Flexmoney Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Heck, get you kids to make this for ya. I have no kids, so I am making my own. You just print out the template (I printed on a piece of poster board) and cut out the two pieces. Glue some aluminum foil to one piece and Tab A to Slot B... pow ...you have a reflector. I am waiting for my glue to dry...I'll report back later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 29, 2008 Author Share Posted August 29, 2008 Seems to have helped. I think I gained a bar worth of signal strength. I just made one reflector (there are two antennas), and it is kinda small. Now...digging into this more, I see that I can upgrade the firmware on my Linksys wireless router (WRT54GL). For those that don't know what firmware is (I didn't), it is the code that runs the router. Kinda like an OS. Anyway, it is open source, and lots of great firmware is out to make the router work better and do more stuff...for free. (and should be more stable than the factory stuff) For example, you can can turn up the power output and get more signal (careful of heat). I'm gonna try it. Read here for an intro article: http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3562391 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 (edited) For example, you can can turn up the power output and get more signal (careful of heat). I smoked a 54 playing with that. And the thing was sitting out in the open in an office with a/c. We have not lost another since I stopped screwing with them. Now picking up another unit and running it as a repeater could help. Also, when playing around with antennas experiment with aiming the antennas in directions that may not seem logical. Sometimes reflected signals can be stronger than signals that appear to be the "logical" direction. Have fun, Chuck Edited August 29, 2008 by ChuckS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carinab Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 (edited) There are two main firmware source listed in that article. One of the companies isn't playing by GPL rules according to several sources. Essentially what happened was the programmers at Linksys used open source code in the firmware, as a result, all firmware mods for that model have to be free (and Linksys themselves had to distribute their own mods free). Given the choice between the two firmware options, I'd go with the one that doesn't have a $*&t storm flying about it. Besides since DD-WRT is completely open, everyone and his brother with a decent IQ is creating new mods just to snub the other guy. Oddly enough with our router, when we removed the antenna on our wireless cards, it worked better.... Edited August 29, 2008 by carinab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 29, 2008 Author Share Posted August 29, 2008 I've installed dd-wrt. I turned up the power output (default = 70. It can go up to 250. I am trying out 120). I'll monitor it for heat. If need be, I saw a mod where a fan can be installed easily...or a heat sink. I'm getting 3 bars of signal now in the far room. (between turning up the juice and my little reflector) I only got about one bar of signal before. My Nintendo Wii is in this room too and I never was able to get wireless to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 29, 2008 Author Share Posted August 29, 2008 Wii is connected. Getting weather and news on it now. I can get that anywhere, but hey...it's connected. (I gotta figure out what games to play online with it. ?) Now picking up another unit and running it as a repeater could help. Apparently that is a no-go with the factory firmware. But, the third party firmware (like I just installed) is supposed to allow that. Have you done so? Also, when playing around with antennas experiment with aiming the antennas in directions that may not seem logical. Sometimes reflected signals can be stronger than signals that appear to be the "logical" direction. I'll give that a go too. I get good signal most everywhere...except for the room I really want good signal in. And, it has a metal spiral staircase that is probably getting in the way of the signal. Maybe I can bounce it around some by playing with the antennas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 The only hole in the whole antenna boost thing is that to make it really effective, you need to do the same thing on both ends of the pipe. At one end, you have the WiFi router beaming a more directed signal in the direction of your laptop. Problem is, your laptop is sending back using the same directionless antenna it was born with. A lot of the time, this is not that big a deal since broadband download and upload speeds are already asynchronous (down is much faster than up) so you really want to boost your routers signal. But beware, if you are on the fringe of the signal already, you may have problems maintaining a stable connection since that is always a two-way handshake process and if there are not periodic "keep alive" signals being picked up from your laptop, you can get little glitches in the connection. Not good if you are sending anything like a file or big email. Still, the main limiting factor of WiFi is the FCC who continues to restrict the signal power of these units to a ridiculously small signal strength. If that bar was raised by as little as 25%, the WiFi folks could do a lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Now picking up another unit and running it as a repeater could help. Apparently that is a no-go with the factory firmware. But, the third party firmware (like I just installed) is supposed to allow that. Have you done so? Not yet. It has been on the list for quite a while but I think it is currently just below polishing the locator pins on the 650. Perhaps I will bring another unit home and give it a try. You in a hurry? I might have some dead time this weekend to try it. Later, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2fast Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 There are at least several more different firmwares for the WRT54G and GL. Note for those playing at home the newer plain 'G' models do not take 3rd party (non-Linksys) firmware upgrades. The WRT54GL is specifically made to run on 3rd party Linux based firmware. