Of late the signal strength from my wireless router has dropped off – are there any widgets to boost it or is it new router time?

Shouldnt “wear out” – find out why it has changed. Get a repeater, or if your computer sits in a single location all the time try making a waveguide from a pringles tin 😀

it shouldn’t ‘drop-off’- has somebody built a wall that you hadn’t noticed or is some new object interfering with the signal?

do a search for ‘can-tenna’ on google…

You can fit better antennas to the router and sometimes the cards in the PC. They cost about £4-5 a pop. The other things to look out for are cordless phones as they run on 2.4Ghz and therefore your wifi takes a hit when they are in use. Microwave ovens can also interfere.

Download netstumbler and use it to locate neighbouring networks it could be someone has set up a new one on the same channel as yours (probably 6 or 11). Change your network to a new channel that no one else is using and the problem might disapear.

try making a waveguide from a pringles tin

ah – those were the days (though I preferred Morrisons Dogfood Tins).

What do you mean those were the days, they still are!

It could be that a neighbour has a new wireless router. If this is on the same channel as yours then it could interfer with your signal (default tends to be 1).

Try changing the channel on the router and see if it improves.

There are some tools oput there on tinter web that you can use to see what routers are in range and what settings they have. Could use this tio find an unused channel that is as far from others as possible

7

EDIT – Bugger what he said ^^

Blimey!!

I’ve just had the opposite. Just walked into town (Weymouth) streaming the BBC iplayer (Adam and Joe) and my wireless has lasted just under half a mile.

Saying that, it will drop the signal in the bedroom. Sometimes