Tech Forum

What networking equipment are people buying for their units as they enable them for wireless internet? Is there a particular wireless router that's superior?

We have DSL coming in one side of our building with a Netgear Wireless-N Router behind the Church Firewall, but the wireless signal doesn't make it back to the Seminary room on the other end of the building. Is there a good way to extend the signal to those dead zones?

We have another building where the urban area is very noisy - the signal from the Cisco Aeronet router is sometimes weak two rooms away in the FHC. Is there something we can buy to boost the signal?

You may want to check the specs on the wireless. Some have higher transmitter power then others. Hopefully they are paired with equally sensitive receivers so they can hear a laptop from just as far away.

I think most of the item you see are for home use and may be somewhat limited for the smaller range. So the first step might be to look for commercial/professional grade stuff.

That said, I'd also like to see what others have used.

We used three Netgear routers (from Walmart) and configured them as Wireless Access Points. With them strategically located in the overhead of the Stake Center, we have good access throughout the building. They are not repeaters, so each is wired back to the ASA, but since we planned to hard wire the clerk's offices anyway via the overhead area, it was no big deal to run a couple of extra cables.

With donated labor (licensed eletrician) to pull the Cat5e, total cost was ~$150.

I've read on some networking forums that you can use a Linksys WRT54G wireless router as a repeater. The reason the WRT54G (as well as the WRT54GL and WRT54GS) is popular for this is that it can be found for under $50 (WRT54G only) and the firmware is open source. Developers offer some good firmware 'upgrades' that make it possible to extend capabilities available in the hardware - such as repeater functions. The DD-WRT people seem to get the most popular reviews for this.

jdlessley wrote:I've read on some networking forums that you can use a Linksys WRT54G wireless router as a repeater. The reason the WRT54G (as well as the WRT54GL and WRT54GS) is popular for this is that it can be found for under $50 (WRT54G only) and the firmware is open source.

Well, sort of. The older WRT54G is modifiable, but the newer versions aren't. The WRT54GL is the "older" WRT54G. However, looking at the Linksys page, the WRT54G and WRT54L are both listed at a output power if 18dBm. If the math is right, that suggests only 63mW of power. That's going to have a smaller range than a 600mW unit.

As far as repeaters, I don't know if they are part of the standard specs. I'd read the information carefully. They may only work reliabliy when paired with specific same-brand AP units.