Expanding wireless strength and coverage

[jetjaguar]

I have a verizon fios modem that does ethernet and wireless. Currently my connection speed is 85 meg / 35meg .. which when wired i get a bit higher than that but wireless speeds dont seem to break 25 / 20 .. how can i increase the wireless network speed as well as the coverage.

The fios modem is on the 3rd floor of my house so I was thinking about adding an airport extreme base station attached to the fios modem and then an airport express on the first floor. Will this work or am I thinking wrong.

[jetjaguar]

no one?

[Lance-AR]

Adding more coverage will lower the speed. Extending the network will divide the available bandwidth in half. To speed wireless up you want to move the client closer to the source.

[jetjaguar]

even using wireless right next to the router i only get 20/20 .. so using one of these to boost the signal wont work ?

[DeafRaiders]

Originally Posted by jetjaguar

even using wireless right next to the router i only get 20/20 .. so using one of these to boost the signal wont work ?

Correct you can try an old school trick a 1.5l bottle cut in half covered in Kitchen foil round the pop over wireless Aerial. Worked for me!

[Apple Fan 21]

Originally Posted by Lance-AR

Adding more coverage will lower the speed. Extending the network will divide the available bandwidth in half. To speed wireless up you want to move the client closer to the source.

So the key term is available bandwidth? I am currently getting 10- 15 mbps in the master bathroom which is the furthest point from my AirPort Extreme. I usually get 20-25 Mbps else where in the house. So if I add an AirPort Express in the master bedroom I will cut my Mbps down to about 10 Mbps??

[mwhities]

Originally Posted by Apple Fan 21

So the key term is available bandwidth? I am currently getting 10- 15 mbps in the master bathroom which is the furthest point from my AirPort Extreme. I usually get 20-25 Mbps else where in the house. So if I add an AirPort Express in the master bedroom I will cut my Mbps down to about 10 Mbps??

That's what I've read. The signal maybe stronger when added but, you lose bandwidth.

I have a 6K+sqft house I need to get wireless working everywhere. Not sure how that's going to work. (Can't run ethernet.)

[SonomaFlyer]

I had the same type of issue with the size of my house. To solve it, I ran a Cat6 cable from my "Main" base station next to my modem to my other Airport Extreme in my bedroom. I used existing access points for satellite cable and tacked the cable across the roof of my garage

In this configuration, they both are main stations and should have the same speed. The same should occur with other stations hooked up via networking cable.

This is a bit more labor intensive but solves the problem of halving the bandwidth by wirelessly extending your network.

[colshine]

In my house I've extended the wireless range but using powerline adapters from my Airport Extreme to a central location in the house and setting up another wireless router with the same SSID and WPA2 key.

Both routers act as primary wireless points making sure that the whole house is covered. As they are both advertising the same network all my devices seamlessly switch between the point with the strongest signal.

[SonomaFlyer]

Originally Posted by colshine

In my house I've extended the wireless range but using powerline adapters from my Airport Extreme to a central location in the house and setting up another wireless router with the same SSID and WPA2 key.

Both routers act as primary wireless points making sure that the whole house is covered. As they are both advertising the same network all my devices seamlessly switch between the point with the strongest signal.

I tried the power line solution but there were issues with noise on the lines which cut down on the speed considerably. That would've been easier than running Cat6 but once the project was done, the speed was fantastic. I wound up connecting in our DVRs, computers, the works.

[marzer]

Originally Posted by jetjaguar

even using wireless right next to the router i only get 20/20 .. so using one of these to boost the signal wont work ?

What's the wireless specs of your fios router? Just curious, i would think 20/20 mbs is giving you like 802.11g speeds at best.

Theorectically, connecting an extreme or express directly to the modem via ethernet should provide higher internet throughput for wireless clients. As mentioned, if the fios modem permits wireless network extending, you will see a lose of bandwidth through the extension nods (ie. extreme or express). So you would definitely want to connect the extreme or express by hard cable to the verizon modem.

[jetjaguar]

That is what I was thinking of doing. Connecting the extreme to the fios modem and then putting an express on the 2nd or first floor. This isn't for clients, just my house.

[Primejimbo]

Originally Posted by jetjaguar

even using wireless right next to the router i only get 20/20 .. so using one of these to boost the signal wont work ?

wow something is up with that router. I get 30/10 wired in and wireless a couple rooms down it drops 27-28/8

[jetjaguar]

i get 85 /40 plugged in .. but wireless on my iphone 5 or ipad or mac i only get like 25 max