Wi-fi - To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question

[Jersey Devil]

I am thinking of upgrading my router from a Dell Truemobile 1184 (802.11b) due to the fact that I want more speed and frankly sometimes the connections at extreme ends of the house (about 40 feet from the router) sometimes drift in and out, which affects 2 of my computers.

I am thinking of switching to a Belkin Wireless Pre-N Router because the reviews I've read give it the best range and speed of any other router.

But I have 3 questions:

1- Should I wait until the N standard is ironed out later this year and then get a true N router or will that not matter?

2 - Won't I have to get matching cards for the receiving computers to get the full benefit of the MIMO technology or will the existing cards (Dell 1184 cards) do?

3- Short of replacing the router and possible the wireless cards, is there anything cheap that can really boost the signal from the router to the cards?

[DavidMS]

1. Couple of thoughts

I would wait for the N standard to be realeased and for the second generation of N gear.

To extend the range of your network, you may be able to get improved antennas for the Router. On some Routers (like Linksys) you can get high gain antennas. Some antennas are availiable from 3rd parties. Remember you still need to stay within FCC regs regarding transmit power.

Even without a upgrade to the wireless card, it will make a diffrence. I used to be unable to get a steady signal unill I upgraded the Antennas. Afterwareds I was able to get a rock-solid signal. YMMV.

What router are you useing?

[Ready4Change]

2. Want to try something cheap and a little wacky?

Take a look at http://www.FreeAntennas.com . It has plans for several, do it yourself, parabolic reflectors you can attach to your wireless APs antennas and boost your range. You can make them yourself using thin carboard, tinfoil, and tape. (Particularly look at the EZ-12 and EZ-10.)

I didn't buy the whole story, but I was bored one day and, after looking at their site and plans, just whipped up my own without any plans at all. I was shocked that it appeared to actually work.

So, using my wifes Windows laptop, and my Mac, it did what little I could to measure the improvement, or lack there of. Comparing the number of bars and any numerics on the readouts I could find, I determined (unscientifically) I was getting somewhere between 5% to 15% improvement in signal strength, without any noticable change in the signals stability. I could get a signal in distant parts of the house I couldn't before.

I tested it with the cheap antennas on, with them off, and with them installed backwards.

Oddly, the signal didn't seem to get any worse with them on backwards.

I'm not claiming it'll work for you. But I will say, it took me about 30 minutes and almost no money to make these things. I just used junk cardboard (empty boxes that soda cans came in), some tinfoil and tape. And they seem to have an effect. You don't have much to loose in trying it out.

(And no, I don't wear them on my head. :tinfoilhat: :) )