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#4061764 - 01/09/15 08:28 PM Wireless internet problems  
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I've got a good internet connection at home and for the past 2 years, my PC has been hard-wired to the router. This past week, I've moved the PC to a downstairs room; the router is on a small room upstairs at the front of the house while the PC is now on the downstairs room at the back of the house. Now a 3-bed terraced house in the UK isn't very big, so I'm confused why I'm having problems.

I'm using an old wireless USB adapter which I've used all the time before. The first place I was in, the router would be in a 1st-floor living room while my room would be in the floor above. At the second house, roughly the same deal. The last time I was using it, the router would be in the living room in the ground floor while my PC would either be in the small room directly above it or in the other room at the back of the house. In all those examples, the internet connection was a measly 2MB via phone line. I had no connection problems at all, but obviously, the speeds were slow.

Now, I would notice that my PC would lose internet connection every now and again, and although it is still connected to the network, I would need to disconnect-then-connect to re-establish internet connection. Sometimes, web pages just wouldn't load and I've also realized that the length of time to do a hyperspace/warpspace jumps in Elite is tied to the speed/quality of my internet connection.

For reference, this is the wireless adapter I am using.

Any ideas why my connection is so unreliable? Would an internal, PCI-E-mounted, dual-band wireless adapter work better?


- Ice
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#4061838 - 01/09/15 10:44 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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Are you physically plugging that adapter into a USB port on your computer chassis?

If you are not using a USB 2.0 compatible extension cord for it, you might try that, and experiment with putting the WiFi adapter (with its internal antennas) in different locations to see if you get better results.

If you're connecting it to a USB 3.0 port, try connecting it to a USB 2.0 port. If you're connecting it to a USB hub, is it externally powered?

If you have a smartphone with WiFi capability, consider installing a WiFi analyzer app, and scoping out what the spectrum usage is in your area.

WiFi Analyzer is a good one for the Android platform:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en

If certain base channels are congested in your location, you might be able to configure your router to make better use of less congested spectrum.

The PCI WiFi alternative could work better for you, especially if you get external antennas/cords for it that will let you position the antennas optimally.

#4061886 - 01/10/15 12:30 AM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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The adapter is plugged into a USB 2.0 port.... my mobo doesn't have USB 3.


- Ice
#4061917 - 01/10/15 02:07 AM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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Well if it is older construction that could be 1 problem.. I would download InSSider and get a picture of what your signal looks like in your terrace and then add some powerline extenders, like these or a Range Booster:


http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...sl_8du3mv7bbs_b


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#4062007 - 01/10/15 08:57 AM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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I wonder if that is a better option compared to a PCI-E adapter? I do know some of these extenders have an option to connect a cable to it to my PC.


- Ice
#4062027 - 01/10/15 10:27 AM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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Originally Posted By: - Ice
I wonder if that is a better option compared to a PCI-E adapter? I do know some of these extenders have an option to connect a cable to it to my PC.



Well best thing to do is get InSSider and what it is, is a program that can show you your wireless signal throughout the house but a Laptop is needed wireless.. What you do is go around the house and check where the signal starts to fade and adda booster there..

I used it and coverage in my house is fine but those older constructed houses are a bit troublesome as the material they used back then was more beefy not like todays drywall..

I would go get insider and see what your signal looks like throughout your house.. it may just need a few boosters..


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#4062111 - 01/10/15 03:01 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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Yeah, I didn't get into it, but I use a Netgear extender at my house, and along with making a stronger signal access point, it provides 4 Ethernet ports. That turned out to be a major improvement (for getting the wife's computer connected to the LAN) over the USB WiFi adapter we had on her computer before. That USB WiFi adapter would go braindead from time to time, whereas the Netgear WiFi extender just works solidly.

#4062147 - 01/10/15 05:03 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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I have my desktop connected in another room from where my router is by a Netgear Powerline. Wifi was too inconsistent going through three walls.

#4062220 - 01/10/15 08:30 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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Can you guys link exactly what products you are using? Thanks!


- Ice
#4062258 - 01/10/15 09:49 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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I'd go with what Speedbump mentioned.
Distance isn't the issue so much as interference. The kitchen is often a source of a LOT of interfereence--microwave, fluorescent bulbs etc. Those USB dongles aren't the best for picking up a signal, but if you've got interference, just forget it. Picture a straight line from your wifi access point to the USB dongle. Everything in between interferes somehow, just some more than others. You can tray raising or lowering the router and/or the pc to change that line some, but that far away I'm not very optimistic.
Rather than adding more devices to boost the signal or jumper it, just go with the powerline adapter like Speedbump. It uses the wiring in your home as if it were Ethernet cable. As long as both ends are on the same breaker box, you're fine.

Example:
http://smile.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA401...werline+adapter
I'm not endorsing that one, just using it as an example. Maybe Speedbump will show you what he's got.

