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Computer too far away from router I think

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:27 am
by dtmwerks
My computer is too far away from the router I believe. Internet is very slow in this part of the house. What can I do to determine whether the fault is from the router, my internet, my wireless card, or the distance? It's a desktop btw. The game I'm using that is painfully laggy is sc2. But everything is slow lately, very inconsistent though, but nobody is home right now and it's still laggy. It was mostly fine in my old room, so I'm fairly certain it's distance, but even when it was there, there were too many times where internet performance was below par. I wish I knew more about this topic. People's suggestions were buying access point routers, bridging and flashing as if those were the simplest instructions in the world. Maybe it got too hot in my desktop and the wireless card slightly melted, I have no idea ><

My computer is about 10+ meters away from the router, no mirrors inbetween but a few walls. Router is actiontec v1000h. Network adapter is ASUS 802.11n Wireless LAN card.

What are my options and what should I do to determine the problem? Thanks!

Re: Computer too far away from router I think

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:03 am
by Andere
I'd say there are two strict ways:

1. A meter to measure the signal
2. Simple physical testing = move the computer towards the router, to check when it starts working

It's not true exact science, since builds in the construction of your house may inflect strongly, like iron in concrete etc. One solution could be to get an extra station between the head one and your pc.

Re: Computer too far away from router I think

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:32 am
by Dark Spark
Can you get one of those amplifier/repeater/relay thingys to boost the signal?

If the plaster of the walls in your home are reinforced with chicken wire, that would certainly degrade your signal. Faraday cage effect.

Re: Computer too far away from router I think

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:04 pm
by Archea47
Download inssider and post what your RSSI with your home network is. If you could post a screenshot of inssider working (you can cover up the ssid's in paint or photoshop if you wish) we could see if your and your neighbors channel selections lead to crosstalk/interference

There are a number of options to take from there. Personally I prefer to use a higher powered network adapter instead of bridges/relays because the latter halve the speed and often require less-secure encryption.