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Wifi/Router issues: Possibly new router time?

GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what?Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
So I currently have a D-Link DGL-4500, which for some time was considered one of the better routers you could get. It's served me well for a few years, but now the WiFi is being very cranky. I am loath to point at the router and go "Hey bud, you're outta here", as it could also be that my apartment is acting like a Faraday Cage. Here's the issue:

I use WiFi in my house almost exclusively for iPad viewing. Most of this viewing is done in my bedroom, where I watch Twitch.tv streams and such as I fall asleep at night. I am getting terrible wireless signal though. I can watch the signal strength bounce back and forth between 20-50%, but I am less than 20 feet from the router. I thought perhaps it was signal having to pass through walls, but even if I leave an almost clear path between the router and my room, no dice. My XBox, which is on the other side of a load bearing wall from the router, has no signal strength issues. The iPad loses those signal strength issues if I get close enough to the router.

Now, the iPad is known to have a pretty crap WiFi antenna, so that could be contributing.

So my questions are:

1) How do I go about trouble shooting the real problem? I think it's a signal strength issue, but could that issue be caused by the router going bad? It's had strange WiFi issues in the past, but not this bad.
2) Is there an app or piece of software I can run that will let me test for WiFi interference? I have several other broadcasting routers within range of my house, and I don't think I am getting cross-channel interference, but it's hard to say. I would like to be able to get a list of all the WiFi in my area and what channel it's broadcasting on (the iPad does not show this info in it's stock WiFi setup).
3) If the router is fine, and it is just my house acting like a Faraday Cage, what are my options? Can I get some kind of signal booster and place it close to my bedroom?
4) If I do need a new router, what is sort of the top of the line option people are recommending these days? I don't want a cheap Target/Wal-Mart special, I want a good router with good firmware and decent features. Cost is really not that big of a concern (within reason).

Sagroth wrote: »
Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
GnomeTank on

Posts

  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    Have you tried a new Wireless channel? Switch it really low or really high.

  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    edited July 2012
    Yes, I actually talked about that in the OP (channel interference)...I've even tried changing to the 5.2ghz band, but my iPhone doesn't like that (won't connect to it, because I don't think it supports 802.11b or g, or something).

    GnomeTank on
    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • baronfelbaronfel Would you say I have a _plethora_?Registered User regular
    One thing I did was get a bunch of DD-WRT'd routers to client bridge around the house with. This results in a lower max throughput, but since we don't max out the local bandwidth anyway I figured this was an acceptable tradeoff.

    As for routers, I tend towards dual-band ones, and I was able to get the Netgear N600 (WNDR3700 model) recently. This guy broadcasts on the 2.5 and 5 GHz spectra, as well as having native Gigabit Ethernet and builtin DLNA server capabilities. I can't seem to find the benchmark I used to cement my purchase, but this one has some solid numbers

  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    Hmm, yeah, my DGL-4500 is not dual band. It's an either/or situation. I am not worried about max throughput, I am worried about steady signal strength. Even 50% throughput is more than enough for what I use my devices for (99% video streaming), I just need a stable signal strength.

    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    I've also considered tossing a DD-WRT'd router in the hallway as a client bridge between the router and my bedroom, but I'll probably just try a new dual band router as a first step. Probably going to order this WNDR3700 off Amazon. Any reason not to step up to the WNDR4500?

    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    Yeah, the more I read, the more I think it's because my router isn't dual band, which everyone recommends for congested apartment buildings because of the extra spectrum. My DGL-4500 worked great when I was in a stand alone house, with almost no WiFi cross-talk.

    Guess it's new router time. Buying the WNDR3700 Premium Edition, because for 11 bucks, I like the dark gray/red face.

    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • baronfelbaronfel Would you say I have a _plethora_?Registered User regular
    I got the 3700 for a really good price, and since I already had another router to bridge with I wasn't too keen on spending the extra for the 4500. I was a poor college kid when I got the 3700 :D

  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    Yeah, I think I am just going to get the 3700 Premium Edition. The 4500 doesn't seem to offer much that the 3700 doesn't, and I am only getting the premium edition because the outer shell looks neat.

    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    edited July 2012
    Well, actually now I'm completely torn. PCMag has the N750 rated over the N700, but the N700 has more feature firmware at the current time...tough choice. Buy the one that's a bit older but has more complete firmware, or buy the newer one with more hardware headroom, but evolving firmware.

    GnomeTank on
    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • baronfelbaronfel Would you say I have a _plethora_?Registered User regular
    Well, DD-WRT says it works with hardware revision v1 of that model, so if features are your concern you could always just flash that.

