[kwlug-disc] Extending WiFi Range

[B.S.]

So you do / did have one ethernet cable to tap into above the basement. 
Must have missed that.


JJ's post gave me a D'OH! moment within a few lines ...

The (original) issue may not be the router getting out, but the much 
less powerful dongle getting back in.


On 04/02/2017 12:03 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
> Here is a followup on the issue.
>
> First regarding JJ's post. The issue is not 'reception'. The issue is
> 'coverage', 'strength', and 'stability'. The backyard had some coverage,
> but it is weak and intermittent. Not a stable connection for what I want to
> do (basically control a camera connected to a telescope). The WiFi router
> is in the basement, and perhaps blocked by the concrete walls, and/or the I
> beams interfering. So the solution I had in mind from the beginning is to
> have another AP station upstairs closer to the back of the house, and
> higher up, rather than in the centre of the basement.
>
> Now for what ended up working for my case:
>
> I got another router, put OpenWRT 15.05.1 on it and connected it to an
> ethernet cable that runs from the basement (where the main router is). The
> connection is via one of the LAN ports, not the WAN port.
>
> I put a separate SSID on it, and gave it an address on the same subnet.
>
> Then disabled DHCP and the Firewall on it.
>
> The basic steps are under the Web LuCI section here:
>
> https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/dumbap
>
> The only thing that I added to the above steps is add the main router's IP
> as a default gateway.
>
> It works well. There is good coverage for the far end of backyard. And this
> is done without having to deal with outdoor cables, nor run a cable up and
> another down and move the main router to the main floor, and get a UPS for
> it.
>
> For the sake of completeness, I am listing other stuff that found on
> OpenWRT. None of them do what I want, but related in case someone needs it.
>
> There is a whole bunch of info in the recipes section of OpenWRT's wiki,
> with relayd, routed, bridged, ...etc. And there are limitations, ...etc.
> This may be helpful for other cases.
>
> https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes
>
>
>
> On Sun, Apr 2, 2017 at 11:02 AM, <jvj at golden.net> wrote:
>
>> All
>>
>> I have skimmed through the emails in this thread and am impressed and
>> intrigued by the depth of the knowledge on this issue.
>> However, for some of the newbies in the group/list I will mention a
>> possible common error in the premise of the OP's original post.
>>
>> The OP starts out with "WiFi reception in my house ...".
>>
>> And herein in the error. (Or maybe not. )
>>
>> As with cell phones many use the term "reception" when referring to
>> performance the device, e.g. cell phone, notebook, laptop, etc. They forget
>> that there may be "reception" issues a the other end whether the other end
>> is a wifi router or cell tower. The device is, after all, a two way
>> instrument, both an RF receiver and a RF transmitter. RF signals are
>> transmitted from the device and are received at the wifi router or cell
>> tower.
>>
>> Efforts to increase the RF transmission signal strength at the wifi router
>> to "increase range" will not address any problems of RF transmission at the
>> device.
>>
>> There have been some good suggestions that may address issues with the
>> two-way RF transmission/reception. One or more contributors mentioned
>> relocating the router (with its antennae) and/or addressing any impediments
>> in the environment which may serve to attenuate RF signals. At least one
>> contributor mentioned repeaters or mesh networks.
>>
>> I will guess that there is not really much anyone can do with software in
>> the wifi router to improve the two-way RF transmission/reception in the
>> router or device for that matter. The RF modulation/demodulation is
>> performed in the chip set and this may be locked into the chip set. Of
>> course, chip set drivers may be available and may help.
>>
>> John Johnson
>> With apologies to the OP.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *Subject:* [kwlug-disc] Extending WiFi Range
>> *Date:* Wed, 29 Mar 2017 19:29:33 -0400
>> *From:* Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com>
>> *To:* KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
>> *Reply-To:* kb at 2bits.com, KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
>>
>> WiFi reception in my house, using the OpenWRT powered D-Link DIR-835, is
>> generally adequate, but could be better in some spots. Reception is
>> intermittent in the backyard, where I am pondering a project that would
>> need it. Perhaps the basement's concrete is interfering?
>>
>> I like OpenWRT and plan to stay with it. Also the router itself has lots
>> of storage (flash) and RAM, so will be here for the future. It is in the
>> basement, near the cable modem, and other equipment, and connected to the
>> UPS in there.
>>
>> Moving it to the main floor is not likely since it would involve finding a
>> power outlet and running Ethernet, as well as losing the UPS connection.
>>
>> So, my questions are:
>>
>> 1. What does one do in this case? Do you buy another router, possibly one
>> capable of running OpenWRT and turn off the router features, and keep it
>> only as a WiFi hotspot and put it near the spots where good reception is
>> needed?
>>
>> 2. If so, what are good routers that you tried this on?
>>
>> 3. How did you turn off OpenWRT routing ...etc. on it?
>>
>> 4. Does the new WiFi hotspot have its own SSID or can it use the same SSID
>> as the main router?
>>
>> Any other thoughts/ideas welcome.