Wifi

[N2gaming]

Hello Group,
How do I to tell if my home wifi signal is weak? Let me explain, my daughter bought a PS4 and uses it in her room which is only about 20 feet away from my home router with only two walls between the two items.

So now that she is gaming with it she asks pretty frequently to reboot my router because the signal keeps dropping off for her and after a reboot everything seems fine but

this goes on almost every night. Is there a device that I can make my wifi signal stronger or something like that???? Thanks, Jake

 

[mnewsham]

Hello Group,
How do I to tell if my home wifi signal is weak? Let me explain, my daughter bought a PS4 and uses it in her room which is only about 20 feet away from my home router with only two walls between the two items.

So now that she is gaming with it she asks pretty frequently to reboot my router because the signal keeps dropping off for her and after a reboot everything seems fine but

this goes on almost every night. Is there a device that I can make my wifi signal stronger or something like that???? Thanks, Jake

From my experiences with my own PS4, it's wifi signal strength is rather garbage. You can get a range extender such as this one.
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Wi-Fi-Range-Extender-TL-WA855RE/dp/B0195Y0A42

Or if your house is relatively modern construction you can use a powerline adapter and then just plug the PS4 in via ethernet. http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Adapter-Starter/dp/B00AWRUICG/

 

[N2gaming]

Thanks

 

[JackMDS]

Extender or Powerline both are very Iffy solutions, many time they do not work.

If you decide to go by them make sure that you can return the Hardware if it does not work.

The for sure solution is to lay an additional network wire and connect an AP or Wireless Router configured as an AP somewhere between the Main Router and the destination

Using Wireless Routers (or Modem/Wireless Router) as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

 

[myocardia]

Location, location, location. Wireless networking is pretty much only about location(s). For every degree 'off' that the receiver and the transmitter happen to be from each other, every wall that they have to traverse becomes ~twice as thick. That doesn't sound bad, if you have them more or less lined up exactly, and they're only a couple of degrees apart.

Now move one to the N (let's call it left corner), and the other to the S (right corner). That's 90° of divergence, assuming they are not in the same room. Now each of those two walls are no longer made of air and sheetrock, they are now made up entirely of yellow pine (or whichever wood the 2x4s in your house are composed of), and they are many, many feet thick. Which do you think the radio waves that your wireless networking is composed of will get better reception through, ¾-inch sheetrock times four (two walls, remember), plus some air, or many feet of solid wood?

BTW, the closer to your ceiling that you have your wireless router, the farther it will be able to broadcast*. The closer to the floor you have your router, the lesser the distance it will be able to broadcast. The more items put in front of it, the lesser the distance it will be able to broadcast, and the lesser the items located in front of it, the farther it will be able to broadcast, etc, etc.

*This is because it will now no longer broadcasting directly through the furniture that was surrounding it, when it was located much lower.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

Avoid powerline at all costs, a waste of money.

Look at your wifi router (AP), check if it is configured correctly.
Enable the width as only 20 Mhz wide.
Only use channels 1 or 6 or 11, no other, ever.
enable WPA2-AES security, to make sure no one else is using it, keep it secure.

As is only 20 ft, run an Ethernet cable.

 

[PliotronX]

Avoid powerline at all costs, a waste of money.

Look at your wifi router (AP), check if it is configured correctly.
Enable the width as only 20 Mhz wide.
Only use channels 1 or 6 or 11, no other, ever.
enable WPA2-AES security, to make sure no one else is using it, keep it secure.

As is only 20 ft, run an Ethernet cable.

I will countervail the assertion that PNA is "a waste of money." My little pair of Tp-Link non-MiMO PNAs served well before I was able to run ethernet. Certainly faster and more readily kept latency low compared to a wireless bridge. The major bonus is that walls don't stop it as easily as they do 11a. Also, fail at only using those three channels. You haven't dealt with crowded areas, have you? I mean when there are half a dozen stations on channel 1, at least ten on channel 6 and many more on channel 11? I see much more consistent throughput and latency in between those channels when they are occupied. The only solid recommendation you have made is WPA2.

 

[mikeymikec]

I will countervail the assertion that PNA is "a waste of money."

+1

In most circumstances, given the choice I'd go for wifi over powerline/homeplug (purely from an expense and "good enough" perspective), but the fact of the matter is, sometimes if wifi doesn't reach well, homeplug is worth looking at. All it takes for wifi to have problems are supporting walls in problematic places, or if the house is old enough, one good old solid stone wall (and yes, I do encounter that scenario on a regular enough basis, living near the sticks in the UK and doing the job I do).

I've had an order of magnitude less problems with powerline/homeplug than wireless signal repeating / range extending, and I know a few tricks for optimising wireless reception.

Powerline/homeplug has limitations of course, for example it depends on the layout of circuits in the house, it prefers wall sockets and doesn't like multi-way extension leads (especially with surge protection features).

 

[JoeMcJoe]

Powerline networking is not 100% reliable. Not good enough for me, it might be good enough for others.

Use both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz for wifi, configured correctly for the location.

Yes, I have used wifi in many areas. It isn't a simple plug in and forget it technology, you have to plans, test, deploy.

 

[N2gaming]

Thanks everyone