Valaire
New Around Here
Hi all, I've been having quite a bit of trouble setting up a new network and have been doing a lot of research that has led me here. I will try to post the pertinent facts in hopes of receiving some insight.
So I just moved into a new apartment in New York City. The building is a high-rise, about 25 floors, but only 2 apartments per floor. This place was recently renovated but after initial inspection where I mistook about 20 jacks all spread out across the apartment to be ethernet jacks, they are in fact your standard telephone jacks, which is absurdly unfortunate (both because they didn't spend a couple bucks running ethernet in the walls, and because there are literally 4 telephone jacks in every room). This is a duplex, which means it's impossible to wire the apartment sufficiently.
In my previous apartment, I had a Wireless G network setup with a WRT54G router just going through one drywall and it had a lot of trouble. Since I wanted to fix that problem in this apartment, I opted to go with a Wireless N network in hopes of better range and throughput. I purchased the DIR-655 router because it seemed like a good deal and got decent reviews.
Here are the devices that are connected to the wireless portion of the network:
1. Desktop PC (Wireless-N) (~30 feet horizontally, going through 1 drywall completely, maybe clipping another partially)
This computer is using a Belkin Wifi-N USB adapter. I know now (after reading) that there is a benefit to having matching brands to attain the highest speeds but I'm not even worried about that right now.
2. Edimax Wireless Station (Wireless-N) (~20 feet vertically, going through 1 floor, very small variance horizontally)
This is set up to receive the N-signal one floor above me and connect via ethernet to an xbox 360 for broadband connection and multimedia streaming.
3. 3 Wireless-G Mobile Devices: 2 iPhones + 1 Laptop
With that out of the way, my problem is that the signals are pretty weak, although I have an idea for moving the router a bit and fiddling with the antennas that seems to produce a stronger signal. Even when the signal gets much higher in the router control panel, there is no corresponding increase in the rated speed usually.
I've tried fiddling with many settings based on research, manipulated the antennas, and changed channels manually instead of using the auto scan. As of now, my best SIGNAL STRENGTH comes from using the auto setting for 20/40, instead of 20, and with channel set to 11, not auto or 1, 6, 3, 9, etc.
Here is a current readout of my wireless status:
Edimax Station: Signal is 82%; rate is 13 mbps.
Desktop PC: Signal is 58%, rate is 27 mbps.
My G devices: Usually signal is high, and the rate is 13. If my Iphone is connected to this computer which is wired to the router 3 feet away, the mbps can get to max at 54 mbps.
I can sometimes manipulate stuff so that the desktop PC goes as high as 65, which is higher than G speeds, but it never stays there, and is usually pathetically low. I know that 300 mbps is unrealistic with mismatching gear, and living in NYC apartments, but everything I've read said that people seem to get 120-150. Surely 13-26 means there's something very wrong? The xbox signal is virtually useless as it cannot maintain a connection xbox live, and when you try to load an SD 20 minute TV show to it, it'll usually hang at loading.
My current settings for wifi in DIR-655:
- Mixed G and N Mode
- WPA2 Only(AES)
- Channel 11
- Transmission Rate: best
- WISH disabled
- WPS disabled
- Auto channel width
The desktop PC picks up 3 other networks, 2 are G, 1 is N, all having lower signal strength than my network.
I would be happy to post screenshots of other settings or post more information upon request. I am hoping there is something completely wrong with this setup that can be fixed so that the wifi network provides a seamless web browsing experience for the desktop computer using N, decent support for the mobile devices, and an actual usable Xbox (either for gaming, or for streaming SD multimedia). Right now everything is extremely spotty and the rates make no sense to me, and seem to be suppressed towards 13 and 26.
Thank you in advance,
Chad
Is there
So I just moved into a new apartment in New York City. The building is a high-rise, about 25 floors, but only 2 apartments per floor. This place was recently renovated but after initial inspection where I mistook about 20 jacks all spread out across the apartment to be ethernet jacks, they are in fact your standard telephone jacks, which is absurdly unfortunate (both because they didn't spend a couple bucks running ethernet in the walls, and because there are literally 4 telephone jacks in every room). This is a duplex, which means it's impossible to wire the apartment sufficiently.
In my previous apartment, I had a Wireless G network setup with a WRT54G router just going through one drywall and it had a lot of trouble. Since I wanted to fix that problem in this apartment, I opted to go with a Wireless N network in hopes of better range and throughput. I purchased the DIR-655 router because it seemed like a good deal and got decent reviews.
Here are the devices that are connected to the wireless portion of the network:
1. Desktop PC (Wireless-N) (~30 feet horizontally, going through 1 drywall completely, maybe clipping another partially)
This computer is using a Belkin Wifi-N USB adapter. I know now (after reading) that there is a benefit to having matching brands to attain the highest speeds but I'm not even worried about that right now.
2. Edimax Wireless Station (Wireless-N) (~20 feet vertically, going through 1 floor, very small variance horizontally)
This is set up to receive the N-signal one floor above me and connect via ethernet to an xbox 360 for broadband connection and multimedia streaming.
3. 3 Wireless-G Mobile Devices: 2 iPhones + 1 Laptop
With that out of the way, my problem is that the signals are pretty weak, although I have an idea for moving the router a bit and fiddling with the antennas that seems to produce a stronger signal. Even when the signal gets much higher in the router control panel, there is no corresponding increase in the rated speed usually.
I've tried fiddling with many settings based on research, manipulated the antennas, and changed channels manually instead of using the auto scan. As of now, my best SIGNAL STRENGTH comes from using the auto setting for 20/40, instead of 20, and with channel set to 11, not auto or 1, 6, 3, 9, etc.
Here is a current readout of my wireless status:
Edimax Station: Signal is 82%; rate is 13 mbps.
Desktop PC: Signal is 58%, rate is 27 mbps.
My G devices: Usually signal is high, and the rate is 13. If my Iphone is connected to this computer which is wired to the router 3 feet away, the mbps can get to max at 54 mbps.
I can sometimes manipulate stuff so that the desktop PC goes as high as 65, which is higher than G speeds, but it never stays there, and is usually pathetically low. I know that 300 mbps is unrealistic with mismatching gear, and living in NYC apartments, but everything I've read said that people seem to get 120-150. Surely 13-26 means there's something very wrong? The xbox signal is virtually useless as it cannot maintain a connection xbox live, and when you try to load an SD 20 minute TV show to it, it'll usually hang at loading.
My current settings for wifi in DIR-655:
- Mixed G and N Mode
- WPA2 Only(AES)
- Channel 11
- Transmission Rate: best
- WISH disabled
- WPS disabled
- Auto channel width
The desktop PC picks up 3 other networks, 2 are G, 1 is N, all having lower signal strength than my network.
I would be happy to post screenshots of other settings or post more information upon request. I am hoping there is something completely wrong with this setup that can be fixed so that the wifi network provides a seamless web browsing experience for the desktop computer using N, decent support for the mobile devices, and an actual usable Xbox (either for gaming, or for streaming SD multimedia). Right now everything is extremely spotty and the rates make no sense to me, and seem to be suppressed towards 13 and 26.
Thank you in advance,
Chad
Is there
