Airport Extreme signal strength

[jennagemini]

I have my AE set up in my office where three computers and two printers are picking up its signal just fine. However, I have a computer in another room that is only about 30 ft away from the AE router and sometimes the signal is very week while other times it won't connect at all. Yet, I can pick up other networks from other houses just fine... What gives? Any help would be appreciative...

 

[CLuv]

Is the computer in the other room 802.11b,g, or n? What channel is your AE on? Do you see other wireless routers in the area? You may want to change the channel your device is on.

If you don't have this app, you may want it to see what channel you're on and what other networks are using. That way you can pick a different channel.

http://www.istumbler.net/

 

[jennagemini]

AE has automatically selected channel 11.

The computer is using a belkin USB, 802.11g at 54 mbps


There is only one other Wireless router that I see in my area... I'm getting half bars on it and it's several houses away...


Any help would be appreciated!

 

[waw74]

do you have a cordless phone, or baby monitor? Microwave oven can also affect the signal, but only when you're cooking something.

if the signal is not going through the wall at a right angle, the walls are thicker, so if you have them on opposite corners, try to move them so the signal path is perpendicular to the walls.

also it depends on what your walls are made of, for example old houses with plaster normally have walls lined with chicken wire, or other forms of metal lathing. that can stop a wi-fi signal pretty quickly.

 

[jennagemini]

There is a cordless phone here in the office... but how is that a problem? How can the computer in the other room pick up a signal from four house away better than it can the one from our office here only one room away? Clearly there must be some settings I can change...?

 

[waw74]

if the cordless phone base is right next to the airport base, then those signals are competing with each other, and being blocked by the same walls. While the signal from the other house might have a straight shot.
try unplugging the phone base and see if your reception improves. there are 5GHz cordless phones that will not interfere with 802.11g (which runs at 2.4GHz) although you could run into problems if you try to upgrade to 802.11n

Where is the extreme located? buried on the floor behind metal computer cases and furniture? it's best to have it free from any obstructions, and i've heard that higher is better, so up on a book shelf with lots of airspace around it is best.

also most antennas are directional, so if you've got the extreme on it's side, your shooting most of the signal into the floor and the ceiling.

draw an imaginary line from your router to the computer in the other room, what does it pass through? mostly air? are there lots of things (particularly metal) like file cabinets or furniture that it passes through?

wireless is not an exact science. due to the way we live now, wireless interference comes from everywhere. No two locations are the same due to things like outside signals, building construction, and other obstructions. so what works for someone else, might not work for you, and there is a chance that wireless won't work at all in some situations.