm a fan of the cantenna! Google it, can be made from radio shack components on the cheP

jgibv

blutattoo:
50 ft maybe more.....download speed is identical from either.

Awesome....The extender would probably be 30-35 feet away from my main router and there would be a couple cinder-block walls and/or a floor in between. (Will probably put the extender in the basement, but might try to put it in the 1st floor "mudroom" at the back of the house, which would be closest to the backyard and garage.)

honorknight7:
what has been posted is a good idea - "wifi boosters"
If you have the ability you should connect a cat5e Ethernet cable......

Thanks for the tips. If I set up the extender/booster in the basement then I can run an ethernet cable to it no problem, basement's all unfinished so that will be easy. If the extender goes on the first floor mudroom though, won't be able to run a hardwire to it. Guess I'll just have to experiment and see which works better.

Jetmech_63:
I'm a fan of the cantenna! Google it, can be made from radio shack components on the cheP

LOL that's pretty cool Vinny. Nice "DIY" type project and can't beat the low cost of it. Doesn't look like it would work with the ipad though...everything I read says you have to disassemble/open up the ipad to attach the cantenna and with my luck I'd end up doing it wrong and breaking the ipad LOL. Neat idea though, might test it on a laptop just to see if it works well enough.

james40

I can ship you a 50 or 100 foot cat 5/6 cable. Let me know if you want it bro.

jgibv

james40:
I can ship you a 50 or 100 foot cat 5/6 cable. Let me know if you want it bro.

I appreciate the offer James ... going to do a little more research/plan this out some more (probably won't get to it until this weekend so hold off for a minute.) But I will keep that in mind and will let you know. Thanks man!

jgibv

Alright guys, I appreciate all the help and have been following up on your suggestions. I've scratched the cantenna idea for the moment...

But I think I got it figured out and am going to try to set this up with existing cables/equipment....before I run out and buy any range extenders like you guys suggested.
I wanted to avoid cutting open the walls, but I found a clear path from the second story to the basement, in a wall cavity where there's duct work, and there's enough room that I should be able to sneak an ethernet cord in there, and run it alongside the ducts, and only have to cut open the wall at it's end point on the second story to install the jack....

(If my plan doesn't work, then a trip to the local computer supply store will be in order so I can try out those range extenders Tony posted.)

Here's what I'm thinking:
LMK if you guys think this will work.

SBG6580
(Existing modem/router in basement at front of house, first WAP)
▲
Cat6 50 ft
▼
Keystone wall jack
(2nd story, interior of house)
▲
Cat6 25ft
▼
WGR614v9 router - Lan port
(2nd story, placed near exterior wall at rear of house.
Second WAP
Disable DHCP server function for this router only. Use same SSID and security as first WAP. Use different broadcast channel for this router. Seems like it should work according to this post http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/11509-43-wgr614-range-extender)

And as a bonus....I can ditch the ethernet-over-power adapters that I'm currently using for the X360 in that room and can do:
WGR614v9 Router
▲
Cat6 Patch Cable
▼
XBox 360

Fingers crossed this works....if all goes well I can be up and running in the garage just in time for the warm temps that are rolling in next week.....

brianetz1

jgibv:
Alright guys, I appreciate all the help and have been following up on your suggestions. I've scratched the cantenna idea for the moment...

But I think I got it figured out and am going to try to set this up with existing cables/equipment....before I run out and buy any range extenders like you guys suggested.
I wanted to avoid cutting open the walls, but I found a clear path from the second story to the basement, in a wall cavity where there's duct work, and there's enough room that I should be able to sneak an ethernet cord in there, and run it alongside the ducts, and only have to cut open the wall at it's end point on the second story to install the jack....

(If my plan doesn't work, then a trip to the local computer supply store will be in order so I can try out those range extenders Tony posted.)

Here's what I'm thinking:
LMK if you guys think this will work.

