Advice about wi-fi signals (need help, not a tech-savvy)

Post » Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:24 am

Hey, everyone, I have a little electronic help that I thought you could solve. Disclaimer: I have 0 knowledge of electronics, so all of this is alien to me.

In short, because I have the router on the first floor, I have weak wi-fi signal that either can't get to my room (on the second floor) or is barely noticeable. I bought a Belkin (amazon.com/Belkin-N300-Wireless-Range-Extender/dp/B008BGYJSE?) that I thought could help, put it in my bathroom next to my room. It gives great signal to my TV and X-Box 1, but oddly the signal can't get to my laptop in the same room.

I have a few questions about this:

(1) Since my HD TV is connected to the wireless signal, and my X-Box 1 is connected to my TV, is it getting the signal from that, or from the Belkin?

(1.5) Something else: Since I only have Sunset Overdrive, I can't really test it out on other games, but I've noticed that twice, the game lags, freezes and I get booted out of the game. I take it that if the internet lags on the console, the game won't play? How can I prevent this from happening again?

(2) Why is it that my TV and console can get internet, but my laptop has trouble with it? All three things are in the same room, and my Belkin is in a wall-socket almost chest-level, almost in front of the TV/console (though it has to pass through a wall to get to my things) My laptop is located a bit off to the side up against a wall.

(3) If I bought another Belkin/another wi-fi signal booster, would it increase the signal in my room or conflict with the one I already have?

These are all I have now, but I hope you all know what I mean. :D I'm basically trying to get a strong wi-fi in my room that will enable my TV, laptop, and X-Box 1 to do all the stuff they can do without any problem.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
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Curveballs On Phoenix
 
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Post » Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:33 am

Your Xbox should be getting its signal from your router not the TV. Try this, the TV and Xbox should be getting a wireless signal from your router so try hard wire connect from your router to your laptop using a cat5 cable into the first port on the back of your belkin router.

Edit: And if that works then theres something wrong with wifi on your laptop.

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J.P loves
 
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Post » Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:15 am

Does the router show up at all with your laptop? If not, does your laptop's wifi device support modern wifi signal (wireless-n/5GHz). If not you may have to configure your router to support older signals and/or 2.4GHz. Somebody else more network savvy can chime in on the details.

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michael danso
 
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Post » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:09 pm

My router does show up in my laptop and other appliances, the trouble is that the signal is so weak that even when it says it's connected, it takes a really long time.
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remi lasisi
 
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Post » Wed Apr 01, 2015 11:01 pm

Ok, first off. A radio antenna does not broadcast in all directions equally. With a lot of antenna configurations, they broadcast fairly well in all directions horizontally, but are really weak vertically.

It should also be noted that signals passing through walls, floors and ceilings can be interfered with because of things like wiring and plumbing.

There are a few things you can try:

Try moving your laptop around in your room to see if the signal increases.

Try moving your range extender to a different plug in your bathroom (if one is available) or to a different room.

If neither of those work try changing the orientation of your wireless router. Twist it 90 degrees or flip it on it side (if it is already on it side, try standing it upright).

Did your laptop come with an external antenna. If it did, try attaching and adjusting its orientation.

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Alba Casas
 
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Post » Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:36 pm

1) Smart HDTV has Wifi support, however it is for only for built-in Apps on the HDTV (e.g. Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc...) it isn't a switch, repeater so it doesn't transmit Wifi to an external device. The XBOX One connects to the Router via its own Wireless NIC (adapter).

1.5) This indicates that the Wireless signal is unstable (it fluctuates between good and bad signal strength), that your Internet is unstable and/or too slow, or that your Router is overwhelmed (too many high-bandwidth devices connected it simultaneously.)

2) The TV and console are closer to the signal's source and possibly have a better wireless receiver. Wireless Routers have dead spots, due to signal reflection. Modern Routers use MIMO to minimize dead spots, but due to the construction of your home, there could be spots where the signal will be bad regardless. The Belkin has an internal antennae and these are less effective than multiple external antennae that you can manually adjust.

3) Personally, I wouldn't bother with yet another extender. They really don't work. Buying a Router with MIMO and multiple external antannae will be more cost effective (replace current Router.)

***

What is the make and model of the laptop? The laptop's wireless adapter could be the limiting factor. You want to make sure that it can take advantage of the hardware of the Wireless Router.

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Sherry Speakman
 
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Post » Thu Apr 02, 2015 8:14 am

I would suspect the router is the fault. It's either too old or not properly positioned. A decent router should be able to push a signal in a two story house easily. Return that Belkin PoS and never buy a product from that company again. They're overpriced junk.

Try this: move the router that's downstairs by placing it as high as possible in the room. Turn the router (or adjust antenna, if it has them) so that it broadcasts the best signal. Make sure it's away from walls. The more open the router, the better the signal strength.

I would also disable the TV's WiFi. They're horrendous and introduce latency (speed, if you will) issues. Instead, if your laptop has an HDMI out, use the TV as a monitor by connecting an HDMI cable. You can pick up inexpensive cables (search for AmazonBasics on Amazon).

You don't indicate how many people are using the router in your house, but the more users, the more latency is introduced. It takes time for a router to process bandwidth requests, so if you have 3 people streaming Netflix, for example, you will see performance hits. There's nothing you can do about that unless you buy a better router.

Hope this helps. :)

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Leilene Nessel
 
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