SOLVED Wifi headache

[Ian]

Call all wireless networking gurus!

At home we have a D-Link DIR Xtreme N Gigabit Wireless router. In fact we have one at the office too. At home it is located on the window sill of a room at the front of the house upstairs on the first floor. That's where the cable comes into the house and is where the cable modem is, too.

Unfortunately, where the kids' PC is located in the back room downstairs, I'm having big problems with connection reliability.

I have tried several different G and N type wireless adapters on the desktop tower there. Only one works reliably, a Belkin 802.11G wireless bridge, which connects to the PC via Ethernet.

All the other devices seem to find all our neighbours' wireless networks except our own. The line of site distance between the downstairs PC and the router is about 20 feet, certainly not an excessive distance. I was at first convinced the PC was in a dead spot, but as I said, the Belkin wireless network bridge works fine in exactly the same spot as the various USB and one PCI wireless adapter (with extern antennae on an extension lead).

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Ian

[devilgas]

Re: Wifi headache

simple fix. get rid of wifi. more headaches than it's worth. the number of hours i've wasted trying to get family wifi up and running / fixed, and my own, i really don't want to think about.

unless you spend serious money on proper kit it usually ends in tears. as a 'wireless' alternative, try the things that'll run the network across the mains. been using one on the ps3 for a while now and never get connection problems.

[Ian]

Re: Wifi headache

I do agree that many wifi installations don't work properly, which is why I didn't opt for cheap and cheerful components. The D-Link router is a PC Pro A-List product, for example. I also wanted a fast n-class network, which is why mains networking wasn't viable for me. Also, I simply hate wires, which also ruled out mains networking.

Anyway, the good news is that with some tinkering, everything is working properly now. I still don't really know what the fix was (I brought home the identical router from the office and swappped then around, and then back again).

Ian