By Ki Grinsing

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Improving wifi performance

Wireless network sends data through the air wave medium which is prone to any signal attenuation such as signal interference from other devices that use the same frequency (including microwave oven, cordless phones), building materials, and other obstacles.

signal strength reduces by distance

Generally you can improve the performance of your wireless network by arranging the placement of the router / AP in the center of the room with minimum number of walls or ceilings between the router and the wireless clients; keep away from any sources of signal attenuation etc. But the signal strength reduces by distances; therefore installing any types of wireless signal booster would help the network performance.

Signal booster

There are various wireless signal booster products available in the market you may consider to add to your existing wireless router or access point. One of them is Amped WA12 12dBi signal booster. You may also think differently, instead of adding a wireless signal booster why don’t you consider multifunction wifi booster device Dlink Dap-1525 Wifi booster.

What this DAP-1525 Does

The Dlink Dap-1525 is a wifi booster which is powered by innovative antenna technology – the Smartbeam which finds and tracks wireless devices and focuses beams of bandwidth to each of individual device for seamless connection. You just need to plug the device to your router and the Smartbeam will take care of the rest to boost the signal within the house. You can configure this wifi booster as the wireless access point or as the wireless bridge with selectable switch.

Main features:

• Powered by wireless 802.11n technology with 6 element beam-forming antennas to replace of upgrade your existing router signal.
• Supports selectable 2.4GHz or 5GHz band
• Includes four gigabit Ethernet ports
• Includes one USB port with Share-port technology

You may also like AMped wireless SR10000 high power smart repeater which can cover as large as 10.000 sq ft,  or any types of wifi range extender to extend the network.

Selectable dual band

You can select the wifi booster to operate either in 2.4GHz or 5GHz band to suit your environment. If you have multiple multimedia dual band adapters, you can select 5GHz band for less interference network which is ideal for HD media streaming and gaming.

4xGigabit ports

With the included four gigabit Ethernet ports you can add up to four Ethernet-base devices to the network and optimum performance can be obtained if gigabit-enabled devices are connected for fast data rate transfer.

USB with Shareport

The beauty with this dap-1525 wifi booster is the included USB 2.0 port with Shareport technology to let you share the external disk storage or printer – eliminating the requirement of wireless print-server. Other standard wireless access points are not equipped with multiple Ethernet ports or USB port. But you have two advantages with the additions of 4xgigabit ports and one USB port.

Dap-1525 wireless signal booster upgrades your existing wireless signal with Smartbeam technology for solid connection for the wireless clients.

Networking diagram

The figure 1 shows a common networking diagram of Dap-1525 wifi booster that replaces the existing wireless router signal to smartbeam wifi. The home theater devices which connect to Linksys WES610n wireless bridge connect wirelessly to the smartbeam wireless signal booster.

WA12 Amped Wireless Signal Booster

Another solution you can add to your existing wireless network is affordable wireless signal booster. Amped WA12 is high power 12dBi Omni-directional Wifi antenna to boost your existing wireless signal range up to twice. Normally your standard wireless router or wireless access point is equipped with 2dBi Omni-directional antenna, but with Amped WA12 the antenna gain is 12dBi. You can purchase the wireless signal booster (WA12) under $40 in the electronic retail store.

Main features:

• Increase the range of your wireless network up to twice
• 12dBi Omni-directional – broadcast the strong signal in all direction
• Installation is easy, just plug and play – replace your existing detachable antenna with this WA12 wireless signal booster
• This device can work with 802.11b/g/n wifi devices with detachable antenna

This WA12 wireless signal booster is not like the above Dap-1525 wifi booster, WA12 is an antenna booster. If you expect more Ethernet ports from your existing router and USB port you may consider Dap-1525 for boosting your wireless signal. Or you may also consider D-link DIR-645 home router.

The figure 2 shows networking diagram that uses WA12 wireless signal booster for stronger wireless signal to reach longer distance wireless clients such as in backyards, large warehouses and offices.