This might be his:
http://smile.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Powerlin...werline+adapter



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#4062260 - 01/10/15 09:52 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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#4062263 - 01/10/15 09:56 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: Raw Kryptonite]  
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Originally Posted By: Raw Kryptonite
I'd go with what Speedbump mentioned.
Distance isn't the issue so much as interference. The kitchen is often a source of a LOT of interfereence--microwave, fluorescent bulbs etc. Those USB dongles aren't the best for picking up a signal, but if you've got interference, just forget it. Picture a straight line from your wifi access point to the USB dongle. Everything in between interferes somehow, just some more than others. You can tray raising or lowering the router and/or the pc to change that line some, but that far away I'm not very optimistic.
Rather than adding more devices to boost the signal or jumper it, just go with the powerline adapter like Speedbump. It uses the wiring in your home as if it were Ethernet cable. As long as both ends are on the same breaker box, you're fine.

Example:
http://smile.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA401...werline+adapter
I'm not endorsing that one, just using it as an example. Maybe Speedbump will show you what he's got.

This might be his:
http://smile.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Powerlin...werline+adapter


If you go with powerline adapters, be aware that you probably need to plug them in upstream of any Uninterruptible Power Supplies you may be using. (And if you aren't using UPSs, you probably should be).

#4062296 - 01/10/15 11:26 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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Hmmm... that range extender.... is that just like a "signal amplifier" for the wifi signal?


- Ice
#4062356 - 01/11/15 02:04 AM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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Originally Posted By: - Ice
Hmmm... that range extender.... is that just like a "signal amplifier" for the wifi signal?


It latches on to the weak signal from your WiFi router, and rebroadcast on a different base channel/band. The rebroadcast signal will be stronger in the area local to the extender, than what a WiFi device would see in that location from the WiFi router. It also includes 4 Ethernet ports, so you could just hook your computer to the extender via an Ethernet cable, instead of using that USB WiFi stick that you are using.

> = USB connection
-> = Ethernet
.... = WiFi

You could end up with this:
Internet -> WiFi Router .... Extender -> Downstairs PC

Or this:
Internet -> WiFi Router .... Extender .... USB WiFi Stick > Downstairs PC

Instead of:
Internet -> WiFi Router .... USB WiFi Stick > Downstairs PC

Since you were able to get WiFi downstairs, just not reliably, I suspect the extender will do a better job for you. It has bigger antennas built into it, for one thing. Going with the first configuration would take the USB WiFi stick out of the equation, which is an added bonus.

Alternatively, if you are concerned that you still won't be able to establish a reliable WiFi link, even with that better radio of the WiFi extender... then you could go with a powerline based extender instead.

#4062454 - 01/11/15 10:18 AM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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What Router have you got ?

i've a virginmedia.com SH2 and that failed to reach upstairs from the back of my house where the SH2 is to my boys front room because of central heating radiators in the way,i found a powerline extender worked perfect

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WPA42...S0TKJM37QEHQ32C

it allowed his Xbox and pc to be wired straight to the router and still give a better wireless upstairs


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#4062463 - 01/11/15 11:00 AM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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In my house I use a Buffalo Air Station wireless router to extend my signal.
The house here, unlike most of the houses in the UK, have brick walls and concrete floors rather than wooden floors and it attenuates the signal quite quickly, the wireless modem the service provider supplies is not that powerful so I had to run an extension cable to the back of the house and put the Buffalo Airstation in the cinema, that allows me to hard wire what pieces of equipment in the cinema that need it and the WiFi covers the back of the house and all of the garden including the garage at the back which is 25m from the house.
In fact I get as good a signal from the Buffalo in the same room as the ISP provided one, it has been running for almost 3 years now and I have never turned it off or reset it since the initial setup, unlike the DLink one I used before that I had to constantly monitor and reset to keep the connections up and live.

Edit: Not cheap but for me it was well worth it http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buffalo-Airstati...ds=WHR-HP-G300N

Being a radio ham I would not put a powerline network device anywhere near my house as they cause so much broadband interference it deafens my ham radio frown

Last edited by Alicatt; 01/11/15 11:05 AM.

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#4062506 - 01/11/15 01:53 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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Powerline adapters have lots of things that can go wrong. If they are not on the same circuit, they won't work. Like houses have two 120v legs and one neutral. So if the other end that you plug number two powerline into is not the same leg, it won't work. They also don't work if plugged into a surge protector since that filters the signal. Also if the signal has to go through a circuit breaker between the two outlets. The newer ones may be longer but the one I have says 300 feet distance which is easy to hit by the time the wire goes up the wall and snakes around all over the place and back down again.

But in my case, they work great. Skip the ancient 85 speed and get the 500. I have 200 speed but 500 and up is the norm now. They just plug in and work.

#4062514 - 01/11/15 02:28 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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I have had a similar problem. Over the last few months, my connection would randomly drop, or slow down for a short period of time (usually just a couple of minutes, then it's back up and fine). It was never a problem before for well over a year, and the signal was always strong.

I moved the router into my room for a few weeks, and tried both Ethernet and wireless; but never had it drop once for either type of connection. Found out that my wireless receiver was getting flaky, and wasn't reliable any more.

It could simply be that your wireless adapter is going bad

#4062835 - 01/12/15 01:08 PM Re: Wireless internet problems [Re: - Ice]  
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If in need of a new router anyway, I can't speak highhly enough about my Asus RTN66U. Cured all wifi issues, very good signal, no drops. My last router was no slouch, but this one is excellent. There is also an -ac version, both have had price drops.

http://www.amazon.com/RT-N66U-Dual-Band-...ywords=rt-ac68u


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