Wireless experts help me

M

MUCHO

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 22, 2004
Messages
501
I have a Linksys 54GL flashed with Hyperwrt Firmware Version: v4.71.1, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor15c. I have the transmit power turned up to 67 mW which I've read is a safe range. I have the extended range antenna. I'm using WPA security. It is about 1.5 years old.

The last couple weeks the signal has gotten flaky. I can't count of keeping a signal anymore. It used to work solid with signal glitches being rare. Now, they happen on a very fequent basis. How can I tell if my router is dying?

I have a huge number of signals in the area competing - I've read channels 1 6 and 11 are the only ones to use and all three have strong signals competing with mine.

I'm not opposed to buying a new router but I don't want to waste money if I don't need to.

If I do buy a router - please suggest one for me.
 
Well, having tons of traffic flying around (ie. many many other wireless devices) will cause all sorts of trouble. There's not really too much that can be done about that. There are so many wireless signals near me right now that my cordless phone barely works.

As for routers, check out http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1226866 for a pretty good list of wireless routers that are all aimed at people looking for high performance.

Odds are that your router is fine, it's probably just all the congestion in the area.
 
If lots of neighboring wireless LANs..run a site survey and see which of ch 1, 6, and 11 is least occupied..and change yours to that one.

Unique SSID

Some areas are just too congested..and in those cases..not much you can do, outside of realize the fact that wireless may not work for you. Esp of you have lots of bad interference...many nearby cordless phones, close neighbors with microwaves, gas station across the street with quick pass feature, neighbors that may have gotten one of the MIMO/*N model units that kills neighboring WLANs. Similar situation for me several months ago...and I setup networks for a living. Current house I moved to...no matter what access points I used...wireless just wasn't being steady for me...full strength most of the time, but occasional cutouts. I went to powerline adapters. Online gaming back to smoooooth as buttah like I ran CAT6 to the router.
 
I believe the main reason 1-6-11 are recommened is because they are at the top, middle, and bottom of the 2.4 ghz spectrum. I'd first try each of those channels, but if you don't get any good results, try other frequencies. You could also try the suggestions below.

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html - if you can aim your signal in one direction (would have to work for your house) this might work for you.

You could try another 802.11b/g router to see if yours is defective, but I doubt it is.. I'm guessing you'll run into the same issues.

If buying a new rotuer go with something that uses another frequency range 802.11b/g uses 2.4ghz - if you could go with 802.11a it works in the 5ghz range - probably won't have much competition there. 802.11n uses both 2.4ghz and 5ghz, which may also help you.
 
Changing from 1 6 or 11 will probably not help at all and if you look at the graphic here it will explain why.. (Everything overlaps except 1 6 and 11).

EDIT (Noticed teststrips said the same thing about a ;)) It would be a reinvestment, but you could go with 802.11a which runs in the 5ghz range, but that requires a new AP as well as cards if they do not support 802.11a.
 
The DLink DGL-4500 is DLinks newest high-end gamer router. It has dual-band N. Maybe moving your wireless up to the 5.8Ghz band is your solution.

It's a damned fine router to boot.


MUCHO said:
I have a Linksys 54GL flashed with Hyperwrt Firmware Version: v4.71.1, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor15c. I have the transmit power turned up to 67 mW which I've read is a safe range. I have the extended range antenna. I'm using WPA security. It is about 1.5 years old.

The last couple weeks the signal has gotten flaky. I can't count of keeping a signal anymore. It used to work solid with signal glitches being rare. Now, they happen on a very fequent basis. How can I tell if my router is dying?

I have a huge number of signals in the area competing - I've read channels 1 6 and 11 are the only ones to use and all three have strong signals competing with mine.

I'm not opposed to buying a new router but I don't want to waste money if I don't need to.

If I do buy a router - please suggest one for me.
Click to expand...
 
I killed it - upped the power and it was getting hot. So I opened it up and added a few heatsinks. I didn't think I damaged anything but when I turned it back on it was dead dead dead. :D

So I bought one of the N draft high powered deals and hope to fuck with all my neighbors now.
 
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