Wireless N speed vs Distance

[Mattg123]

I recently switched routers from a 9 year old WRT54G to this other D-Link DIR-601 a1 that I had lying in my basement. When I am next to the router I get my full 25Mbps down 2Mbps up. If I walk about 15 feet away I am down to about 19Mbps down, another 2 feet and down to 11. 

 

I have never owned a wireless N router before this one, is the range on wireless N much worse than G? Or is this router just extraordinarily s**t? I really don't want to switch back to the Linksys router because  I can only get about 20Mbps with it. Any advice? New router or massive antenna?

[Godlygamer23]

I think you can use stuff around the house to extend the wireless range. It might end up looking goofy, but you can I think put a soda can over the antenna to get the signal to extend further. You could probably swap out the antenna for something better if you wanted to.

[SubTract]

Typically the higher the frequency the higher the bandwidth but lower the range. 

It is down to manufacturers to improve antenna's and boost the signal to get the equivalent range of the last gen (Normally they don't achieve that)

So in terms of Range:

A/B>G>N>AC

in terms of bandwidth

AC>N>G>A/B

 

There are a few things you can do, You can try and change the channel on your wifi, May slightly decrease interference,

I don't know if that AP supports it but you may be able to buy a larger, more powerful antenna,

Use 1 of multiple home made directional amplification kits to improve signal in a particular direction.

Most effective I've found is the parabolic design. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-WIFI-Antenna-Reception-Booster/

Download and Print the PDF on that page, Cut it out and build it. Use something like Aluminium foil to coat it. Or Reflective tape.

Let us know how you go :)

[wpirobotbuilder]

I recently switched routers from a 9 year old WRT54G to this other D-Link DIR-601 a1 that I had lying in my basement. When I am next to the router I get my full 25Mbps down 2Mbps up. If I walk about 15 feet away I am down to about 19Mbps down, another 2 feet and down to 11. 

 

I have never owned a wireless N router before this one, is the range on wireless N much worse than G? Or is this router just extraordinarily s**t? I really don't want to switch back to the Linksys router because  I can only get about 20Mbps with it. Any advice? New router or massive antenna?

Range decreases with the square of the distance from the router. You are just suffering from general interference from other EM sources and from multipath fading.

Check your device to device speeds. If they're still around 25 Mbps you might be only using wireless G instead of N.

[Godlygamer23]

Good suggestion Wpiro. On my wireless N router, I had to enable it in the settings.

[Blade of Grass]

I went from my old WRT54GL to an ASUS N66u and, along with the performance boost, I also got a range boost (because the N66u has better everything).

 

So you could buy a new router, (I recommend the N66u) or you could buy a repeater.

[Mattg123]

Range decreases with the square of the distance from the router. You are just suffering from general interference from other EM sources and from multipath fading.

Check your device to device speeds. If they're still around 25 Mbps you might be only using wireless G instead of N.

It's definitely in wireless N mode, 25mbps is the max for my internet connection, transferring between computers I get about 40mbps with wireless n, and like 20 with wireless g.

Also, the antenna is not meant to be removed on this router. I'm probably going to get a new router(most likely another Linksys). For the time being this will suffice, when I need to do serious work I use my desktop which is hard wired.

[Mattg123]

Also, I have played around with the channel already, 1 is the best, and most people are on 11 here.