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boosting wireless signal

Set your linksys to Access Point mode, attach it to the Actiontec, turn off wireless on the Actiontec, and you're done.

reply to wayne d
Here is a great site for inexpensive ideas on WiFi signal boosting.

»www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz

reply to stanh2002
Stan: Thanks for the idea. I am somewhat of a novice and have a few specific questions that are probably stupid unless you know nothing about this stuff (like me). 1) The computer hardwired to the Actiontec is new. Will the Linksys be recognized or do I have to download any software? 2) How exactly do you set the Linksys to Access Point? 3) How do you turn off the wireless setting on the Actiontec? 4) What plugs into what and how many cables do I need? Thanks again for your help.

reply to wayne d
I am a rather novice myself but I will help you out as I can (partly to keep this thread alive cause i'm doing the same thing because i'm not a big fan of this router they have [also going through 2 floors to my router]).

Is it really as easy as setting the secondary to act as an Access Point? You can NOT bridge because of the need for the anctiontec to control the TVs right? Do you lose performance by using two routers?

As to answer some of your questions Wayne:
1) from what stan said it seems like (if it's easy) the linksys will be recognized
2) You can set up a router by connecting it by cable to your computer and then opening internet explore and typing 192.168.1.1 into the address bar.
- I'm not sure what will happen when u do this while having the actiontec router active seeing as 192.168.1.1 will be the ip address to both the actiontec and your linksys, you may open up it's setup instead of the linksys
3) basically the same as step 2 - 192.168.1.1 in the address bar
- this will bring up a log in screen - default log in for the actiontec is username: "admin" and password: "password" - sometimes the techs who installed ur router switch the password to "password1" so try that also
4) by setting the linksys up as an access point you should just connect one of the LAN ports of the actiontec to one of the LAN ports on the linksys (not the WAN port that you may have used for digital cable before you got fios)

P.S. - even if u do get the better (for range) router working you may want to look into the simple directional antenna - I have one I made called the windsurfer on my antenna, and yes I think I did notice a difference. Takes about 30 minutes to make. This first video at the top of this page shows you exactly how to make it. The template is linked right about video. tip: make the template as big as you can fit on a peice of paper with out distroting it for best results.
Link -
»www.folkstone.ca/main/community/···nna.html

reply to wayne d
There are a bunch of threads on how to setup the actiontec as a bridge with working guide and VOD. So I will not rehash this.

Currently my setup, I have the AT bridged, to an openbsd router (with 3 interfaces), 1 interface pulls the verizon IP and is the external gateway, 1 interface is a server network which VPN's to a virtual private server with a real static that does port forwarding and natting of real services (this gets complicated, I could explain how I have done it, or search for my other thread, this gets past verizons filters on inbound traffic), and 1 interface goes to the local lan in my house. I run my own DHCP and DNS, so I have the Dlink DIR-655 in AP mode (no routing, no dhcp), I had (after rewiring my house for 10/100/1000 ethernet I had no need for it) a second dlink dir-655 that was associated and bridged to the first AP to increase my range.

This is probably what you want, you can daisy chain wireless access points (the netgear 802.11n routers actually have the easiest setup for doing this, but almost all AP's have this functionality).

reply to wayne d
Some answers.

1) Set your Linksys to access point (AP) mode first. The easiest way is to attach your PC straight to the Linksys. I am assuming you can get the doc from the Linksys web site on how to do this and follow the directions, and that your Linksys router supports AP mode. If it does not, get a newer one off of eBay (about $15). Once you do this, you won't be able to "see" the Linksys anymore. You will have to reset it to see it (at least my Dlink works that way).

2) Log on to the Actiontec (AT) and turn off wireless mode. Log on to the AT (192.168.1.1), go to wireless settings under quick links, go to option 1, turn wireless off.

3) Run one ethernet cable from any AT Lan port to any Linksys Lan port.

That should be it.

I spent too many hours trying to get the bridging to work. I gave up before this post (Make your actiontec a bridge with VOD working with REV D (: 1 2 3 e)), if you are adventuresome you can try it.

Thanks.

reply to wayne d
Wayne, it is important to note that the dipole whip antenna on the AT router is not global omni-directional. It broadcasts in a more or less doughnut shape perpendicular to the orientation of the antenna. If the antenna is vertical, the signal will radiate outward in a mostly horizontal direction, but not much straight upward or down. Thus, you usually will get adequate signal throughout the same level of the house, but less up or downstairs. In your case, 2 stories down doesn't work at all.

Also, the advertising claims of 100 feet or whatever are based on clear open space. If there are any obstructions with significant density, the signal will degrade. The thicker the obstruction, the more the degradation. A rule of thumb is 3 walls and you're out. A floor is as good as (or should I say as bad as..) an extra-thick wall. If the direct line to the antenna must go through a wall or floor at an angle, the effective thickness of that wall is much greater than the actual thickness.

Soooo... what to do to get more signal strength down to the basement... Before you go to a whole bunch of trouble configuring a second router, try flipping the antenna on the AT router to horizontal and rotate it as needed so the doughnut of signal strength is oriented toward the basement computer. Maybe that will be enough.

HTH
dw

But thats no fun.. you want to play around and try to configure a second router... hell if I could get my neighbours to let me, I would consider linking up everyones access points and setup each of the respective neighbours network links via bgp routing for multihomed goodness... but then again thats just me and I am a sadist and enjoy this stuff

lol...don't laugh at the notion. Enterprising person installed exterior antennae...

PFD

reply to wayne d
This maybe a newbie question but why is the approach of configuring the second router as an access point preferable to simply plugging it into the Actiontec router (turning off the Actiontec's wireless) and running it as a regualr wireless router - if the only point is to boost the signal stregnth by using a router with better signat reach such as an N router?

Thanks. Sounds like its worth giving the access point approach a try. BTW we'll be up in your neck of the woods in May for our son's graduation from RISD.

I have had major issues with all the N routers except the Dlink DIR-655. My Dell laptop has the Intel 3945 ABG wireless card, and with the netgear and the linksys, it would connect initially, but shortly there after the connection would die, and not reconnect till I rebooted both the router and the laptop... annoying as hell. Don't even get me started on WPS (Wifi Protected Setup), while a nice notion, does not work worth crap unless you have all the same vendor equipment (like I said, Intel card and Netgear/Linksys... not very friendly).

The best option, is to daisy chain WIFI AP's (cheap ones), stick one on each floor in a hidden spot, and you should get the entire house covered (this is a moot point if you only have 1 or 2 level house, but 3+ levels where the AP is on the top or bottom becomes a major problem.

Or you could go my route.. a few weekends ago I had to reroute all teh coax from outside to inside to make my back yard look nicer (wife is workin on garden and stuff.. and coax running on the outside wall was unsightly... heh). At the same time, I ran cat5e, so each room now has a coax and a ethernet drop in the wall...

reply to wayne d
will this introduce lag?