Wi-Fi Westell Verizon POS

[Ol Smoke]

My wife got a tablet the other day to try out, so I turned on the wi-fi on my Westell 9100 FIOS router.  It is about 25' from the front room and we could only get

25% signal strength.

 

unbelievable! 

 

I tried, about a year ago, to hook my wife's PC up to wi-fi and it was in the room next to the router.  Could only get 50% and that is 12 feet away.  I called

Verizon.  THey sent out a tech.  He said everything was good and left.  He did one thing though, he leaned the antenna over at a 45 degree angle.  He

said it worked better like that.

 

The funny thing is...the neighbors behind us, have xfinity.  They are a good 90' from the front room of our house, and we could get their wi-fi better than the

one we have.

 

Frontier, which is what Verizon gave us, won't even come out to examine the problem. 

 

Is there an antenna booster for this wi-fi that I can put up to get a better signal?

[JoeDirt]

What wireless standard is setup as default on the router? Different standards mean a difference in range, strength and speed. The footprints of wireless networks can be limited by other networks sharing same channels, insulation in the walls, wireless phone's, microwaves and many other household appliances.

[Heretic121]

Virgin Media, a UK ISP, have a "Superhub" which has a similar problem with it's WIFI. Most people in the know just switch it to Modem mode and hook a second router, with decent WIFI capabilities. I did it a little differently but it's pretty much the same.

 

Also, they know there's a problem with the signal strength but no one's expecting them to fix it any time soon.

[The_Dom]

I have never been a fan of modem and router combos. It might be worth your while to upgrade your modem and buy a seperate router. Depending on your current hardware, which looks like it uses 802.11g according to a quick search, the newer tech would probably have more benefits in the long run then getting an extender.

[Ol Smoke]

Thanks guys.  A while back someone else suggested that I bag this router and switch it over to CAT5 instead of the COAX FIOS uses.  The reason being is that this router will not WAN into another hub or router when it is on

COAX.  So maybe it is time for me to do that.   We don't have FIOS TV anymore so I don't need the COAX installation.  They said all I had to do was run CAT5 from the outside connection center, into the house and into another

router.  Then I can put multiple routers throughout the house.  Right now, I had to hardwire the house to get the network to TV's and other PC's.  But, with the advent of her wanting a book or pad device, I have to get this

WiFi to work.

 

I am wondering if the old ceiling heat has something to do with signal loss?  There are heat strips and aluminum foil on the ceiling still.  We no longer have the ceiling heat connected at all since the fire burned all that up.  But

maybe that is why the signal is so bad.  Well, maybe not.  I just opened up the laptop and setup the wifi on it, and it is the same room as the router, and I still only get 75% signal strength.   So I guess it is the router.  The

internet has nothing but bad about this router and it's wifi signal.

 

So, what is the best wifi router that I can get for my house?  Should I stick with Linksys?  I used nothing but Linksys in the old days.

[JoeDirt]

Cisco DPC3825.

[RedBaird]

Cisco DPC3825.

I guess that worrying whether the device is either a USB-out or an Ethernet-out is old-fashioned, but I still checked it out.

 

DPC3825, front panel lights:

5 ETHERNET 1 -4

—ON, a deviceis connected to one of the Ethernet ports. BLINKING indicates that data is being transferred over the Ethernet connection

6 USB

—ON, a device is connected to theUSB port. BLINKING indicates that data is being transferred over the USBconnection

　

http://www.cisco.com/web/consumer/support/userguides2/4021196_B.pdf

 

International online buyers should be aware of the different input models:

Model DPC3825 DOCSIS® 3.0 or EPC3825 EuroDOCSI

[ajnl]

If you have an android phone or tablet, you can use this wifi analyzer app, to see which channels your neighbor's wifi is on. Then you're able to pick the best channel for your wifi.

 

It might help with your router's range, interference, etc

 

 

For windows you can use: Wifi inspector or inSSIDer.

 

not sure which one is best - joedirt answered below

Edited December 7, 2013 by ajnl

[JoeDirt]

Inssider

[CanadaEh]

Cisco DPC3825.

 

I have the same exact router/modem with Rogers Cable. It works great but It turn off randomly sometimes..

[JoeDirt]

I have the same exact router/modem with Rogers Cable. It works great but It turn off randomly sometimes..

Call Rogers and see if you have the latest firmware. Otherwise exchange it at a local Rogers store, obviously call them first and check which store has them in stock.