Any tips for improving wifi?

[8317645]

Ever since iOS 5.1 my wifi range/strength has been much worse. In areas of my house where I used to get 2-3 bars, I'm now getting 1-2 or sometimes being completely disconnected and put on to 3G. I already called Apple and they walked me through a few things that didn't work. I'm using an Apple bumper so I can't be the case. So I'm wondering what else could I do to boost the iPhones ability to strongly pick up my wifi again

Any tips/ideas would be greatly appreciated

Ace

 

[sulpfiction]

What router are u using? I have an AP extreme and they say hanging it on a wall or ceiling boosts signal strength. Although, mine sits on a desk and I get perfect coverage all around my house.

 

[chambone]

Any tips/ideas would be greatly appreciated

Check what channels other networks in your street use, especially the strongest signals, and set your router to something else.

 

[conartist4u]

apps like wififofum can be used to analyse the signal strength. changing channels also seems to help.

but best to adjust router to a central location

 

[8317645]

What router are u using? I have an AP extreme and they say hanging it on a wall or ceiling boosts signal strength. Although, mine sits on a desk and I get perfect coverage all around my house.

Here's the link to my router... http://www.netgear.com/home/products/wirelessrouters/work-and-play/wnr3500l.aspx#two

You can take a look at the product specs if necessary... and i have the router set up on the top of my desk not too far from the ceiling to optimize range

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apps like wififofum can be used to analyse the signal strength. changing channels also seems to help.

but best to adjust router to a central location

I tried to do a search for that app with no success... my other response provides the router i'm using and the positioning

 

[conartist4u]

Start by shifting to a new channel in settings of the router. make sure you are on maximum data transfer rate.

keep router away from cordless telephones, wireless recievers and any sort of equipment that emits frequency based waves.

use any app on AppStore that allows you to measure RSSI or dbm of your router emission. Then you can safely see if adjusting the settings made a difference.

 

[biggnoggin]

First off switching channels is not going to increase how far the signal is going to travel but rather the quality in which the client in this case iPhone is going to be able to hear the signal. Most likely apple just updated how the iPhone sees the signal and it changed from full bars down to whatever you're seeing now. I would recommend moving your router to a central location in your home, second if your home is big enough just use 2 routers and put one is access point only mode, meaning turn off dhcp option and use the same ssid so your device can roam without changing ssid's( using an extender works great too). Increasing output power of your router is another option but most routers won't let you do that. Finally I recommend if your router is more than 3 years old to replace it, as it might work fine technology and chipsets ecspecially for wireless are always changing so keeping up to date is important for performance and reliability.

 

[stu.h]

wififofum is no longer in the app store, you get it from Cydia these days I believe.

 

[firemedicmark]

wow, thanks for the advice ppl..I switched mine to a different channel and it works ALOT better. Hope it worked for you too, OP

 

[HickDead]

If you're jailbroken, search Cydia for an app called WiFi Analyzer.

 

[8317645]

First off switching channels is not going to increase how far the signal is going to travel but rather the quality in which the client in this case iPhone is going to be able to hear the signal. Most likely apple just updated how the iPhone sees the signal and it changed from full bars down to whatever you're seeing now. I would recommend moving your router to a central location in your home, second if your home is big enough just use 2 routers and put one is access point only mode, meaning turn off dhcp option and use the same ssid so your device can roam without changing ssid's( using an extender works great too). Increasing output power of your router is another option but most routers won't let you do that. Finally I recommend if your router is more than 3 years old to replace it, as it might work fine technology and chipsets ecspecially for wireless are always changing so keeping up to date is important for performance and reliability.

Sorry delayed response as I was away... but if I were to use a second router would i need another desktop in my house to plug it in somewhere? I currently only have one desktop thats on the 2nd floor of my house and is where the modem and router are... so it wouldn't be possible to have a second router plugged in somewhere else