wireless problems / connection dropouts

Hi,

I have a small wifi setup at my office thats causing me a lot of trouble. I have a 512MB broadband connection that I need to connect wirelessly to one desktop and one laptop. I have hooked up a Linksys WRT54g wireless router to the broadband modem, and installed a Linksys WMP54G PCI Card to the desktop. My Laptop is already equipped with built in WiFi card.

When I installed the wireless router at a point near the desktop and tested it it works fine, but this was just a temporary thing as the router needed to be located on the other side of the office as the main modem line comes in from that side. I have relocated the router at a spot exactly inbetween the two, with the distance from the machines around 15 metres in opposite directions. Now the signal at both locations hovers around the halfway mark only, which is not bad, except that it keeps dropping out often on the desktop. My laptop seems to hold a signal for a much longer time, but even that slows down to a stop while downloading a file by FTP and then resumes back after a short while, though the signal is stable. On the desktop, the same happens more frequently,a s well as the signal cuts off completely and then resumes after a while. Also the speed in the status bar keeps on fluctuating from 24Mbps to 2Mbps - any idea why this happens? Currently it shows my speed as 5.5Mbps even though I have four bars on my laptop.

I've tried a whole lot of things including some suggestions from the forum without any luck. I have also used netstumbler to check other WiFi connections in the area and have spotted two, both running on Channel 11, and I have tried changing the Channels (to 6 and 1) also without luck. There are also no microwave ovens or cordless phones here and there is no concrete and metal except for the main walls - everything within is partitioned with wood & cubicles.

Please help..........

[edit] I also notice that the desktop keeps getting a lower signal than the laptop even though it is slightly closer - since the PCI card has a huge antenna which the laptop does not, shouldnt it get a better signal? Also is line of sight important? currently the router is on a shelf at floor level. [/edit]

 

Hey skiddyrow,
I'd try getting your router up off the low shelf and getting it on top of a cabinet with nothing around it. See if that helps the signal strength.
Also in the properties of each wireless card, you could try maxing out the transmission power if that property is available. I didn't see a power setting in my Linksys router set up.
There are also larger antennas (stronger signal) that can be put on your router if all else fails.
See if any of that helps.

 

Might be that putting a small Directional Antenna above the Desktop pointing toward the Router might boost the signal and improve the stability of the connection.

Otherwise, the best Method to Extend Wireless Coverage depends heavily on the Specific Environment.
Look at these pages they describe most of the options that are within the means of Entry Level users, and choose the one that fits you environment best.

Link to: Extending the Distance of Entry Level Wireless Network.

Link to: Wirelessly Bridging Home / SOHO Network.

Link to: Hi Gain Antenna for Entry Level Wireless.

 

Thanks for the replies. Will try this out!

 

Tried moving the router to a higher place and the signals are now very good at both points. I still get dropouts though on the internet connection even though the signal is still at the same level (very good - 4 bars). Any idea why this happens? Sometime with FTP or with a torrent download, I find the speed going at full for some time, then after some time, dropping to zero kbps and after a short while again increasing back to full - all the while the signal stays the same (though the speed in the network connection status keeps changing). any ideas why this might be? This is causing a headache as our clients FTP server does not support upload resume, and we have to restart uplaods if this happens!