SBG6580
(Existing modem/router in basement at front of house, first WAP)
▲
Cat6 50 ft
▼
Keystone wall jack
(2nd story, interior of house)
▲
Cat6 25ft
▼
WGR614v9 router - Lan port
(2nd story, placed near exterior wall at rear of house.
Second WAP
Disable DHCP server function for this router only. Use same SSID and security as first WAP. Use different broadcast channel for this router. Seems like it should work according to this post http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/11509-43-wgr614-range-extender)

And as a bonus....I can ditch the ethernet-over-power adapters that I'm currently using for the X360 in that room and can do:
WGR614v9 Router
▲
Cat6 Patch Cable
▼
XBox 360

Fingers crossed this works....if all goes well I can be up and running in the garage just in time for the warm temps that are rolling in next week.....

just as long as you adjust your IP settings away from DHCP and adjust the network settings to match it should work ok

letsgowithbob

jgibv:
Alright guys, I appreciate all the help and have been following up on your suggestions. I've scratched the cantenna idea for the moment...

But I think I got it figured out and am going to try to set this up with existing cables/equipment....before I run out and buy any range extenders like you guys suggested.
I wanted to avoid cutting open the walls, but I found a clear path from the second story to the basement, in a wall cavity where there's duct work, and there's enough room that I should be able to sneak an ethernet cord in there, and run it alongside the ducts, and only have to cut open the wall at it's end point on the second story to install the jack....

(If my plan doesn't work, then a trip to the local computer supply store will be in order so I can try out those range extenders Tony posted.)

Here's what I'm thinking:
LMK if you guys think this will work.

SBG6580
(Existing modem/router in basement at front of house, first WAP)
▲
Cat6 50 ft
▼
Keystone wall jack
(2nd story, interior of house)
▲
Cat6 25ft
▼
WGR614v9 router - Lan port
(2nd story, placed near exterior wall at rear of house.
Second WAP
Disable DHCP server function for this router only. Use same SSID and security as first WAP. Use different broadcast channel for this router. Seems like it should work according to this post http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/11509-43-wgr614-range-extender)

And as a bonus....I can ditch the ethernet-over-power adapters that I'm currently using for the X360 in that room and can do:
WGR614v9 Router
▲
Cat6 Patch Cable
▼
XBox 360

Fingers crossed this works....if all goes well I can be up and running in the garage just in time for the warm temps that are rolling in next week.....

BR>
Make SURE that you are using solid cat6 for the run for your keystones. If you don't it won't work very well, and the wires will be lose in the jacks, and just generally make a pain out of themselves.

If it was me. I would do things a bit different. I would make the second story the hub, and extend out from that. I would start in the second floor with the Modem and first router. Then I would run a plenum rated solid cat6 run down to the basement. (because of the ducting runs) depending on what you are running down there, I would just run 3-4 runs down there, and plug in all your gizmos on separate cables. Then I would run another cat 6 over to a room next to the garage, and plug your other router in there. Second scenario for this would be Power over Ethernet just to the garage, and plug your router in there.

You can get almost anything to work, but if you are going to do it now, you might as well do it right. I would go to monoprice.com for any of my cabling needs. They sell great stuff for Real cheap. I have probably 40 different length HDMI cables from them, and a ton of networking stuff from them (keystones, cables, tooling) Their prices are the best I have found. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

curtiscr79

I can vouch for Monoprice's quality and prices. Only downfall is the shipping, make sure you plan it out and put in one large order to save as much as possible.

jgibv

brianetz1:
just as long as you adjust your IP settings away from DHCP and adjust the network settings to match it should work ok

Word. Good to get confirmation that it should work and I'm not crazy....before I go and knock a hole in the wall LOL.

And thanks for the advice, Kris. PM to you, because I don't want to take anything away from your ideas, seriously good suggestions....because if the house was set up differently I'd be all over it, but no way I can make those things happen LOL.

And yes, love monoprice. Can't beat their prices, but you're right shipping will get you.

YankeeMan

I got a rebuilt Cisco repeater for about $21. You just sync it with your router, (about a 1 minute task) and plug it in a wall outlet midway between your router and where you want the signal to reach. It's worked great for me, even reaches my carport where I smoke my cigars!