=============================================================== From: Phil Sieg ------------------------------------------------------ Easiest approach: multiple Buffalo routers with DD-WRT pre installed Buffalo routers all have higher transmit wattages and seem to have great = range. Cheapest approach: Any good DD-WRT'able router (wrt-54g, Asus, etc) Phil Sieg President SeniorTech LLC / snapf=C5=8Dn=C2=AE www.snapfon.com Phone: 423.535.9968 Fax: 423.265.9820 Mobile: 423.331.0725 "The computer is the most remarkable tool that we've ever come up with. = It's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds." Steve Jobs, 1955-2011 rock exterior walls with old school (rock like) plaster interior walls = throughout and multiple levels to add insult to injury. My current wifi = router will barely make it out of the room it is in signal wise. When = you are there it is blazing fast (Apple Airport Extreme - I'm not = looking to use Apple's approaches as I've tried them all and it just = works, not.). the same ssid so that no matter where I am in my house I can have = continuous wifi access. I don't want it to jump ssid from room to room = as that is not convenient. seem unable to sense this need in the current residential market. = Perhaps these solutions are marketed to business specifically which I = haven't considered in my brief research.
=============================================================== From: Bret McHone ------------------------------------------------------ Use a switch and setup multiple APs with the same SSID/authentication. Your laptop should roam between APs automatically once the difference in signal level reaches a threshold set in the client driver on your device. That threshold may or may not be something you can control depending on the vendor of the card. I am currently running 117 APs without much problems. You may find that if your client is older it may not roam well. Be sure to update your drivers on your local PC. A commercial centrally managed wifi setup would be overkill for a home deployment, but if you can afford it then more power to you. -Bret On Oct 20, 2011 2:01 PM, "Tim Youngblood" wrote:
=============================================================== From: Adam Jimerson ------------------------------------------------------ If you go the WRT-54G route I would find an older 54g or if you can get your hands on a GL you will be in good shape the the newer wrt-54g, mostly speaking from experiance with my wrt-54g version 8 router, are to under powered and need resetting often.
=============================================================== From: Bret McHone ------------------------------------------------------ One thing to note is that power isn't everything and can actually hurt your performance. If you have plaster walls then it may have chicken wire in it (ours did) to give it strength and that in combination of the plaster is no= t a friend to 2.4Ghz. Have you tried both bands to see if one works better than the other? If you have to have higher density deployments because of the attenuation of the walls then don't just turn up the power. Add APs, but use the lowest power setting to get the result you want. Otherwise you are just adding to the interference/noise floor and could cause poor performance. -B out t t e d
=============================================================== From: Tim Youngblood ------------------------------------------------------ Thanks for the info, everyone. Bret I accidentally clicked 'invite to chat' on this message, you can disregard that. Thanks again, Tim in is ou r hout it ot m se ed
=============================================================== From: Bret McHone ------------------------------------------------------ Its all good. I was engrossed in user manuals so I didn't even hear the notification. e in is f to t ghout l it s not em ese red
=============================================================== From: Tim Youngblood ------------------------------------------------------ So I went with Buffalo's top of the line dual band wireless router (WZR-HP-AG300H) and two single band wireless routers (WZR-HP-G300NH) as access points. Straightforward set up and things are much, much better with coverage throughout the house. I can move from zone to zone without interruption in connection, or at leas= t that I would notice thus far. I have yet to optimize much in the way of channels or power but I'll tweak that over time. I haven't seen any issues as were reported by some with the earlier DDWRT version that these initially shipped with, knock on wood. Thanks for the advice y'all, Tim : re in r is of t to at k ughout ll e it s e us not aps