  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    edited July 2012
    Arg...but now PCMag is also saying the N900 is better if you're a power gamer/streamer...WHICH I AM. God damnit...but I don't want to deal with all the firmware flaws in the 900...

    GnomeTank on
    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    edited July 2012
    Does DD-WRT work with the N900? Because if it does, I'll get the 900.

    e: The answer is no. It doesn't support the WNDR4500. Blarg...guess I am getting the 4000.

    GnomeTank on
    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • baronfelbaronfel Would you say I have a _plethora_?Registered User regular
    edited July 2012
    what's your common use case? At my house we have 4 grown men, all of which are either streaming Netflix or playing online most nights, and I still am able to torrent at > 1MBps. That's with the N600. The only time we have slowdown is because of one asshole roommate that refuses to throttle his torrents, so I QOS him down manually.

    Also, damn Netgear for the confusing nomenclature.

    baronfel on
  • Jebus314Jebus314 Registered User regular
    Before you jump ship I'll just point out a few things I remember reading.

    1) I was kind of confused by your posts, but in general there are wireless bands (g and n being the most common) and within those bands there are wireless channels (usually numbered 1-13 or something). As far as I know any device that is wireless g compatible can use any channel on the wireless g band. Wikipedia has a decent write up on the "band" vs "channel" thingy. The bottom line is that switching channels can alleviate signal congestion if you think that is the problem, and should still be compatible with your currently working wireless devices.

    2) dual band is not a be all end all for wireless signals. It just means you have access to both the 5GHz (wireless n) and 2.6 GHz (wireless g) bands simultaneously. The wireless n band does tend to have less congestion because not as many things use it yet, but as far as I can tell, it's pretty rare to have congestion be the main issue. Also I don't know if ipads support wireless n, but that would obviously be important. Wireless n does have a higher throughput, although I'm not sure that will effect the signal strength. Finally, you don't need a dual band router to get wireless n if all of you devices support it, you can just get a wireless n router. You only need a dual band router if you need to access wireless g and wireless n simultaneously (so that wireless n devices can use the higher throughput, while maintaining wireless g for devices that don't support wireless n).

    3) With some routers, the DD-WRT software can boost the output signal, giving you better signal strength. Not sure if it will apply in your situation, but it's worth looking into.

    4) If you have a laptop you can get wireshark. It lets you do all kind of neat signal testing things, but it is somewhat complicated.

    "The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    My use case is that I am really the only one in my house using wireless at all. I think my roommate maybe has his phone on the wireless network, but that's it. The wireless network consists of:

    My iPhone, my iPad, my XBox 360, Wii and PS3...and soon my Nexus 7. You'll almost never find all of those in simultaneous use.

    The reason the 900 entices is me is becuase my entire issue is one of signal strength, and the 900 supposedly pushes the most broadcast power. How big is the house where you have the N600?

    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    edited July 2012
    Jebus314: The reason I think congestion is part of the problem is that within decent wireless range of my apartment, I can see anywhere between 10-12 routers. This is probably the entire line of apartments near mine.

    I'll try DD-WRT'ing my DGL-4500 tonight, and see if I can't boost the signal strength...but I am half tempted to order a dual band router anyway.

    e: Except DD-WRT doesn't support the DGL-4500, so that's out too. New router is seeming very likely.

    GnomeTank on
    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    I ordered the WNDR4500 (the N900). I was reading up, and many of the firmware issues have been solved (of course that isn't reflected in site reviews), and I even found one anecdotal review from a guy that bought it because he was having many of the same issues I was (weak signal strength in parts of his apartment), and that the 4500 really helped because it has such a strong boost.

    We'll see. If it does't work, I'll just send it back to Amazon. Gotta love Prime.

    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • SiliconStewSiliconStew Registered User regular
    GnomeTank wrote: »
    Jebus314: The reason I think congestion is part of the problem is that within decent wireless range of my apartment, I can see anywhere between 10-12 routers. This is probably the entire line of apartments near mine.

    Definitely a problem. Probably all running on the channels 1 or 6 too. And some will try to get clever and boost their transmit power making the problem worse for everyone. Plus any signal reflections, auto transmit power changes, other router's channel changes, 2.4 cordless phones, microwaves, baby monitors, and bluetooth devices nearby can cause all sorts of issues. There are various utilities to view the wifi signal strength/noise like netstumbler you could use to choose a better channel.

    Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    I forgot to update this, so anyone else looking for a router has the info: The N900 solved the issue, or more specifically it's more powerful broadcast radio solved the issue. My iPad is able to connect at N speeds and has no video stuttering issues from my bedroom anymore.

    My apartment complex is still congested as shit, but the N900's channel auto-select and beefier radio seem to have fixed the issue for me.

    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
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