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[Connectivity] 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi Signal |
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camperjust visiting this planet Premium Member join:2010-03-21 Bethel, CT |
camper
Premium Member
2014-Nov-26 9:59 am
[Connectivity] Re: 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi Signal   #5 should also mention that the metal shelving is not helpful to good radio signals.
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train_wreckslow this bird down join:2013-10-04 Antioch, TN
2 recommendations |
to andyross
And whatever you do, don't call in and have us disable the "xfinitywifi" open hotstpot, because that makes your modem sad |
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neufuse join:2006-12-06 James Creek, PA |
to andyross
#10? seriously they are using a gateway device and saying regularly reboot it? it has battery backup! using a timer won't reboot it! |
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BinkVillains... knock off all that evil join:2006-05-14 Colorado
2 recommendations |
Bink
Member
2014-Nov-26 11:32 am
said by neufuse:#10? seriously they are using a gateway device and saying regularly reboot it? LOL! I think all the tips are really great, but the one about daily reboots takes the cake! Got to love daily reboot recommendations for consumer-class networking gear! |
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NetFixerFrom My Cold Dead Hands Premium Member join:2004-06-24 The Boro Netgear CM500 Pace 5268AC TRENDnet TEW-829DRU
1 recommendation |
to andyross
3. Don't put your router here [next to windows]. You might as well throw half your signal out the window. Unless of course, you might want your WiFi to cover your outdoor garden/patio/pool area. The WiFi gateway in my apartment complex's leasing office (I maintain their network) is right next to a window overlooking the patio/pool area because the apartment management wanted to offer WiFi access to pool users. My own WiFi router is also very near a window that has a view of my own patio area. |
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taoman Premium Member join:2013-09-13 Seattle, WA |
to neufuse
said by neufuse:#10? seriously they are using a gateway device and saying regularly reboot it? it has battery backup! using a timer won't reboot it! Comcast hasn't provided battery backup for any of their modems since March of 2013. You can buy one but it certainly isn't included. Heck, just pick up one of those gateway modems.....they're light as a feather. The FCC doesn't require it so Comcast doesn't provide it (without you paying extra for it). |
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to camper
said by camper:  #5 should also mention that the metal shelving is not helpful to good radio signals. I'm not sure if it would have much effect in the sample shown. It's a large mesh that the WiFi should generally be able to get through. Solid steel or something like a metal window screen would block it. |
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cHarley join:2013-07-10 Boynton Beach, FL Motorola MB8600 (Software) pfSense
1 recommendation |
to Bink
said by Bink:LOL! I think all the tips are really great, but the one about daily reboots takes the cake! Got to love daily reboot recommendations for consumer-class networking gear! Doesn't the "reboot" fix come from every other line in the CC CSR script? |
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to neufuse
said by neufuse:#10? seriously they are using a gateway device and saying regularly reboot it? it has battery backup! using a timer won't reboot it! But, how many have a working battery? Comcast doesn't supply batteries anymore. |
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cHarley join:2013-07-10 Boynton Beach, FL Motorola MB8600 (Software) pfSense
3 recommendations |
cHarley
Member
2014-Nov-26 11:50 am
said by andyross:But, how many have a working battery? Comcast doesn't supply batteries anymore. But don't most (knowledgeable) people use a UPS on their network equipment anyway? |
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camperjust visiting this planet Premium Member join:2010-03-21 Bethel, CT
3 recommendations |
to andyross
said by andyross:I'm not sure if it would have much effect in the sample shown.   I was thinking less of the penetrating aspect of the signal and more of the proximity to the antenna aspect. If the metal shelf is close to the antenna, then it could couple with the antenna, change the EMF characteristics of the antenna, and subsequently alter the radiation pattern. In general, it's good practice to keep metal away from antennas. |
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neufuse join:2006-12-06 James Creek, PA |
to andyross
they give a battery with their Arris eMTA they (Comcast) sells on amazon, and I thought they bugged you if your battery was missing or dead to replace it? |
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neufuse |
to andyross
Re: [Connectivity] 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi SignalAnd ontop of all that, doesn't Comcast automatically reboot their emta/modems/gateway devices when they do firmware / software updates? *scratches head* I thought it was part of their process... at some point it will reboot |
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gar187erI DID this for a living join:2006-06-24 Seattle, WA |
to cHarley
Re: [Connectivity] Re: 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi Signalsaid by cHarley:said by Bink:LOL! I think all the tips are really great, but the one about daily reboots takes the cake! Got to love daily reboot recommendations for consumer-class networking gear! Doesn't the "reboot" fix come from every other line in the CC CSR script? also every electronic manufacturer. |
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Motorola MG8725 Asus RT-N66
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to andyross
Re: [Connectivity] 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi SignalSeems like their gateways are so bad that even a laptop next to it doesn't even get a connection! Hehe |
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1 recommendation |
