Mar 2012 Wireless N router for BSNL

[Vj@HiFi]

... And to take advantage of N300 your clients must have N300 capability.

Fully agree on the 'equal' handshake between devices. Although my current crop is probably not N type, but much of it is due for replacement and for anything new that I add I will look for at least N wifi capability.

On the other hand if it is the signal strength I want to increase am I even looking at the right thing in the TP Link 8961? The 3dBi gain that this router's dual antennae have should be better than the single antenna 450TCI, right? Haven't been able to source any specs for the Beetel 450TCI.

 

[haisaikat]

Hi Vj. If your target is to increase coverage in ground floor (you did not mention how many walls / total sq ft of each floor) then did you try for higher gain antennas for the Beetel 450TCI like this one Alfa 9dBi WiFi Booster SMA OMNI-Directional High-Gain Screw-On Swivel Antenna f | eBay. I was looking for a externally powered antenna but could not find easily on ebay.

The above holds good if you are fine at G speeds. However if you want to upgrade to N then it is difficult to find ADSL+Router combination with high transmit power.So you may have to think of separating the two, may be keep using airtel adsl router as modem and connect via wire the new router to its LAN (WAN port).

Another option that you have is buy two Netgear WGR614 for 1400 x 2 ~ 2800 which have the capability to connect in repeater manner to an identical self thereby giving wider coverage. Ali (magma) is trying this option already.

 

[Vj@HiFi]

The house measures about 1600 sq.ft. on one floor ( 3 bedrooms, drg, dining lobby etc.). The intervening Faraday cage is large! The wifi router is placed almost in the center (on the first floor) but signal really fades half a room depth away on the lower floor.

I am presently fine with g speeds but if I am buying a something new might as well upgrade by at least one level, is what I thought.

Funny thing is that I can 'see' a few of my neighbours' routers across the intervening 45' street and several walls deep at signal strengths better than mine, and when I inquired they did not report any fancy equipment just regular d-link router or something, which is why I started to look for one!

I do have a ASUS WL-330gE and it used to do the needful, but ever since airtel replaced my 220BX with this 450TCI it started dropping signals, eventually I hard reset it to flash an update and something went wrong. Now it wont let me log in! In fact if there is some way I can resurrect this tiny matchbox size repeater I'll be back on road again. Have spent several hours searching for a solution on Google and tinkering with it but to no avail!

Sorry to bother with you with my tale of woe, but I usually don't easily let go a half offered shoulder to cry on.

 

[haisaikat]

Hi Vj. Is the admin login page of the router opening?

 

[Vj@HiFi]

Hi Vj. Is the admin login page of the router opening?

No I cannot log in into the admin log in page of the ASUS.

I tried pinging it at the default IP address and it does not go through. All routers have this hard reset which one presses for (say) 5 seconds to default it factory settings. The login page itself does not come up, the web page keeps returning not able to establish connection status! I think it is dead for all practical purposes.

 

[haisaikat]

No I cannot log in into the admin log in page of the ASUS.

I tried pinging it at the default IP address and it does not go through. All routers have this hard reset which one presses for (say) 5 seconds to default it factory settings. The login page itself does not come up, the web page keeps returning not able to establish connection status! I think it is dead for all practical purposes.

Have you contacted airtel for troubleshooting? See if they can replace it.

Otherwise what is your budget for new router?

Do you have a wired LAN connection between floor 1 and ground floor? In that case you can think of buying two cheaper individual routers and bridge them via wire.

On the other hand if it is the signal strength I want to increase am I even looking at the right thing in the TP Link 8961? The 3dBi gain that this router's dual antennae have should be better than the single antenna 450TCI, right? Haven't been able to source any specs for the Beetel 450TCI.

The problem with router manufacturer is that they never advertise the range which depends on the antenna gain as well as the transmit power of the router. Typically routers transmit 50 mW to 120/130 mW power and in some models that can be increased from admin page to higher supported values. The max I have seen advertised in any router is Buffalo WGR 300 NH where it is 600mW and smallnetbuilder.com has rated it to have the highest range and throughput balance. If you can import that I think will come around 3500 inr. This ASUS one seems good but had it been me I would have looked for Gigabit ports since in N300 where the max transfer speed is supposed to be 25 mbps the Ethernet will limit that to 12.5 mbps max unless you always do wireless to wireless transfer

 

[canchi]

Folks,
I bought the Dlink Wireless N300 ADSL2+ Modem Router (DSL 2750U) from ebay. Did the connections. A CD supplied with the product guided me through steps to login to my BSNL broadband connection; worked like a charm. Wireless signal strength is excellent on the same floor and different rooms (4-5 bars on the laptop ), fair to good on the floor below ( 2-3 bars), good on the floor directly above (3 bars), poor in the room above the router and to the far right (1 bar).




