Amplify router wifi signal

We make passive and active antennas, including for data networks, WiFi. In this article, we are not so much interested in the problems of wireless access, but how to increase the range of WiFi. Note that we are not looking at specific options for creating special "powerful" access points. Everything is only within the standards and norms accepted in the Russian Federation.

Testing Wi-Fi amplifiers and seamless roaming for apartments

There are at least two types of people: some are ready to put up with wires all over the apartment, while others can't stand them and try by all means to get rid of them. However, sometimes you just can't pull another cable along the baseboard or under it – you have to find new ways for the Internet gigabytes.

Recently Onliner studied the issue of improving the Internet in the countryside, where operator towers squeeze out traffic drop by drop to all holidaymakers and those living in the countryside. Now we decided to look at what are the ways to improve Wi-Fi in the apartment.

In fact the most practical way is to try Do not skimp on equipment. It is not the best option – to use the operator's routers. As a rule, these are cheap devices that provide a service, but no more than that. This is normal practice, and no one will give out thousands of "kinetics" to users with a relatively small ARPU.

As a consequence, not everyone is happy with the routers provided, but also not everyone is willing to spend their own money to buy a "normal" device.

And what is the problem?

The main one is clogged up the airwaves in the 2.4 GHz band. Here the world is ruled by points issued by Beltelecom to all consumers with a home phone. Whether they use Wi-Fi or not, the wireless module is active and adds to the interference (probably need to provide communication as part of one of their own services, but it all looks "not ace"). Plus the other operators with numerous routers of popular brands.

Note that this problem is particularly characteristic of the city. Somewhere far away from the "human" will do and 2.4 GHz.

The second nuance mentioned above: operators give out cheap access points with inexpensive components (and single-band – only with 2.4 GHz). As a result, getting your megabits is doubly difficult.

Some nuances of Wi-Fi networks

For terrestrial radio broadcasting away from large settlements, when you can receive on your receiver only the signal of the local FM radio station and more "Mayak" in the VHF band – the issue of mutual influence does not arise.

Another thing is Wi-Fi devices, working only in two limited bands: 2.4 and 5 GHz. Below are a few problems that you have to know how to get around, if not overcome.

Problem one – Different standards work with different bands.

In the 2.4 GHz band, devices supporting 802.11b/g/n work; in the 5 GHz band, 802.11a and 802.11n.

As we can see, only 802.11n devices can operate in both the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band. In other cases we either have to support broadcasting in both bands or accept the fact that some clients will not be able to connect to our network.

Problem two – Wi-Fi devices operating in the closest range can use the same frequency band.

For devices operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, there are 13 wireless channels available and permitted in Russia, 20 MHz wide for 802.11b/g/n or 40 MHz for 802.11n with 5 MHz gaps.

Therefore, any wireless device (client or access point) interferes with neighboring channels. Another thing is that the transmit power of a client device, such as a smartphone, is much lower than that of a regular access point itself. Therefore, throughout this article we will only talk about the mutual influence of access points on each other.

The most popular channel that is offered by default to clients is 6. But don't flatter yourself that by selecting the next number we will get rid of the parasitic influence. An access point operating on channel 6 gives strong interference to channels 5 and 7 and weaker interference to channels 4 and 8. As the gaps between the channels grow, their mutual influence decreases. Therefore, to minimize mutual interference, it is highly desirable that their carrier frequencies are 25 MHz apart (5 channel spacing).

The benefit of moderation in all things

As mentioned above, reducing power is not always a bad thing. Not only that, but when you increase the power, the quality of reception can deteriorate significantly, and it's not about the "weakness" of the access point at all. Below we will consider in which cases it can be useful.

Radio traffic load

The effect of congestion can be seen firsthand, at the time of selecting a device to connect. If the list of selected Wi-Fi networks contains more than three or four items, we can already talk about overloading the radio air. At the same time, each network is a source of interference for its neighbors. And interference affects the performance of the network, because it dramatically increases the noise level and it leads to the need to constantly resend packets. In this case, the main recommendation is to lower the transmitter power in the access point and ideally to get all the neighbors to do the same so as not to interfere with each other.

The situation resembles a school class when the teacher is away. Each student starts talking to his or her roommate and other classmates. In the general noise they can't hear each other well and start talking louder, then even louder, and eventually they start shouting. The teacher quickly rushes to the classroom, takes some disciplinary measures and the normal situation is restored. If we think of the teacher as a network administrator and the students as an access point owner, we get an almost direct analogy.

