How Do I Extend My Wireless Internet
There are many options for extending your wireless Internet in your home or office so that you're not confined to certain places.
The question of how to extend your wireless Internet comes up over and over again. You have Internet, but can’t access it in certain locations in your house or office since the signal isn’t as strong in other parts. It is often very annoying to be confined to using the Internet in certain places instead of everywhere and anywhere you please. After all, you are paying for it, so why not enjoy it everywhere you possibly can.
If you are getting a weak signal from your wireless network and are having problems being dropped from the Internet or a slow running Internet than it most likely means that you need to rethink your wireless connection. Improving the signal you get for your wireless network is the best way to extend the reach of your wireless network. Here are some tips to have your wireless connection work the way you need and want it to.
The usual way to increase WiFi coverage is to add access points (APs) to your wireless router. A wireless router is indeed two devices in one: a router and an AP. So using its LAN ports, one can add any number of APs to improve coverage. An AP is placed near the area of poor coverage and a cat5 cable runs from it to the router. It need not be centered in the poor signal area.
An alternative is to place a "WDS Repeater" at a place where it can receive a signal from the w-router. It will repeat all data to and from the w-router for client devices that are in its coverage footprint and where those devices get a better signal to/from the WDS device than the w-router.
The best choice is actually the AP solution because the cat5 connection avoids another vulnerable wireless link as in the WDS case, and the AP is not a repeater, so there's no reduction in throughput/speed or increased latency. There are purpose-built APs on the market. There are multi-function devices where one is an AP mode. Any w-router can be "faked" into being an AP.
It is also possible to have two wireless routers communicate with each other in different rooms wirelessly: the first router hosting the Internet connection and the second router as just an AP. There are a couple ways to do this - one is to configure the device to act as a repeater/bridge. Another is to use a repeating protocol called WDS or Wireless Distribution System. Many devices can support firmware options (replace stock firmware) with web based GUI firmware to open up many new features of these routers.
How you position your wireless router, or the wireless access point can make a difference in the type of signal that you get from your wireless network. Another way to get a better signal is to place he router in a central location in the house or office. It is not a big problem if you can't move your wireless router because there are still other ways to improve you wireless network connections. If you have your wireless network router on the floor your connection may be improved by moving it off the floor. You may also extend the reach of your wireless network by moving the router away from walls or any metal file cabinets or other metal objects. Walls, floors and any metal can interfere with the wireless signals coming from your router. The closer your wireless router is to walls, floors or metal objects the weaker your signal will be because of interference from those objects. However, this does not always work, but it never hurts to try.
You can also try replacing the router's antenna if needed. The antenna that comes with your router broadcast a signal in all directions. However, if your router is near an outside wall then you are losing half the wireless signals to the outside of your home. This will also waste your power that is needed for your wireless network. You can overcome this problem by upgrading to a high-gain antenna that will allow you to focus the wireless signals in only one direction and aim that signal in the direction that you need it the most.
With various options to choose from, extending your wireless Internet isn’t hard at all and depends on how you’d like to go about it.
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