I now have a redundant bsnl wireless router with modem (residential router 1600), see pic below. Can I use this in some way ( as a bridge?) to enhance signal strength on the top floor?

 

[goyal.sanchit]

@canchi

If you can run a lan wire between 2 routers you should be able to use the 2nd router as an access point.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

I recently bought tp link tl-wr740n router after reading some very good reviews.

Earlier I was using beetel 450bx1 modem+router which has a 2-3db (?) antenna. Not mentioned anywhere in the stats but I am guessing that might be the strength.

So I had expected to get quite a good performance from the 5 dbi tp link router. However was disappointed to find out the range is almost same as that of the beetel router!

 

[Vj@HiFi]

Have you contacted airtel for troubleshooting? See if they can replace it.

Sorry for not being clearer in my post, I am not able to login into my ASUS Router/repeater/AP. The Airtel provided 450TCI is working as it can (and I can login into its home page too)!

Otherwise what is your budget for new router?

I dont really have a budget, meaning I can spend if I need to, but would like to achieve a modest and stable connection at a lower price if possible. My local vendor meanwhile has procured the TP link 8961 for Rs.2100 as against a quote of 2300 that I got from Nehru Place. Now I either need to get it from him or politely ask for something else! Anything from say 2 to 4k would not pinch me too much.

I just looked up the router mentioned by Canchi and its available for 2558 on flipkart. I can see a USB port on the specs but seems to be 10/100 and not 10/100/1000 as mentioned by Canchi and flipkart. And it has the power-off wireless button too. No mention of the EIRP though. Looks like I'll have to ask my friendly neighborhood vendor in very polite ways about the TP Link!

Do you have a wired LAN connection between floor 1 and ground floor? In that case you can think of buying two cheaper individual routers and bridge them via wire.

As I mentioned earlier, I wish I could run a wire from upstairs but there are two issues, for one all my RJ45 ports in the 450TCI router are occupied (in fact am running short by at least one!) and two, snaking a cable down is going to be an ugly affair and that I would like to avoid.

The problem with router manufacturer is that they never advertise the range which depends on the antenna gain as well as the transmit power of the router. Typically routers transmit 50 mW to 120/130 mW power and in some models that can be increased from admin page to higher supported values. The max I have seen advertised in any router is Buffalo WGR 300 NH where it is 600mW and smallnetbuilder.com has rated it to have the highest range and throughput balance. If you can import that I think will come around 3500 inr. This ASUS one seems good but had it been me I would have looked for Gigabit ports since in N300 where the max transfer speed is supposed to be 25 mbps the Ethernet will limit that to 12.5 mbps max unless you always do wireless to wireless transfer

Elsewhere I found that the EIRP mentioned against the Tp Link 8961 is <20dBm which according to this site equates to 100mW, which seems very small compared to the Buffalo router mentioned by you. The spec page of the ASUS portable repeater mentions "19dBm(FCC regulation) or 17dBm(CE regulation) in b/g mode with 1.5dB tolerance", which means its closer to 50mW.

 

[canchi]

@canchi

If you can run a lan wire between 2 routers you should be able to use the 2nd router as an access point.

Yes, I have cabled a LAN wire to the top floor.
Is an access point the same as a bridge that haisaikat is suggesting? Does this require configuration of the bsnl router after plugging in the LAN cable to it? And how do I do that?
Cheers

 

[haisaikat]

I recently bought tp link tl-wr740n router after reading some very good reviews.

Earlier I was using beetel 450bx1 modem+router which has a 2-3db (?) antenna. Not mentioned anywhere in the stats but I am guessing that might be the strength.

So I had expected to get quite a good performance from the 5 dbi tp link router. However was disappointed to find out the range is almost same as that of the beetel router!

It seems then that the transmit power of the TP link is not much to propagate the signal. You are one of those many router buyers who is not satisfied with the router performance w.r.t to investment and that sometime included me as well.

 

[haisaikat]

Yes, I have cabled a LAN wire to the top floor.
Is an access point the same as a bridge that haisaikat is suggesting? Does this require configuration of the bsnl router after plugging in the LAN cable to it? And how do I do that?
Cheers

If your first router has DHCP for its LAN side and 2nd router has DHCP for WAN side then it should work well. Remember that in 2nd router WAN settings you have to set the first router's IP as the gateway address.

If you connect two routers by wires yes that can be termed as bridging but the individual routers can be termed as access points. Remember wireless bridging is different than this (2nd router do not usually transmit wifi rather acts as wireless switch for wired devices far away) and also repeater mode is also different.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

It seems then that the transmit power of the TP link is not much to propagate the signal. You are one of those many router buyers who is not satisfied with the router performance w.r.t to investment and that sometime included me as well.

Is there a way to check the transmit power or maybe increase it as well?

