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I have a Billion 7401VGP-R3. This supports 802.11g and 802.11b.

According to the wikipedia article on IEEE 802.11 the expected indoor range is 70m and 35m respectively. This should cover my house comfortably.

However, I am experiencing a useful range of around 10m on any device (various phones and a laptop). The internal walls are just wood/plaster and are not made of marble or anything.

Things I have tried so far:

  • Upgraded the fireware on the Billion
  • Checked the antenna is correctly screwed in
  • Switched from Channel 1 to Channel 13

What else can I do to diagnose and fix this problem?

WW.
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1 Answers1

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  1. Find out the real range of the access point that you bought. Run an extension cord outside and plug in your AP there where no walls can interfere. Then test reception distance with your phones, etc. That's your baseline; you won't do any better than that indoors.

  2. Once you reconnect your AP indoors, make sure the antenna points straight up and antenna is at roughly at the height clients will be. Table height is generally good, on the floor or on a high shelf is bad. Don't think of the signal as an expanding sphere, think of it as an expanding torus with the antenna in the center.

  3. Put the access point in central location. If you put it at one end of the house or the other, you're dumping at least half your signal outdoors where it won't do you any good.

  4. Test and see what kind of range you get. Try all the channels on offer. Your neighbors may be squatting on one channel or the other, and you can't know which ones work best without trying them.

  5. If you have cordless telephones, even if they say they use 5.8Ghz, disconnect them and see if you Wifi coverage improves.

Kyle Jones
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  • It is difficult to move the location of the access point as it's near the phone line for ADSL. – WW. Feb 28 '12 at 07:32