Improving Wireless Range In Ubuntu
Improving Wireless Range In Ubuntu
VitalBodies is getting from 3 out of 4 bars to 4 out of 4 bars of signal strength from 2 buildings away from the router! See that blue and white building in the distance behind the antenna, that is where the router is.
VitalBodies ended up buying a Edimax USB EW-7318USg (with removable antenna) Wlan as they work out of the box easy! We had tried four other adapters. VitalBodies chose the Edimax USB version with removable antenna. USB adapters are great in that you can position the adapter where you get the best reception like the side of your monitor. Having an adjustable antenna helps also as you can fine tune you signal strength even further.
Links about Edimax Products:
HOW TO TUNE YOUR SIGNAL STRENGTH:
This is not a real scientific or exhaustive method, but one that is easy and can be done without special software or hardware usually in less than 5 minutes.
Start downloading something huge like Ubuntu. You might have to wait a minute or two for the download speed to stabilize. In some cases you might have to choose a different mirror to download from if the one you choose is bogged down.
Open the System Monitor (System > Administration > System Monitor) and click on the Resources tab.
Watch your Network History.
Watch your Signal Strength bars also.
Make an adjustment like positioning your adapter to a higher position and so the front of the adapter faces the router and leave the adapter there for at least 20 seconds while you watch the Network History.
See if that position increases your download speed. Monitor your Signal Strength bars also.
Make another adjustment like positioning your adapter so the side (rather than front) faces the router and leave the adapter there for at least 20 seconds while you watch the Network History.
See if that position increases your download speed. Monitor your Signal Strength bars also.
Adjust the antenna, the location of the adapter, what direction the adapter faces, how high up or down the adapter is etc until you get the highest download speed.
Normally if you can, you want to position the adapter line-of-sight to the routers antenna. This means that if your adapters antenna had eyes, your adapter could see the antenna of the router. This is not always possible. Just the same you can position your adapter so the least stuff is in between it and the routers antenna and you get your highest download speeds.
Also try to keep your adapter away from other gadgets that might create interference. VitalBodes for example noticed line-of-site was not as fast at downloading as being away from interference.
In Windows we could never get faster than about 56 Kibs but in Ubuntu we have seen over 220 Kibs and a solid 160Kibs!
See VitalBodies other post Wireless In Ubuntu for our connection guide for adapters that do not work out of the box easy.
