Old laptop was marginal in back of house but did pick up a signal, new one won’t pick anything up (although is fine if you move nearer the router).

Is there a cheap way for a Luddite to improve the wifi signal through the house? Some sort of booster maybe? Did a bit of googling but bewildering array of gadgets out there…

Bigger aerial on the router. Does it have an aerial already?

First thing to try is using a different channel on the router. Google your router for instructions.

get a long cat5 cable?

get the router moved downstairs?

upgrade the router?

Check your wireless card drivers make sure they are upto date

If you can change the power on the router for the wifi signal do that.

Check the channels that people in your area are on and choose a channel away from that. Most are set to channel 1 so go for 6 or 11. Dont use any channels between these.

If its the router form your ISP they are crap it really is worth spending some cash and getting a decent wireless router. Even the BT ones can be poor if you are unfortunate enought to get the Thompson produced one rather than the Siemens even though they look identical.

+1 for try changing the channel 1st.

Then go from there.

cat5 cable FTW!

+1 for changing the channel. Then move the router. Then go for a wireless extender.

Can’t most wireless access point devices be set up as repeaters to boost a signal? I’m pretty sure that my parents have one set up to boost their wireless signal to the top of the house.

pringles can can make a good direction antenna.

How many other networks can you see
Turn off Bluetooth on the laptop when not using it
Change the channel if that doesn’t improve things

How old’s the router, simple things like cordless phones, microwaves close to the router can interfere with signals.

Think about replacing router for at least N as this has better range and faster transfer speed.

But also maybe think do you actually move the laptop around the house or only use at a desk, if it stays put most of the time, get a nice long cat6 cable and connect directly to router, this will improve reliability and speed more than anything else.

If you have a N spec router and cable idea not an option look at a range extender or wireless bridge.

Makeshift tinfoil booster ariel.

With any leftovers you can make a hat too.

Can’t most wireless access point devices be set up as repeaters to boost a signal? I’m pretty sure that my parents have one set up to boost their wireless signal to the top of the house.

That’s what I use in my house, works a treat.

Powerline

A little extra expense but reliable and no cable mess.

repeater here too. it’s great. I can listen to internet radio in the garage 🙂

Stand closer to the router 😀

Bought a powerline adapter for £40. Couldn’t be happier. Plug and play. And fast. Came with all the cables too.

Makeshift tinfoil booster ariel.

With any leftovers you can make a hat too. 😀

Cheers – have changed the channel with little effect. House has some cat5 cables installed but need to speak to landlord to find out where they run etc as doesn’t seem as simple as plugging into router and there’s a signal at the other end!

Dashed, that’s what Powerline solves. You make network connections using mains wiring. Plug and play. But if you have CAT5 terminated at RJ45 sockets then it should be as simple as plugging into the router. I would get one of these and extend your wireless, set it up with the same SSID and password as your existing Wi-Fi but make sure you use a channel outside of the one you’re using on you wireless router.

If you’re not sure about Wi-Fi channels read this.

if you’re no goin to us the laptop upstairs, an omni directional aerial might work for you (effectively flattens a sphere of signal into a disc)

BTW, virtually all modern routers do a scan when they start up nowadays to see which channels are free(er) so manually setting the channel is usually a waste of time.