| [cable] Want to extend range of Motorola SBG6850 Hi all,
I'm on Eastlink Cable in Halifax, NS and I was given a promo to have the SBG6850 free for 6 months. Seems to be a rather average modem at best, but I don't have a wireless router right now so it'll have to do.
The problem I'm having is that my cable comes in at one corner of the house where my desktop computer is and where my modem as a result must be located. The signal from the SBG6850 must be pretty weak since I basically don't get any signal about 55-60 feet away at the other end of the house (which is a problem, because this is where my office is located). Even in the same room, across the room, I'm getting only 4 out of 5 bars. The modem is located in a small, open computer desk about a foot off the ground.
What would you guys suggest I do to get wifi all over the house with at least 4 bars in every room?
If you suggest using a regular cable modem and switching to a wireless router to dole out wifi, what reasonably priced router would you suggest?
If you suggest getting a router and using it as a bridge halfway through the house, what router would you suggest and would bridge compatibly with the SBG6850?
Any other creative solutions are welcome as well! Thanks very much for your time and your help. |
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 sashwaPixie Cat Crunchin' n Foldin'Premium,Mod
join:2001-01-29
Alcatraz
kudos:14 | Moved into Canadian Broadband for help. |
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Jurjen
join:2010-08-18
Montreal, QC Reviews:
 ·Acanac
 ·Bell Fibe
| reply to Akina
@mod: why in Canadian broadband, it's a hardware related question...
If you really want to go cheap: get some CAT5e cable and make a wired connection to your modem.
If you're planning to move around, you should go for a nice Wireless-N router. On Kijiji you'll find some cheap Wireless-G stuff too, but in a big house where you can't have the router in the center of the house, you'll lose a lot of signal. I'm always pretty happy with the Linksys gear: it's not the cheapest, but very decent quality. I recently got an E3000 and I have a excellent connection about 3,5 rooms far from the router.
(Don't always look at bars, also look at the speed you're getting. Especially if you have low internet speed, don't over-invest in wireless speed, unless you want to share a lot of files on your local network.)
If you go for Wireless-N, make sure your computer also has the possibility to make a wireless-n connection. If your computer still works on wireless-g, you can't benefit from the advantages of wireless-n. Optionally, you could buy a wireless-n USB key to get you hooked up. |
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| Thanks Jurjen!
Unfortunately a wired connection will be much too difficult... it would have to snake all the way through the house and I couldn't do a good job at making it look half-decent. There's the possibility of running it down through the basement and back up to the office, but that's really my last, last resort.
Thankfully my desktop and laptops are all set up for wireless-N, so I'll see if I can find a good price on an E3000. Any idea if this will bridge with the SBG6850? Or should I just use the SBG6850 as a wired cable modem and use the E3000 as the sole router?
Thanks again for your help and all the tips. |
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sashwaPixie Cat Crunchin' n Foldin'Premium,Mod
join:2001-01-29
Alcatraz
kudos:14 | reply to Jurjen
I moved it here because it was posted in an almost closed forum - Broadband Modem (Hardware). |
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Jurjen
join:2010-08-18
Montreal, QC Reviews:
·Acanac
·Bell Fibe
| reply to Akina
You could use the router just as a router. It'll work fine.
Preferably connect the modem to a LAN port, not the WAN port. Otherwise you'll have an extra firewall, extra NAT translations and it'll give you an extra (small) delay in your connection. Just make sure the router and modem don't have the same address and that the DHCP is switched off in the router.
Alternatively, if you could put the modem in bridge mode (I don't know this modem, I've never been on cable) it'll become 'invisible' and you could use the router to make the connection with the internet provider. Maybe some cable users could lead you through it, maybe the router manual can be of some assistance and maybe you could even find some home-made tutorials for that on youtube. Just save your working settings in case it fails and you need to force a factory reset.  |
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| reply to Akina
Can a mod please move this to the Motorola forum? |
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| Thanks for moving it over. Still looking for options to extend the range of my network. Suggestions very welcome. Thanks! |
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