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series#WRT54GL I tried a couple different firmwares then personally liked Tomato the best so I've stuck with it. Tomato has a couple less hardcore bells and whistles but does have nice charts/graphs for things like the bandwidth monitor which won me over along with the perception (never really tested it) that everything ran faster with Tomato vs DD-WRT. Never really messed with cranking the power a little, hmmm...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 29, 2008 Author Share Posted August 29, 2008 Perhaps I will bring another unit home and give it a try. You in a hurry? I might have some dead time this weekend to try it. Nah, I've got the functionality that I needed now. I was just wondering what was possible..."exploring the studio space". Seems like it could lessen dead spots pretty well ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Seems like it could lessen dead spots pretty well ? Short answer: yup. You have inspired me to try this. I will report back something this weekend. I have been thinking about bringing the web to my big screen. This may do it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLM Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Or you could just run wire and be done with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Have you looked at repeaters?.. like: http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Wireless-G-R...7627&sr=8-2 Product Description The WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander increases the effective coverage of your wireless network. Unlike other access points, this wireless expander doesn't require connection by a data cable. Just place it within range of your wireless router and bounce the signals off remote wireless devices. It's perfect for any wireless home or business network that requires wider coverage: Multi-story homes, warehouses, outdoor spaces and more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoMiE Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 (edited) $0.25 vs. $119.99 - If it's for FREE it's for me! I've toasted the radio before messing with the firmware stuff and they don't last that long when you do. Like a Glock, I just leave them alone now. Edited August 29, 2008 by HoMiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JQ- Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Or you could just run wire and be done with it! +1 I find that I get better reception when I remove my tin foil hat as well...but then all the voices get confusing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Or you could just run wire and be done with it! Easy to do when you live in the land of basements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2fast Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 (edited) Have you looked at repeaters? Where the fun in that, who wants to buy something then plug it in and go...... I'd much rather get something I can bitch at for a while before I actually get it to work. That's so much more satisfying.... Seriously though, I do enjoy this stuff and if you don't mind a little extra work you can pick up another router for less than most purpose built repeaters. My router with Tomato on it has been running non-stop for the better part of 120 days since I got it save one power outage that out lasted the battery backup. Edited August 29, 2008 by j2fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 29, 2008 Author Share Posted August 29, 2008 At one point, I had a couple of extra wireless routers around. I think I tossed them out. Ironically, I think the firmware was dead on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighVelocity Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I have the WRT54GS. I've never updated the firmware "Firmware Version : v4.70.6, May. 26, 2005 ". Is it really worth the trouble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 For BIOS Firmware updates.. if you're not having issues.. I think all you can invite is trouble... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Well, so far so good. I have a WRT54G (V2) running in bridge mode. I have not had any luck gettting a DHCP call to work on a wired client to the secondary router from the primary router DHCP server. More later... (gotta do some dry fire, Norco tomorrow) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 30, 2008 Author Share Posted August 30, 2008 Or you could just run wire and be done with it! Yeah. I could reload on a rock chucker too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 30, 2008 Author Share Posted August 30, 2008 I have the WRT54GS. I've never updated the firmware "Firmware Version : v4.70.6, May. 26, 2005 ". Is it really worth the trouble? I had two Linksys routers in the past that were no good. (Anderson gave them to me, and set them up. One didn't work, so he tried a second. It worked for a year or two before it went south.) I assumed they had hardware issues of some sort. And, I just didn't know a thing about them. Now, I suspect they most likely had firmware issues. If that article that I linked to is to be believed, then factory firmware isn't all that stable. Aftermarket firmware should be miles ahead. The folks writing it up addressed the bugs in the factory stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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