Four bars...

[Mark_88]

I was using someone elses wifi connection for the last year (free, with their knowledge) and the most I got was three bars...

Today I got on the internet and saw 4 bars (new place, new service) and almost (well, actually I did) crapped my drawers...

It's been fluctuating (not physically) between 3 and 4 for the last hour but the service has been great...

And I'm only using a crappy old laptop because I haven't been able to hook up my computer yet...so I expect it will really be good on the desktop...



Better than bar hoping ...lol

 

[4.0B2]

um... good for you? lol

 

[Mark_88]

LOL...I didn't think anyone would care...but it is so nice to see that it actually works the way I thought it would...distance, cordless phones, and metal objects are not good for wifi...

 

[robertc1024]

A lot of it has to do with the router. I went from a barely passable 5 year old g router to a higher end n router and it made worlds of difference it the connection quality and the speed. But I guess if you're just borrowing your connection, ya live with what ya got.

 

[kryptonitecb]

Cool story bro

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[Mark_88]

Well, I got tired of the laptop...at least my eyes did...so I finally got my, um, stuff together and set up my desktop...haven't hit four bars since I was a teenager and for some reason they don't show up on my desktop...

The signal is good and I can surf and navigate (even FB moves faster now) but the four bars are elusive for some reason...maybe because I moved the setup a few feet...but will try moving the stick around a bit...

Oh, just got 18 Mbps by angling it a bit upwards...ah...a bit too far...down to 12 Mbps...maybe these beer cans are affecting reception...or this bottle of window cleaner...and the cereal bowl with the spoon...

Need to clean up a bit here...

 

[RonD]

Put a piece of tape over the 4th bar and you will have FULL signal, as good as it gets

Beer cans are good wifi reflectors, but only if held near the mouth at an angle.

 

[Mark_88]

Put a piece of tape over the 4th bar and you will have FULL signal, as good as it gets

Beer cans are good wifi reflectors, but only if held near the mouth at an angle.

haha...I tried that but when I looked to see if it made a difference I moved my head and spilled beer down my shirt...

 

['93BajaSport]

What is the actual connection speed from the ISP?

 

[madhouze803]

If you want Increase your reception CHEAPLY... (assuming you have a USB WiFi adapter)

Go to any dept store and buy a metal screen strainer about 6" dia at the smallest
Buy some USB extension cables (you can only extend by 15' MAX)
also a few suction cups (optional)
(All of these I bought at the Dollar Tree In my area)

Now cut a horizontal slit in the strainer about the middle
slide the usb wifi adapter through the slit
Next use a lil hot glue to secure it in
(Now hot glue the suction cups to the handle and place on window facing direction of the signal)
connect the USB extension cables to your and watch your signal increase.

I originally saw this and thought "Thats Red Neck" and will never work But curiosity got the best of me and spent a whole $5 and It Really does. It looks like a satellite dish.

Hope this helps you or someone else

 

[Mark_88]

What is the actual connection speed from the ISP?

Still trying to figure that one out...it is considered a "light" package so I doubt it is over 5 Mbps...but the connection icon fluctuates between 12 and 24 Mbps (between my stick and the router I'd imagine)...

When it hits 24 the connection is very good...meaning nothing locks up on my desktop...and I can't see anything on the router that will allow me to increase the signal so I'd also imagine that it is optimized out of the box...

If you want Increase your reception CHEAPLY... (assuming you have a USB WiFi adapter)

Go to any dept store and buy a metal screen strainer about 6" dia at the smallest
Buy some USB extension cables (you can only extend by 15' MAX)
also a few suction cups (optional)
(All of these I bought at the Dollar Tree In my area)

Now cut a horizontal slit in the strainer about the middle
slide the usb wifi adapter through the slit
Next use a lil hot glue to secure it in
(Now hot glue the suction cups to the handle and place on window facing direction of the signal)
connect the USB extension cables to your and watch your signal increase.

I originally saw this and thought "Thats Red Neck" and will never work But curiosity got the best of me and spent a whole $5 and It Really does. It looks like a satellite dish.

Hope this helps you or someone else

I'm sure it will help someone and I'd been thinking of doing something similar with the connection I had before I moved...it does work because I put beer cans around mine and the signal picked up considerably...only became a problem when I had to return them for more beer...

Thanks for the info though...pics would help if you have any, but I've seen similar setups on the internet...

 

['93BajaSport]

1.) Still trying to figure that one out...it is considered a "light" package so I doubt it is over 5 Mbps...but the connection icon fluctuates between 12 and 24 Mbps (between my stick and the router I'd imagine)... When it hits 24 the connection is very good...meaning nothing locks up on my desktop...

2.)I can't see anything on the router that will allow me to increase the signal so I'd also imagine that it is optimized out of the box...

1.) Nothing should lock up unless you're actually losing the connection or getting stuck with repeated retransmissions or errors. It sounds to me like you could be getting high levels of RFI from other sources. If your "crappy old laptop" is old enough to be running XP x86, then put NetStumbler on it and see if you can't get some kind of signal-to-noise ratio reading with the wireless adapter. Not all wireless adapters play well with NS, though.

2.) You can make a parabolic reflector that slips over an external router antenna from card stock and aluminum foil for pennies.

 

[Mark_88]

I tried downloading another program (not NetStumbler) and it simply would not work...I might try the NS...but the laptop was working better via wifi than the desktop (with the exception of a severe lack of RAM and slow processor). Since hooking up the desktop I haven't gotten the 4 bars very often but the desktop is a faster and better equipped computer. The laptop will cost me about $100 to upgrade, but even then it can only be upgraded to 1.5 Gigs of RAM...

There are cordless phones in the house so they might be providing a bit of interference...and there are about 6 other wifi networks being picked up in the surrounding area...

Part of the problem, I know of, is RAM shortage...I've been watching the Task Mangler when the slowdowns appear and there is a significant drop in my available RAM that is affecting the desktop (the laptop I've pretty much given up on for now) that I can correct by adding another 2 Gigs or RAM...most of that is going to my VP monitor...which can't be helped short of getting a better VP...but it is working well otherwise.

Over all, the connection is way better than my previous one...but I do have an option of hard wiring it via cat5 cable and a switch...I already hard wired the owners computer a few months ago because she was having the same problem, but her computer is only 20' from the router...mine is about 60' and I'm using the same stick that she had (she gave it to me for some work I did for her last year and because I hard wired her computer).

I might try to make a reflector if I don't just go out and buy a switch and run cat5...the basement is finished but there are access routes that I can feed the cable through...just a matter of buying the necessary parts and hooking it up!

Thanks for the feedback...and the info on NS...never heard of that one but it sounds similar to the one I downloaded...tried to find the file name but it is on my USB stick...

 

['93BajaSport]

Part of the problem, I know of, is RAM shortage...I've been watching the Task Mangler when the slowdowns appear and there is a significant drop in my available RAM that is affecting the desktop (the laptop I've pretty much given up on for now) that I can correct by adding another 2 Gigs or RAM...most of that is going to my VP monitor...which can't be helped short of getting a better VP...but it is working well otherwise.

....so we have been chasing a network reception problem that is actually your antivirus being a resource hog...

 

[shane96ranger]

....so we have been chasing a network reception problem that is actually your antivirus being a resource hog...

Mark is always chasing something.... mice, resource hogs, his thermos..... his nuts....