my current router doesnt reach from my room to the lounge room "about 2 rooms away" wanna spend about $120 on a new router but not sure what one to get, any help on finding a router that could be used, im also with TPG so not sure if they only allow certain types of routers to work with them but just thought i should mention it incase
current router im using is a d-link dsl g604t
thanks, its $52 at MSY for the billion 7700n, should i grab that or spend extra on a different router from MSY?
http://www.msy.com.au/default.jsp?category=59&page=1 , MSY router list
The 7700n has fairly good reviews and on top of that it's one the best routers you can buy at that price range.
If you want more features then you could consider it's bigger brother the 7800n which has gigabit ethernet, but that's only if you transfer large files on your network. Not really worth getting if you aren't after gigabit.
An old router doesn't mean that its WiFi will perform any worse than a new one.
Before upgrading
1) Have you got the modem mounted up high? that will usually help the WiFi signal travel further (less obstacles)
2) Is the antenna vertical? if not, that will help too. (I've also found that having the modem vertical can help a tiny bit)
3) Remove any metal between the modem and your room if possible.
4) Try doing a scan of the neighborhood WiFi networks and see if you're broadcasting on a "used" channel.
If so, interference could be an issue.
Try changing to a different, unused channel, preferably 1, 6 or 11.
5) can you move the router to another room?
Finally, if none of the above works, I'm not confident that a new router is necessarily going to help.
You may have foil insulation in the walls (or just thick, solid walls) which will block any wifi signal pretty quickly.
You may be better off getting a WiFi extender or powerline ethernet (or best of all, getting your house wired with Ethernet).
Good point. But, outlaying $52 for a newer and more solid router won't hurt. If the router upgrade (and repositioning the router) makes no difference then I suggest getting some POE adapters or even a secondary router setup in bridge mode to extend the range.
4) Try doing a scan of the neighborhood WiFi networks and see if you're broadcasting on a "used" channel.
Yeah, especially true if you live in high density housing, e.g. flats. Grab the free inssider program and see which channels are crowded and change to a less busy one. The "channels" overlap so choose a region that is less crowded.
you have a link 2 a guide or video on how 2 check?
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132/change-your-wi-fi-route…
Note: it's a lot easier if you use the Android application (by the same name: Inssider). Simply swipe to the 3rd screen after you open the app (called Channels) and look at the channels that are currently being broadcast. Avoid channels where you see a lot of overlaps (red color) and choose yellow or green ones).
Do you have an Android Phone?
EDIT: I see not, get a friend with an Android phone then..
If so, download "WiFi Analyzer" app (note the US spelling).
Start up the app and have a look at what your phone sees. Should see your network and maybe your neighbors..
Then turn off your router and see if there's any other networks broadcasting on the same channel as yours.
Ideally you don't want anyone on your channel or on the channels surrounding it.
And truly ideally, you want to be on Channel 1, 6 or 11 and the only other networks you can see are on those channels too.
All other channels overlap to a certain extent (and therefore interfere) with those key channels.
is there a iphone app that does the same?
will be a little hard to find. Apple removed all Wifi scanning apps from the store in 2010 because of some legal issues.
You will need to download the traditional Windows app and use your computer to scan then.
Your router is very old. Like 2006 old.
Time to upgrade to a newer router, try a Billion 7700N or TPLINK TD-W8960N which has wireless N and greater range. Both are budget routers and will set you around $60 or less.
TPG doesn't care which router you use. They might not be able to help you if you get a router that's not within their recommendations, but it's not hard to self configure a router.