MPB and my home wireless setup

[TimO16]

My Macbook Pro can't get a decent wireless signal in my room, and the network my house has is mediocre at best...

I've got a D-Link 2.4 ghz wireless G router hooked up to the family's modem and dell desktop downstairs.

I've got a decent size house, and the signal the router puts out is weak in many areas, and the range kind of sucks. (Especially in my room upstairs over the garage on the other side of the house...)

My situation is: I want a SEAMLESS wireless network for the house that is reliable in all areas, especially in my room. (Where I keep my mid-2008 MBP/xbox 360/etc...)

Options? YOU tell me what's best. With a budget of around $150 dollars.

(1) Get a wireless apple airport extreme base station or some other wireless N router, and kick my d-link to the curb.
-Will this necessarily extend range to my room, solve other signal problems?

(2) Get a apple airport wireless express, and use it as a wireless repeater for the signal coming from the d-link in the downstairs office and put it somewhere in my room.
-Not sure if and how this would work...

(3) Buy something like this, and put one in the office, and one in my room.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance
-Not too familiar with the reliability of something that would use ac outlets, and power lines...

(4) Give your own suggestion!!!

Comment on 1,2, or 3 if you can! Or leave a 4th!
If someone could help me get to the bottom of this, make a decision, and get a good wireless network in this house, I would really appreciate it!

 

[Eddyisgreat]

The problem with WDS (Option 2) is that speed will be an issue and it won't exactly work perfectly if there is a degraded signal to begin with (once it reaches the other room). Wireless works through walls, but its the quality of the signal thats the issue, not the range.

If you simply don't want to be tethered to a network cable in your respective areas, than I would suggest wiring up each room with its own seperate access point (with cat5 from a router/switch to the access point) , bumping the power down and placing it up high. This may not be the best solution but like I said, thats only if you want a clean signal no matter the cost. I say this assuming you are reciving plenty of RF interference from neighbors/microwaves/computers etc.

If that's not an option than WDS may sorta kinda work, but speed will suffer. You could place the router more towards the center of your house if that's an option, but I don't know if your dell has a wireless card.

 

[winninganthem]

I used to use an old Linksys Wireless G router that had a very unreliable connection. My setup is similar to yours; I have a router downstairs, and use my MBP upstairs.

I replaced the Linksys Router with an Airport Extreme and found that even the Airport Extreme (under Wireless N) does not reach into my room. However, the signal does reach into my room if I tell the router to use Wireless G instead. Wireless N gives higher bandwidth than Wireless G, but in my experiences, N's range is lower. If you're fine using Wireless G, then this solution might work for you.

If you decide to go the Airport Extreme route, try test if you get signal in your room under Wireless N (it's faster than G). If not, change it to G, and you'll still be better off than your current setup since the signal will now probably reach into your room.

---

My current set up: I hooked up a really long ethernet cable to my Airport Extreme downstairs and ran it up to my room upstairs (had to drill a couple holes for this to be nice lol ). I hooked up this cable to an Airport Express and set that up to extend the current wireless network. This way, everyone upstairs can use the wireless N too.

Maybe you could do something similar, only instead of buying an Airport Express, use your current router as a wireless repeater for your Airport Extreme.

 

[winninganthem]

Just ran an experiment...

I tried seeing if my network would still reach my room without using the Airport Express as a network extender.

And yes, it does .

I have it set to 2.4GHz under Wireless N (B & G compatible).

So, since it reaches from downstairs to the upstairs of my house, I think you're in good shape with buying an Airport Extreme.

 

[sascha h-k]

airport eXtreme with 5ghz setting ..

 

[TimO16]

Just ran an experiment...

I tried seeing if my network would still reach my room without using the Airport Express as a network extender.

And yes, it does .

I have it set to 2.4GHz under Wireless N (B & G compatible).

So, since it reaches from downstairs to the upstairs of my house, I think you're in good shape with buying an Airport Extreme.

Good to hear! Now I guess if that's one of my best options, now I just have to get the $170 bucks..