Asymmetric connection

As mentioned earlier, the transmitter power of the access point is usually 2-3 times stronger than the client mobile devices: tablets, smartphones, laptops, and so on. Therefore it is very likely the emergence of "gray areas", where the client will receive from the access point a good stable signal, but the transfer from the client to the point will work "not very". Such a connection is called asymmetric.

In order to maintain a stable connection with good quality, it is highly desirable that there is a symmetrical connection between the client device and the access point, when the reception and transmission in both directions work quite effectively.

Results of the first experiment

As a result of the first experiment, under difficult UHF reception conditions, a stable WiFi network reception (-72 dBm level) was achieved at a distance of 163 meters in a straight line. It may seem that this is a relatively short distance, but we must understand that as a signal source (transmitter) used a portable autonomous router with built-in antenna, which by antenna gain and radiated power is inferior to conventional room routers with remote pin antenna.

The reception range of the "Wi-Fi Agent" will depend not only on our antenna (receiver), but also on the transmitter (router) to which you want to connect. We say this with confidence because we have conducted numerous tests of the device with different transmitters.

Testing the "WiFi Agent" in a residential house

In the second experiment, the goal was to evaluate the capabilities of the antenna at a large distance from the transmitter in line of sight in an open space, and between the receiver and the transmitter on the radio track should not be any major obstacles to the passage of microwave signal. To meet all these conditions, measurements were made on the 7th floor of a nine-story apartment building. A USB WiFi adapter based on the RTL 8188 chipset with a non-directional antenna and our device were used as receivers.

As in the first experiment, we will first take measurements with an ordinary USB WiFi adapter. We connect the adapter to the laptop, run the WiFi network monitoring utility. Figure 10 shows the list of networks that the adapter sees. Among them there is a network with the house address "Antonova d_.kv._" with low signal level -88 dBm, we will follow it. Note the signal level of the other networks, shown in the same figure on the chart below, it is quite low.

Figure 10. List of networks visible through the regular USB WiFi adapter based on RTL 8188

Let's connect our product and take a reading (Figure 11). The signal level of the measured network went up to -79 dBm, and in general the signal level of other networks also increased. Let's estimate the distance to the transmitter.

For this we will build a trace profile, taking into account, that we know the house, where the source of the tested network is located (Fig.12). As a result of measurements we obtained the range of reception of 1.02 km and the difference in signal gain compared to a WiFi adapter with an omnidirectional antenna was 9 dB in favor of our antenna.

Figure 11. List of networks visible through the WiFi Agent

How to improve WiFi coverage

The first thing that comes to mind is to replace the router with another one. Buy a device with a stronger external antenna or with multiple antennas. If you have an older router model, it's worth a try. Be prepared that it will require additional costs, and a positive result is not guaranteed at all. Most likely, the picture will improve, but the problem will not be eliminated (Fig. 4-5).

Figure 4. Router with two external antennas.

Figure 5. Router with three external antennas.

The next method is to use an active WiFi repeater, also called a WiFi repeater. This device is designed to extend the range of your WiFi network. This is a great method that can often solve the problem at the root. But it also has a disadvantage:

– prices from 1.5 thousand rubles and higher;
– the need for configuration;
– limited zone of use.

And that's not all: the repeater will again receive the signal from all sides and radiate around. That is, if we have an "uncovered" corner of the apartment far away, you will need two or even three repeaters. It would be great to concentrate the signal in a given direction, but you can not – built-in antennas repeaters have a circular pattern. We have not met any repeaters with a jack for an external antenna.

Another feature of WiFi repeaters is worth mentioning – the presence of 220V AC power. Not all people are willing to leave any device plugged in when leaving home. And turning it on and off every time is an occupation for the amateur. In addition, for a house or cottage solution is complicated by the fact that between the house and, say, a barbecue area, most often there is no mains power, and repeaters are often not designed for outdoor use.

Development of antenna-nozzle for the router (WiFi Ladder)

So, we have a router with an external antenna (important: routers with built-in antenna we do not consider). The question arises: how to use this own antenna as an active element (vibrator) of the antenna system? Our goal is to give directional properties to the external antenna of the router, which will increase the range of transmission and reception of WiFi signals in a given direction. The first thing that comes to mind is an antenna of the "wave channel" type, also known as "UDA-YAGI" (after its inventors from Japan). It is a simple and at the same time effective antenna design, which has proven itself all over the world.

