# boost wifi signal in garden office



## gooner (10 Nov 2009)

Hi.I Have an Eircom Netopia modem.I have a garden office.The router is placed in the window of my house directed at the garden office and I can get a 4-5 bars wireless signal around the window area of my garden office.But when I move the laptop to the back room of the office,then the signal drops to 2 bars.I have been looking a various options,but I think that a wireless repeater may be the best option.

Just to recap.

1. Netopia 2247 Router in house,located in window.

2. Garden Office window located at 45 degrees to the house window probably 60-80 feet away.

3. Wireless signal at the window in the front room of the garden office with my Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop is 4-5 bars.

4. Wireless signal in the back room of garden office is only 2 bars.One 4" wall between the front room and back room.Distance from front room window to back room is approx 10 foot.But I guess when I am not dirrectly at the front window,the signal possibly has to come through the outside cavity wall and then through the dividing wall.

Is my best option to place a wireless repeater in the window of the garden office,which should possibly catch a good signal from the Netopia router and then transmit on a strong signal to the back room of the home office.Am I right on this?

If so can someone recommend a repeater(s) that works well with the Netopia 2247 router. If not can anyone recommend another wireless solution(s).

Many thanks.


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## circle (10 Nov 2009)

You could get two of the networking plugs that send the signal over your electrical wires, they've come down in price now and are available in all the usual shops here.


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## gooner (10 Nov 2009)

circle said:


> You could get two of the networking plugs that send the signal over your electrical wires, they've come down in price now and are available in all the usual shops here.


 
Thanks. Only problem is that the office is on a different wiring 
loop,fusebox,meter,etc... Does that matter?


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## picassoman (10 Nov 2009)

Is is a completely different supply i.e. from the ESB pole or is the supply from the house but has its own fusebox ?


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## gooner (10 Nov 2009)

totally different supply, so a wireless solution would be best


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## Towger (10 Nov 2009)

The best solution is to run Cat 5. Failing that you may be able to add an external aerial to your network card or USB extension cable to the window etc (or change winreless card to better one which allows this), depending in its make and model etc. Then the range booster.

The cheapest option would be the Cat5, you can pick up a 30m patch cable from ebay for under €10 delivered to Ireland. It should last a few years out side, then replace with new one!


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## gooner (10 Nov 2009)

thanks,might try the cat5.wireless still my fav option.would the repeater placed in the office window catch the signal from the router and pass on a strong signal to the back room?


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## serotoninsid (10 Nov 2009)

you could upgrade to the latest wireless standard - 802.11*N* - that might give you the extra range you need - but no guarantees..

Would involve changing the router - and not sure about the laptop - if it already has it or not - otherwise, you would have to get a 802.11n standard card for it.


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## bigjoe_dub (10 Nov 2009)

get a 30m cable from maplins if you want it quick.  best option.  you can spend some time making the cable run neat and tidy.  also you can then at a cheap switch in the future so you can run other PC's / laptops if you want.


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## gooner (11 Nov 2009)

gooner said:


> Hi.I Have an Eircom Netopia modem.I have a garden office.The router is placed in the window of my house directed at the garden office and I can get a 4-5 bars wireless signal around the window area of my garden office.But when I move the laptop to the back room of the office,then the signal drops to 2 bars.I have been looking a various options,but I think that a wireless repeater may be the best option.
> 
> Just to recap.
> 
> ...


 
Was thinking of the following solutions.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Wire...xtender/dp/B000IE8STS/ref=dp_cp_ob_ce_title_0
[broken link removed]
[broken link removed]

Also added a picture of my setup

[broken link removed]


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## ozeirecomp (30 Dec 2009)

You could try the tips at 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnMFp4NYXXM

see if that expends your wifi


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## babaduck (30 Dec 2009)

If it's any help, I bought a Belkin N150 Enhanced Wireless Router with enhanced USB adapter in PC World the other day for €90.  After a few calls to their amazingly helpful tech support (my 6 y/o Dell desktop and brand new Vaio laptop weren't loving each other with the router), I now have full strength throughout the house where before  I only had very patchy signal downstairs which constantly dropped.

The good thing was that PC World guaranteed me a full refund if the product wasn't suitable, so you can take a chance in confidence.


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## newirishman (30 Dec 2009)

gooner said:


> Hi.I Have an Eircom Netopia modem.I have a garden office.The router is placed in the window of my house directed at the garden office and I can get a 4-5 bars wireless signal around the window area of my garden office.But when I move the laptop to the back room of the office,then the signal drops to 2 bars.I have been looking a various options,but I think that a wireless repeater may be the best option.
> 
> Just to recap.
> 
> ...



Do you actually have any connection issues or are you just not happy having only two bars? You might still get full 54mb even if only 1 or two bars. Also, if it is only for internet access then everything up to 20MB (depending on your broad band access) would be enough anyway.


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## irishpancake (1 Jan 2010)

Have a look here

You can load DD-WRT firmware onto the cheap Linksys WRT54GL or similar supported router, and boost your wireless signal substantially.

Here is a list of [broken link removed]

Certainly worth a try, and all you would have to do is acquire a cheap router from e-bay, or similar site.


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