How to extend the range of wireless router?
Asked by
Gruz06 (
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)
December 6th, 2010
My family recently bought a laptop to replace our old desktop. My father wants to move the desktop to his garage to alleviate the hassle of coming inside during the day to check his email or look up work related information. He was just going to use a wireless adapter to pick up our wi-fi signal, however, the signal in his garage is abysmal. He suggested running an ethernet cable from the house to the garage, but I feel there has to be an easier way. Will a range extender do the trick? (The garage is roughly 200 ft away from where the router is currently placed) Or would it be beneficial just to run an ethernet cable?
We have a Netgear Wireless N Router.
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3 Answers
First, I recommend trying the signal at different points in the garage. If the wireless adapter is USB-based this is trivially easy, but if it’s a PCI adapter (inside the computer) then you might need an external antenna, in which case the ethernet cable might be easier / cheaper after all.
Consider the construction of the garage and the placement of the receiving antenna with respect to the wireless router; concrete is a fair absorber of radio waves, and steel rebar can scatter them. If possible, the “line of sight” between the two antennas should be direct- if walls are in the way it should pass through them perpendicularly and not at an angle. An angle of 45 degrees doubles the amount of wall the signal must penetrate.
200 feet is a little far, but it is within theoretical range if there are no obstructions.
Yes, a range extender might work, and it might be worthwhile for other reasons too- I don’t see any reason not to try it.
@koanhead – GA!
Another solution is to purchase a signal repeater or range extender (not this particular model, necessarily) that will take the signal from the existing WiFi router and bounce it further. You could put it within the current range, but somewhere close to the garage. You can buy these kinds of devices at reasonable cost.
Ethernet cable is impractical in terms of running it a long distance through the house, not to mention it can get expensive. I think I’ve paid $10 for a 5’ cable, so for long distances, that would be too costly for my taste. You would spend much less if you bought a repeater/extender (even a couple would be cheaper).
Depending on what kind of wireless card the desktop PC has, you can also buy gadgets for increasing signal input. If it has an antenna, you can buy inexpensive antenna reflectors, build your own parabola (instructions on the internets), or you can buy/build a Cantenna.
More info about all of this here.
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