So the idea appeared and it was necessary to put it into design. The developers faced the task of calculating a multi-element wave channel for the range of 2.4-2.5 GHz, in which it would be possible to "embed" the regular antenna of the router. During the simulation it was decided that the best option would be a 7-element "wave channel". At quite compact dimensions of the design we got an antenna system, the gain of which allows us to solve the assigned problems. The sizes of the directors and distances between them have been optimized in the physical model, we consider them the best for the solution of the task (Fig. 12).

Figure 12. "Stuffing" of the BAS-2002 WiFi Ladder antenna

The next stage was the development of the antenna mount design. After monitoring the router market, we decided to place the "wave channel" on the external antenna of the router, using it as a carrier element (Fig. 13). We came across the fact that routers have different diameter antennas, and sometimes their shape is far from cylindrical or cone-shaped. For example, a "flattened" external antenna is quite popular. For this reason, the designers developed a universal clip that allows you to attach the product to almost any external antenna of the router. In some cases it will not be the most rigid mount, but we want to note that the antenna is usually installed indoors and only once, so the external physical effects on it will be minimal.

How to increase the Wi-Fi signal in the router settings?

If you have already bought and installed a router in your home or office, and Wi-Fi is not everywhere you need, you can try to strengthen the wireless network. How to do this, we will now look at. You can boost the signal with both the settings in the router and with individual devices and gadgets.

1 Find and change the channel on your router. If your devices see many of your neighbors' networks available for connection, then all of these networks, can load the channel on which your network is running, and thereby reduce the range of the network.

You can try, in the router settings, to set some static channel, or put Auto. This is where you need to experiment. If you are not lazy, then using the program inSSIDer you can find a more free channel, and set it in the settings of your router.

I will not describe in detail, just give you a link to the article How to find a free Wi-Fi channel, and change the channel on the router? In it I told in detail about channels and how to find a channel which is not busy. Also, there are instructions on how to change the channel on routers from different manufacturers.

2 Switching your network to 802.11N mode. Usually the default setting on all routers is b/g/n mixed mode (11bgn mixed). Forcing the router to broadcast Wi-Fi in 802.11N mode may not only increase the speed, but also the range of Wi-Fi coverage (if your router has more than one antenna).

The only problem is that if you have older devices that don't support 802.11N mode, they simply won't see your network. If you don't have any older devices, then without a doubt switch your network to n mode. It is very easy to do this. Go to your router settings, usually at 192.168.1.1, or 192.168.0.1 (see here for detailed instructions on how to enter the settings).

How can I increase the range of my Wi-Fi network with additional devices?

1 Installing a repeater, or setting up a second router in amplifier mode. Of all the recommendations that you will see here, or even find on the Internet, this method is the most effective and reliable. True, you will have to spend more money for the repeater.

Repeater (repeater) is a small device which should be installed in the place where you still have a signal of your Wi-Fi, but it is not very strong. And the repeater will simply extend your main network, i.e. "transmit" it further. I wrote about these devices in detail in the article: What is a Wi-Fi repeater (repeater), how it works, and what does a router in repeater mode mean?

Regular routers can act as a repeater. Here are instructions for setting up ZyXEL and Asus routers in repeater mode:

If your Wi-Fi is not getting to some rooms, then installing a repeater will solve this problem. And if you have a house with several floors, you can install a router on the first floor, and a repeater on the second floor. It's a great and working scheme.

2 Changing your router antennas to a more powerful one. If your router has removable antennas, you can buy more powerful ones and thereby increase your network coverage a little. Why a little? Yes because replacing the antennas usually does not give very good results. It is there, but not such that would increase the radius of several rooms. In any case, you have to spend money on antennas. And it seems to me that it is much better to spend this money on a repeater. Yes, it will cost more, but it is much more useful.

If you decide to change the antennas, get a powerful, with a gain of 8 dBi. But, they are expensive, and several such antennas will cost as much as a repeater.

3 Buy a new router, switch to 5 GHz. You can buy a more powerful, expensive router. Better yet, a router that supports the 5 GHz band. What is the advantage of the range of 5 GHz? It is practically free, nowadays most all networks and other devices work in the 2.4 GHz band. Less interference means more speed and a more stable network.

How to change channel settings

Go to the web interface of the router (the path is described in the "Change Frequency" section). In the menu, find the item for Wi-Fi settings – for 2.4 and 5 GHz items may be different.

