How to get wireless coverage over my whole house? [closed]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
What’s the best way to increase the range of my 802.11g router?

My wireless router does not cover my whole house... Can I do something maybe with multiple routers, perhaps wired to each other?

Answer 1

Instead of a wireless repeater, you could replace your router's antenna with a more sensitive one, and/or boost the signal output via a 3rd-party firmware. This won't extend the range as much as a repeater, and not all routers have replacable antennae or chipsets that support signal boosting. But it's an alternative for sites with the right equipment where you just need a liiiittle more range to fill in the gaps.

See A Dwarf's answer for a cheap DIY antenna replacement.

Answer 2

My +1 goes to ~quack and derek posts. But I feel I should also include here a third option which may entice those of us who like to get our hands dirty. You can make your own antenna extension with a screw, some copper wire and... a drinking straw.

Now, I'm not much into derisory claims without having tested it myself. And I did, And I was able to extend the range of my D-Link DVA-G3170i ADSL Router to cover the whole house. Although to be honest I was missing just a few divisions on the far side, around 10 meters that I needed to gain.

How to do it is here: http://www.instructables.com/id/WIFI-Antenna-Hack!/

Answer 3

For best results draw a straight line between the antennas and minimize the thickness of any intervening material. Remember that a wall crossed on an angle is much thicker than one straight on.

  *
  | \
--|--\----
--|---\---
--|----\--
  |     \
  *      *

Answer 4

nice solution: Apple Airport

Apple sells a nice combination solution for this. The Airport Extreme works as the primary base station, and the Airport Express works as a repeater station. It supports any computer that uses wireless (including game devices) and can be set up from both Macs and PCs.

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/features/sharing.html