Wireless desktop card: Extend the range.

**Tick** · 12-27-09, 02:32 PM

I was getting a really crappy signal with my old 360 wireless adapter. Straightened out a coat hanger, wrapped it around the antenna a few times, then taped it to the wall, got a 1-2 bar boost, no joke.

If you want to go high tech and spend money, there are signal boosters/relays available. Just search around on Newegg.

**Viktor_Olin** · 12-27-09, 03:32 PM

Yep, antenna "add-ons" can significantly boost signal. Unfortunately, the Linksys WRT310N router has no external antennae.

If, after trying all the usual things to boost signal, you still find the signal strength remains poor, you may have to purchase a signal booster as Tick mentioned. There appear, however, to be very few available that support wireless N. Here are two:

http://www.amazon.com/Hawking-HWREN1.../dp/B001DMEYCY

http://www.buy.com/prod/engenius-300...213273244.html

I can't attest to the effectiveness of either one. The reviews are quite mixed.

**DonVitoJr** · 12-27-09, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by Tick

I was getting a really crappy signal with my old 360 wireless adapter. Straightened out a coat hanger, wrapped it around the antenna a few times, then taped it to the wall, got a 1-2 bar boost, no joke.

That didnt work... Ill see if i can get an antenna off of my old router and use that.

**Viktor_Olin** · 12-27-09, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by DonVitoJr

Originally Posted by Tick

I was getting a really crappy signal with my old 360 wireless adapter. Straightened out a coat hanger, wrapped it around the antenna a few times, then taped it to the wall, got a 1-2 bar boost, no joke.

That didnt work... Ill see if i can get an antenna off of my old router and use that.

I thought the WRT310N had internal antennae. Is there an external connector for an antenna?

**WileECyte** · 12-27-09, 10:38 PM

Which Netgear card did you get for your desktop? You might have better luck with an N vs a G card as N is supposed to be more effective through walls and whatnot. Personally, I don't like using internal PCI/PCI-E cards for wifi. I'd much rather use USB where I can position the device anywhere I want.

**GReYVee** · 12-27-09, 10:59 PM

I actually think a PCI wireless card was a good choice. USB cards tend to have a shitty life-span and poor performance in comparison. You could try going into your linksys router settings and first changing the standard channel. Instructions easily acceccable on the Linksys site. By default this is usually set to channel 6. It is a trial and error but you could cycle from channel 1 all the way to 11 and see if there are any significant improvements.

http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/WRT310N

However, you may want to see what the other wireless computers in your house have. If they also run on N you could set the router to N-Mode only. I suggest checking this out first because running in mixed mode (Both G and N) has a tendancy to cause constant disconnect issues.

Your router is upgrade-able in the effect that you can update the firmware. Always do this with at least the latest linksys firmware (found in the same link under the 'more' section). You can also programmatically boost the power-output of the router if you upgrade to custom firmware. Like DD-WRT. But the process for this is not something for the faint of heart.. as the process of unfucking your router if/when something goes wrong is somewhat technical.

**laggyNgroovy** · 12-27-09, 11:10 PM

How low is low?

http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

Best run from a laptop as you move around so you can actually see what is going on as you move around, but you could run it from your desktop, go upstairs, move the router, go back down to see if it has any appreciable difference. Lather, wash, rinse, repeat as you move your PC around.

**Phyrelight** · 12-28-09, 09:27 AM

firmware upgrades or switching to 3rd party firmware has fixed 100% of any problem I have had with a router, wireless or not. If your wireless router is that old, depending on how long it sat on the shelf before you bought it, the firmware is likely very very out of date.

**DonVitoJr** · 12-28-09, 04:27 PM

Ok heres the status of my issue.

Last night our router flat lined and didnt work anymore, after i updated the firmware. Not doing it agian. Today, got a better netgear router and i get a low signal. I tried using coat hanger, coat hanger and speaker wire, speaker wire, AM/FM antenna, old router antenna, touching the card with my finger, and didnt get above 54mbps. I dont know what to do to get a better signal.