You can change the channel separately for each network – 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz

In the Wi-Fi settings menu, find the item for selecting channels – this line may be called "Channel Number" or just "Channel". By default, this field will be set to "Auto", instead you should select the freest channel that is not used by your neighbors' routers.

Boost your Wi-Fi signal

No router can handle the coverage of a large multi-story brick house or a multi-bedroom apartment with a complex layout – in remote corners of the Wi-Fi will work unstable or the network will stop catching at all. You will need to use a signal booster – repeaters or mesh-systems.

Repeater. Takes the signal from the main router and creates an additional network with the same name around it. Suitable if the router does not support mesh-networks and its signal is not enough to make Wi-Fi work throughout the house. It is important to consider that the repeater creates additional delay in the network, so it is not suitable for games on a PC or console, where ping (delay in data exchange) is important.

Repeater catches the signal from the router (in the overlapping coverage area) and distributes it around itself with separate antennas

Mesh system. This is a set of two or three modules and more (can include up to several dozen devices), similar to full-fledged routers. The system scales the Wi-Fi signal and creates a single wireless network. It uses a separate channel to exchange data between access points, so the ping in such networks does not increase. Suitable if you have many devices and rooms and need a good signal everywhere.

The mesh-system modules receive the signal from the main device on a separate channel, so the speed in the main network does not drop

To check if your router supports the mesh system, look at its specifications in the manual or on the manufacturer's website. If they have the designation mesh or mesh Wi-Fi, then you can connect one or more mesh modules to it and get a large-scale network.

advertisement

As a result, instead of staying in his two-room house, his mother-in-law sat under his nose in the evenings, explaining everything by the fact that she needed the Internet. I assume she was sitting there during the day as well, but since my acquaintance was at work at that time, this problem did not bother him much. To make a long story short: fighting with his wife, resentment, and yelling, to name a few of the problems that came down on his head. He needed urgent help. Getting wireless Internet into his mother-in-law's annex didn't work, because no carrier was working consistently outside the city. The signal is weak or there is just no signal. It is worth noting that about 5 years ago my friend's house had high speed internet with constant speed of 80MB. It was not much for the city but compared to 4 Mb which he had it was a real breakthrough.

By the time I got there my friend (let's call him Peter) had tried everything he knew. All this time he had a router that his operator sold him: the P-LINK TL-WR841N. It is quite a normal unit, which is sufficient for the needs of three people. As you guessed, Pete has a wife and a child who also has his own laptop. The wife has enough of a tablet, which is connected to the router. I can't say that my mother-in-law has put a lot of strain on the network, but it was extremely difficult to tolerate her presence all the time. So, let's list what my acquaintance had already done by the time I arrived:

Moved the router as close to the door as possible, hoping it would make it to my mother-in-law's house. It did not lead to anything good, because after such self-dealing revolted son Peter, who claimed that the signal on the 2nd floor, where his room was located, has become worse. Alas, the signal did not reach his mother-in-law. Next we will not count the useful recommendations from the Internet, which were used by my acquaintance, noting that there were 5 in total.

advertisement

The next step was to buy a more powerful antenna. Peter went to the router manufacturer's website and bought this thing: TL-ANT2409CL. It is an omnidirectional amplified antenna with 9 dBi power. Since the P-LINK TL-WR841N router has two antennas, I had to spend twice as much. Alas, despite the fact that in some cases it can increase the radius of the router, in this situation the router is equipped with non-removable antennas, which means that I had to send the purchase back. Fortunately, the money for it was returned.

The next desperate step was to make a parabolic mirror. You have not heard of it? Neither had I heard of it, but it exists! It is a simple device made of foil glued to heavy paper. The simple device is mounted on the antenna, focusing the signal, which can theoretically increase the range of the router. Peter spent the whole evening on this, giving up his beloved Tanks. My mother-in-law did not get Internet access, and everyone else could not use it at all, because now the network was perfectly catchable outside and in the summer kitchen, but disappeared on the second floor. Another fiasco. I do not know how effective this method is, but in this case it did not work.

How to "improve" Wi-Fi

There are different ways to improve the performance of devices – both "scientific" and "folk". We decided to pay attention to the latter, but only the ones that are available to everyone, not only to those who can hold a soldering iron and a screwdriver, can tell from memory what components are included in a homemade signal amplifier, and then blindfolded assemble it even without using blue tape.

