[Shop-talk] Wireless router - signal boost

[Wayne]

Mark Andy wrote:
> Boost the signal range... Really?
> I've got a wrt54g and the location its in doesn't cover the whole house 
> very well.  I've heard about the different firmware's available, but never 
> heard that you could boost the signal with them...

I've dug through the source code to some of the Linksys boxes that it's available for.  Apparently the same frequency range is used in many countries.  But local regulations may not allow full strength.  The USA spec one I looked at had, IIRC 12 channels.  #1 and #12 at the extreme ranges were knocked down to like 70% power, but the ones in between were 100%.  For some other countries, they were only around 2/3 power across the whole range.

Apparently a lot of the WAPs' signal is like a horizontal plane.  If the receiver is in the plane at the same elevation, reception is good;  even over a long range.  But a slight vertical displacement may cause lousy reception, even if you're close by.  So you might try repositioning the antenna or box for a better signal.

  -Wayne