to Bink
Re: [Connectivity] Re: 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi SignalIf you're on comcast, you are already regularly rebooting your device. |
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LetterD join:2002-05-03 East Lansing, MI |
to andyross
Re: [Connectivity] 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi Signal#10 must be some sort of joke. |
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train_wreckslow this bird down join:2013-10-04 Antioch, TN Cisco ASA 5506 Cisco DPC3939
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to gar187er
Re: [Connectivity] Re: 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi Signalsaid by gar187er:said by cHarley:said by Bink:LOL! I think all the tips are really great, but the one about daily reboots takes the cake! Got to love daily reboot recommendations for consumer-class networking gear! Doesn't the "reboot" fix come from every other line in the CC CSR script? also every electronic manufacturer. hardly.... certainly not quality ones. my ubiquiti edgerouter lite contains no such recommendation, for example. any good networking kit should rarely, if ever, NEED rebooting. |
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Jim721 join:2014-07-31 Belleville, MI
5 recommendations |
to andyross
Re: [Connectivity] 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi SignalThe #1 reason you might be killing your home Wi-Fi signal.. Using a comcast supplied gateway. |
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cHarley join:2013-07-10 Boynton Beach, FL Motorola MB8600 (Software) pfSense
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said by Jim721:The #1 reason you might be killing your home Wi-Fi signal.. Using a comcast supplied gateway. I believe we have a winner............ |
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NetDog Premium Member join:2002-03-04 Hollywood, FL
8 recommendations |
to andyross
11# Take the applications that hog your speed off of your WiFi and connect it via Ethernet.. "Ethernet where you can and WiFi where you must"
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to andyross
I have my wireless router like #5 it is next to a 32" screen tv about 36" to 40" off the floor. Signal is not affected much if any at most just a tiny bit |
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1 recommendation |
to NetDog
said by NetDog:11# Take the applications that hog your speed off of your WiFi and connect it via Ethernet.. That's what I thought #9 was going to end up recommending but never did. |
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to andyross
Re: [Connectivity] Re: 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi Signalsaid by andyross:I'm not sure if it would have much effect in the sample shown. It's a large mesh that the WiFi should generally be able to get through. Solid steel or something like a metal window screen would block it. The mesh in question appears to be sufficiently large to allow 2.4 GHz WiFi to pass. In general, a mesh size of 1/10th (or better yet, 1/20th) the wavelength will attenuate the signal to the point that it's typically unusable. The wavelength of 2.4GHz is 12 cm, so 1/10th is 1.2 cm (about 1/2 inch) and 1/20th is 0.6 cm (about 1/4 inch). |
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ptb42 |
to neufuse
said by neufuse:#10? seriously they are using a gateway device and saying regularly reboot it? it has battery backup! using a timer won't reboot it! Maybe the idea is to turn off the power long enough that the battery dies. With that configuration, the timer looks like it is shutting off the power for about 6 hours (or maybe 18, depending on which is "on" and which is "off"). |
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gar187erI DID this for a living join:2006-06-24 Seattle, WA |
to train_wreck
i was commenting about the CSR script. |
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to andyross
Re: [Connectivity] 10 Ways You Might Be Killing Your Home Wi-Fi SignalNumber 4 has a TV on top of a box that might be a DVD/BluRay player that's directly on top of a Motorola DVR. This configuration blocks the air vents on top of the DVR. These DVRs produce enormous amounts of heat particularly from the power supply on the left of the DVR. If I remember correctly, the manual for these DVRs require at least two inches of clearance all around and are not to be in a closed cabinet so as to dissipate the heat. I imagine the DVR, and maybe the box on top of it, will have short life spans. |
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BlitzenZeusBurnt Out Cynic Premium Member join:2000-01-13 |
to andyross
Their wifi router sucks, while I don't have comcast I helped setup a friends, and a cheap linksys(cisco) router provided better range at the exact same location. It's a cheap pos, and you can't even access the administration on it.
If it wasn't for they screw you with the rental fee anyway there's no point in getting it, and it can even make it annoying for using wifi router that actually has some real range by trying to figure out how to turn it into a bridge instead of just using your good router to prevent a double nat. It might be fine for a small apartment, but for a house it sucks.
They didn't want to get wifi cards at this time for their desktops, run some new coax, and relocate the router. I'm also sure the tools at customer support will ask if they can connect to it via ethernet so moving it away from their desktops will just create more hassles.
Comcast isn't really doing their customers any real favors, but at least you no longer have to deal with resetting the registered mac address of the device connecting to their modem.
In the end they still had to use their old router, now placed in a different location to provide coverage to the part of the house the cheap comcast router can't. Yet comcast wants to blame the problem on everything else other than their pos. |
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train_wreckslow this bird down join:2013-10-04 Antioch, TN |
said by BlitzenZeus:you can't even access the administration on it. ... what do you mean? not true. |
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