The choice fell on a few of the most common and accessible materials – foil and tin in the form of soda cans. They are the most often mentioned by the authors of "smart tricks" and by inventors of different heights. For the tests we also armed ourselves with a set of several popular and cheap routers, as well as those that are more expensive – with support for Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band.

They were wired to a 50-megabit Internet connection, then the signal strength and data transfer rate were measured – something that is important for people who use Wi-Fi primarily to connect to IPTV and "heavy" surfing on the Internet. The router was located both in the immediate vicinity of the computer and behind various obstacles in the form of a door and a reinforced concrete wall.

As "antennas" were used: two tin cans cut so as to create a directional (in theory) signal; a foil-covered shoe box lid with "ears"; and finally, a "kettle" made of several layers of foil, as well as the desire to make the world a better place.

The experts of "Business Network", who helped us to conduct measurements, looked at all these crispy and sparkling "improveers" with interest. Probably about the same way one looks at a raft made of rotten planks launched into the water: what if it floats. But we did not give up hope, remembering the television antennas made of copper wires and tubes – they worked!

The effectiveness of the methods

Launch the first devices. The inexpensive TP-Link and the higher level Keenetic both work in the 2.4 GHz band. They are placed at the same distance from the device receiving the signal. The Keenetic has better performance, but both are about -30-35 dB (the closer the figure is to a notional zero, the better).

"Of course, a lot depends on which channel is chosen." – comments the results on the screen representative of the provider Denis. By the way, for this reason, it is recommended to regularly restart the router – this is the easiest way to "force" it to automatically select a less loaded channel. Of course, it is more correct to make settings through the interface of the device, but it is easier for the average Belarusian grandmother to press a button. True, this is a temporary "fix".

The first measurement, and the popular TP-Link shows a signal in the -55-60 dB range, being behind a not too thick reinforced concrete wall. Under such conditions the download speed was 19 Mbit/s, which is much less than the available 50 Mbit/s on the network. A little further away the signal drops to -70 dB, sometimes rising to -63 dB, but the operating system shows a connection quality of 100%.

"The signal is no longer enough, it has begun to sag noticeably, but the network card flatly refuses to admit it." – explained Denis. The corresponding speed is about 5 Mbit/s. For sure the routers nearby also have an impact.

Well, we put on both antennas of the device two beautiful multi-colored tin cans with convenient holes in the lid. We point the "emitters" in the right direction and measure again. Unbelievable but true: the power has not changed, the speed has decreased by about 1.5 Mbps. Basically, the difference can be written off to measurement error and Wi-Fi channel load. We move the laptop so as to be slightly away from the supposedly directional signal. The data transfer rate drops to uncomfortable values, as expected.

Types of amplifiers

Like any other gadget, wireless amplifiers vary in power and design qualities. There are several types of repeaters on the domestic market:

• Portable or personal. This option is suitable for amplifying the signal when using one or two mobile devices. They are characterized by their compactness and low power They can be connected via a USB port;
• Home. Such equipment is used at home to amplify wireless networks with up to 5 devices. In this case the range of operation can be up to 20 meters;
• Office. This category includes powerful repeaters, which can be used as a full-fledged access point. The key advantage is a wide range of antennas, providing a stable signal with up to 50 connected devices.

How to choose a Wi-Fi amplifier

Before buying a repeater, you need to get acquainted with a lot of functional and design qualities. To begin with, the user should decide how many devices will be connected to the router. On this basis, it will be possible to choose an amplifier in terms of power and supported Wi-Fi standard.

You should also pay attention to the following criteria.

Functionality .

When buying a budget model, you should not count on a wide functionality. The main task of such a device will be to amplify the wireless signal with a range of up to 15-20 meters. However, more expensive models can offer a lot of interesting features:

• The access point mode. With this function the amplifier can independently distribute the Internet. First, the user must connect a network cable to it via the Ethernet port. The repeater can then completely replace the router, while providing a stronger signal;
• Beamforming and MU-MIMO technologies. Allows you to direct the signal to a specific part of the room;
• WPS. It simplifies the process of setting up;
• Remote control. You can interact with the amplifier from a distance. For this purpose, there are special applications designed for Android and iOS devices.

Number of antennas

Many users are mistaken in stating that the number of antennas affects the range of action. In fact, they only play an important role if the device supports MU-MIMO technology. In this case, the antennas can be pointed in the direction of the connected device.

Read More: