1. Keep the number of walls and ceilings to a minimum - Each wall or ceiling can rob your Wi-Fi product of 1-30 metres of range. Position your Access Points, Residential Gateways, and computers so that the number of walls or ceilings is minimized. The wireless signal will degrade (or die completely) when going through brick (fireplace), metal (file cabinet), steel, lead, mirrors, water (fish tank), large appliances, glass, etc.
2. Be aware of the direct line between Access Points, Residential Gateways, and Computers - A wall that is 50cm thick, at a 45 degree angle, appears to be almost 1m thick. At a 2-degree angle it looks over 12m thick! Try to make sure that the Access Point and Adapters are positioned so that the signal will travel straight through a wall or ceiling for better reception.
3. Building Materials make a difference - A solid metal door or aluminium studs may have a negative effect on range. Try to position Access Points, Residential Gateways, and Computers so that the signal passes through drywall or open doorways and not other materials.
4. Make sure that the antennas are tightly secured on your Wi-Fi devices. For best coverage try to position antennas at different angles.
5. Keep your product away (at least 1-2 metres) from electrical devices that generate RF noise, like microwaves, monitors, phone base stations, electric motors, UPS units, etc.
6. If you are using 2.4GHz cordless phones, Bluetooth, cordless keyboard/mouse, RF audio/video transmitters/receivers or X-10 (wireless products such as ceiling fans, lights, and home security systems), your wireless connection will degrade dramatically or drop completely. Try changing the location of the access point.
For the average home, range should not be a problem. If you experience low or no signal strength in areas of your home that you wish to access, consider positioning the Access Point in a location directly between the routers. Also, try different channels on your access point or wireless router. Possibly a neighbour has a 2.4 GHz device (phone, networking product, etc) that is interfering with your network.
- Change the channel on your wireless router.
- Change the channel width setting on your wireless router to 20 MHz to minimise possible interference.
- Change the location of your wireless products. Subtle changes (1-2 metres) can make a big difference. Do not put the access point or wireless router in a cabinet or enclosure.
To improve the situation with wireless signal you can apply more powerful antennas on your wireless devices. Please note that having a powerful antenna only on one end of a wireless connection may not make a difference - you need to have similar antennas on both ends of wireless link (e.g. on your workstation as well). The effective range will be limited by the weakest antenna used.
Using extension cables for antenna will reduce the signal strength (about 0.3 dB per metre of the cable).