 

[goyal.sanchit]

Yes, I have cabled a LAN wire to the top floor.
Is an access point the same as a bridge that haisaikat is suggesting? Does this require configuration of the bsnl router after plugging in the LAN cable to it? And how do I do that?
Cheers

I am not 100% sure but I guess bridging and creating a access point are different things though they solve the same purpose.

Creating an access point is very simple. I did that about a week back and it takes about 5 minutes.

Here is a simple tutorial which shall help you out

DIY: Setting up wireless access points as repeaters to extend wireless range | TechRepublic



If you have any doubts I would be glad to help.

 

[haisaikat]

Is there a way to check the transmit power or maybe increase it as well?

Some router manufacturers like Linksys (Cisco) provides in their firmware web admin a capability to change power between Low / Medium / High. Else if your router can be flashed with DD-RT firmware (if there is acompatibility) then you can directly set the mW power (limited by hardware though). check www.dd-wrt.com | Unleash Your Router for more details.

 

[haisaikat]

I am planning to buy one of these mod kits for my existing router to see if these help in significantly increasing the range since my original router did not come with external antennas.

9dBi Antenna Mod Kit No Soldering Netgear WNDR3700 WNDR3800 D-Link DAP-1522 | eBay

7dBi Dual Band Antenna Mod Kit Linksys E3000 & WRT610N | eBay

 

[Vj@HiFi]

Something very interesting happened yesterday..

On my hunt for a D-Link vendor I called their Delhi distributor. He confirmed that the D-Link DSL 2750U is indeed available for Rs.2200 + taxes. I then asked him that I am looking to improve the signal of the router on the ground floor for a router placed on the first floor and if this is indeed the right piece of hardware.

Puneet said something that was indeed curious. He said while there is no guaranty that my signal would improve, but he knows that signal is better on the floor above rather than the floor below, because the antenna being 'omni-directional' throws signal upwards better than downwards as they are usually pointing 'up'. This got me thinking. What if I hung my router upside down or somehow have the antenna point downwards? Lo and behold, I got a signal in the room downstairs where I was not getting one earlier! Its still one bar but at least its there! This somewhat corroborates what canchi reports here:

Folks,
I bought the Dlink Wireless N300 ADSL2+ Modem Router (DSL 2750U) from ebay. Did the connections. A CD supplied with the product guided me through steps to login to my BSNL broadband connection; worked like a charm. Wireless signal strength is excellent on the same floor and different rooms (4-5 bars on the laptop ), fair to good on the floor below ( 2-3 bars), good on the floor directly above (3 bars), poor in the room above the router and to the far right (1 bar)....

except for that last line downer!

Is it really that simple?

OTOH, as Haisaikat has mentioned, I too haven't found a gigabit DSL router. D-Link has a 4 port Gigabit DIR 655 Router for Rs.4800 + taxes but it has a RJ45 WAN port and no RJ11 for a DSL.

 

[haisaikat]

Something very interesting happened yesterday..

On my hunt for a D-Link vendor I called their Delhi distributor. He confirmed that the D-Link DSL 2750U is indeed available for Rs.2200 + taxes. I then asked him that I am looking to improve the signal of the router on the ground floor for a router placed on the first floor and if this is indeed the right piece of hardware.

Puneet said something that was indeed curious. He said while there is no guaranty that my signal would improve, but he knows that signal is better on the floor above rather than the floor below, because the antenna being 'omni-directional' throws signal upwards better than downwards as they are usually pointing 'up'. This got me thinking. What if I hung my router upside down or somehow have the antenna point downwards? Lo and behold, I got a signal in the room downstairs where I was not getting one earlier! Its still one bar but at least its there! This somewhat corroborates what canchi reports here:
except for that last line downer!

Is it really that simple?

OTOH, as Haisaikat has mentioned, I too haven't found a gigabit DSL router. D-Link has a 4 port Gigabit DIR 655 Router for Rs.4800 + taxes but it has a RJ45 WAN port and no RJ11 for a DSL.

if you are getting good singal it is fine, however note that omnidirectional means equal distribution in all direction. It is higher gain after market antennas that help you make your signal directional.

10 Tips to Increase the Range of Your Wireless Network

 

[Vj@HiFi]

if you are getting good singal it is fine, however note that omnidirectional means equal distribution in all direction. It is higher gain after market antennas that help you make your signal directional.

Puneet was a bit wrong about omni directional thing. From what I understand now, Omni directional means equal transmitting power for all directions. Also, is the zone of coverage a sphere or is it a cylinder/ doughnut with the antenna as the long axis. Its more likely to be the latter, otherwise why do devices feature more than one antennae?

So Haisaikat, one should look for a router which will feature detachable antenna(e) that can be replaced with something more powerful? And I am still not getting good signal, its just that I got signal where there was none earlier by this small change.