Networking: Iphone, wireless router, and a wireless repeater

[bweazel]

Hello everyone. I've been having trouble receiving a constant singal from my wireless router when trying to access it with my iPhone from the other side of the house. I recently bought a d-link repeater, and the set up was smooth, everything works and I have full bars in the back room now.

Now, for the problem. If I start in the living room (that is close to the wireless router) and then move to the back bedroom (where the repeater works) it seems to want to keep connecting to the wireless router. It will still display full bars, but I think it's getting hooked up on switching the devices. If I go to the settings, disable the WiFi then turn it back on, everything works well. But the problem works in reverse too. If I start at the repeater side of the house, and move to the router side, I have to do the same process again, turn off WiFi (on the phone) and reenable it, then it's all good again, until I move into the repeaters range again.

Is this a problem with the iPhone's programming to where it can't seamlessly switch from router to repeater or the other way around? Are repeaters even designed to function this way or are they meant for stationary devices? Is it a problem with the way I set the repeater up? Do I need to, or is there any way to change the settings on either device to fool the iPhone into thinking it's on the same device the whole time? Should I set it up as a AP? Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

It's a D-link router and repeater. I'm using WPA-Personal.

Thanks in advance!

 

[sjinsjca]

Frankly your experience with the repeater is rather typical. I've installed (or tried to) three such systems of various brands (including D-Link, which generally makes good stuff) and have never been satisfied.

What I've found is that the location of the router makes a profound difference. My router is set up in my garage in a place that's convenient to the Comcast cable and a few other things. Very nice location on a shelf. And: terrible signal throughout the house. Couldn't figure out what was wrong until I noticed there was a galvanized pipe running along the wall at about the same height as the router antenna. I put the router up on a 4" block of styrofoam, and voila: huge strong signal throughout the house and into the back yard.

So, check for metallic items near the router (including running through the wall). A slight relocation might make a similar improvement for you.