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maclamb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 28, 2002
432
0
Northern California
My two story house has some pretty bad dead zones.
I am using an SMC wireless router - the one with two antenna.
I am looking for a significantly more powerful gateway router.
Any suggestions?
(actually the point is to eliminate the dead spots, so suggestions for this are welcome too).

thanks
 

fuzzai

macrumors member
Nov 24, 2004
58
0
Canada
where are your dead zones in the house?
like what is around the area where the signal that is dead?
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
You could get a linksys WRT54G and then install 3rd party firmware to increase the power output. I'll try and track down the link for the firmware. I've installed it, and it definitely helps. I can get a signal pretty much anywhere in my 2-story abode, and the router is in the basement (so I guess it's 3 stories, really).

You could also buy a repeater or two to expand the range throughout the house.
 

maclamb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 28, 2002
432
0
Northern California
My house is a two story house - wireless hub is downstairs.
I receive very good reception directly above.
But - above and 20 - 40 feet across are the dead spots.
I have heard that repeaters cut the performance in half, so that didn't seem like a great option.

I'm interested in the linksys option and the better antenna - suggestions?
 

maclamb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 28, 2002
432
0
Northern California
took a look at the linksys - seems to be about the same as my SMC 2804WBR
b/g, DHCP, gateway, 4 ports, etc...
the firmware upgrade sounds interesting...
 

hcuar

macrumors 65816
Jul 23, 2004
1,065
0
Dallas
maclamb said:
My two story house has some pretty bad dead zones.
I am using an SMC wireless router - the one with two antenna.
I am looking for a significantly more powerful gateway router.
Any suggestions?
(actually the point is to eliminate the dead spots, so suggestions for this are welcome too).

thanks

I'm using a netgear 802.11g router... I have no signal problems. The router is on the main floor. The PB works great in the basement, main floor, and second floor.
 

Capt Underpants

macrumors 68030
Jul 23, 2003
2,862
3
Austin, Texas
You'll get more range out of something like this than you ever will out of a stock linksys router antenna. It's 9 dBi, which should be plenty. Look up your current router and see how many dBi your current antenna is.

edit: I looked up your hub, and it's 2 dBi :eek:
 

powerboy

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2004
118
0
I just bought the Belkin Pre N router and it is giving me better range than I was getting with my D-Link DI-624. Buy.com had the best price.
 

maclamb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 28, 2002
432
0
Northern California
I'll look into a booster. Thanks Capt!.

oddly enough, it's only the PB 12 1.33 that has problems - my IBM thinkpad t40 w/ Intel wireless mini-pci card works fine!
 
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