Laptop Wifi

[DIYspanner]

I've got an Advent 7109A laptop with integral Wifi.

Now the house is an old farmhouse with quite thick stone walls and the the wireless can only get a signal from the Netgear router when its in the next room.

Would I fair any better if I picked up a newer USB wifi dongle from ebay?

 

[Diyisfun]

Speak to your BB provider first & tell them the problem & get there advise

 

[kjacko]

ISP won't care. They'll tell you what you already know.

You could get a wireless extender and see if that helps.

An USB wifi adaptor 'may' help as you usually get a usb extension cable with them so you can at least mvoe the dongle around to try and pickup a stronger signal, but don't hold your breath.

 

[Monkeh]

Welcome to the pitfalls of wireless.

Short of setting up a small army of APs around the house, there's not a lot you can do.

 

[^woody^]

A new dongle may help, but be careful about some of the cheaper ones and the output may be crap and there might not be any good drivers. Do your research first to find one that will work well with your machine

A repeater or additional access point may be a much better investment though

If just try the trick with a metal dish, tin foil, or metal mesh food strainer behind the router antenna to form a directional antenna

 

[drnowt]

I have successfully used powerline equipment to overcome similar problems:

http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline.htm

With this range of devices the electrical wiring in your house is used to carry network traffic. A combination of different devices in this range may be required to satisfy your requirements.

The quality and age of your electrical installation will affect the level of success so check the returns policy if you decide to pursue this.

 

[AssociatedAlarm]

Slightly higher Mbps http://www.maplin.co.uk/devolo-200mbps-powerline-kit-98007

 

[lee2009]

with high speed broadband on its way and available (bt infinirty for example) id deffo not be recomending ip wireless thorugh those devices.

a better router could possibly be in order, you can also check your laptops wifi to make sure the power is set to high for tx/rx,

you could also try placing the router in a more central position in the house.

 

[AssociatedAlarm]

Errr check again, the above IS AN ALTERNATIVE to WiFi.

 

[lee2009]

yes woops, ignore the wifi, been some issues with getting full speeds thorugh those homeplug things, between router and pc / laptop

 

[lee2009]

yes woops, ignore the wifi, been some issues with getting full speeds thorugh those homeplug things, between router and pc / laptop

 

[Monkeh]

yes woops, ignore the wifi, been some issues with getting full speeds thorugh those homeplug things, between router and pc / laptop

Still faster and more reliable than wifi, frankly.