My shop is detached from my house. My wireless internet will work out there, but it is sloooooow. Page loads are slow and videos are out of the question. Signal strength is "very low" with a speed of 11Mbps. Is there any way to boost the range of these systems that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. What I have now is DSL with a 2-Wire modem.
Cable from router to shop?
1: Hardwire. Simplest, fastest, cheapest.
2: Move the router closer to the shop.
3: Upgrade from the G router to an N router.
4: Hack your neighbors system.
N-spec routers tend to have a better signal strength over longer distances; one of your neighbours might also have a wireless access point on the same channel as yours and that might reduce your signal strength, too.
Is your wireless router/access point fairly high up wherever it's positioned? You tend to be able to get better range if it's higher up; you can also put a better antenna on it (have a look at ebay for 'wireless booster antenna', some of them actually work.
Depending on what system you have in the shop, you might want to investigate putting a better card/antenna on that one, too. Doesn't work very well with a laptop, though.
Tim, I have a Belkin card in the modular slot of my laptop. It helped immensely compared to the OE.
Doesn't surprise me - my comment was regarding antennas as most laptops don't have the ability to use an external antenna and you basically have to use an separate card.
Come on, this is GRM! This is the real grassroots solution: http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html
Seconding the "upgrade from G to N" suggestion if you're not already on N. Consider that every wall and large object between your router in the house and your laptop in the workshop impedes your wireless signal.
You can purchase a wireless access point or bridge to extend the range of your router. Choose the same manufacturer as your router. Adding a wireless adapter from the same manufacturer to your laptop may help, also.
And yes, while technically any manufacturer's router will work with any other manufacturer's access point/bridge, I work for a router manufacturer and can promise you, we do extensive testing to make sure our own products play nicely together so it's less of a headache for the loyal customers to set up. :D
I usually use my netbook out here so cards aren't an option. I will try relocating the router to a higher place for starters. From there I guess running a wire would be an option. I have been meaning to run TV service out here anyway so I can run them both at the same time. Thanks for the input.
I'm going to 3rd (or 4th) running a wire. That's probably the best way to go from a cost perspective. Do try to move your modem around to see if you can get better signal out there first, but I know most of those modems have internal antennas these days, which would prevent an antenna upgrade.
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