Best Directional Antenna with USB Connection?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
J

Jenna Routenberg

Honorable
Sep 6, 2013
3
0
10,510
Hi. I've always designed my own wireless networks, but now I'm renting and that's not possible.
The network here has always been awful. Recently the landlord upgraded both the service and the router--got one of the new AC ones--but somehow, my connection is even worse. I live a floor below and at the opposite corner of the house, relative to the router.
So, I'm thinking a directional antenna might be the best solution. Correct me if I'm wrong.
The router doesn't have an external antenna, but it does have a USB port.
I'm not interested in the type of antenna that is meant to be paired with a computer because I also have my phone and my wireless printer down here to consider. (I just love it when I'm rushing off to class and the printer pauses midway through a job when the connection fails. It's delightful.)
What's everyone's best suggestion?
Thanks.
 
Solution
RealBeast
At your distance and the intervening floor you cannot expect much signal from N wireless, especially since others use it. But even someone turning on a microwave oven will shut down an N 2.4GHz connection since they (even the newest microwaves) leak a lot of RF interference that covers N channels 5-11 pretty well totally. And 5GHz N does not have as good a range when penetrating buildings since higher frequencies are attenuated more by intervening matter.

There is no reason that an ASUS RT-AC66U in media bridge mode should not work with that AC router, if they actually have the AC 5GHz wireless enabled on it (I would check that with the landlord), although I would definitely buy the ASUS from a local place that you can return it...
Sort by date Sort by votes
B

bill001g

Titan
Aug 9, 2012
28,319
2,754
125,640
Not a chance the USB is likely used to provide some kind of network disk storage option or maybe you can hook a broadband internet to it but not a chance of using any kind of antenna.

Best option will be another router that can take large antenna. What you really need is a AP but most routers will work. You would plug it into the lan port of the other router and configure the wireless.

Another option that may work..no way to tell until you try it. It to get a repeater that can take direction antenna. Outdoor ones are the most likely to have this feature and of course they work indoors too. Now you could build your own repeater by getting a client-bridge that can take direction antenna and hook it to a AP to provide wireless to your devices. The advantage is you could place this in your room maybe...it all depends if you can get enough signal with a directional antenna and this is true no matter which end you place the antenna on
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RealBeast

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Sep 13, 2010
17,109
474
104,790
What AC router did your landlord get?

If it was the ASUS RT-AC66U you have another good solution available -- buy an ASUS RT-AC66U and set it up in media bridge mode like THIS using the 5GHz AC for the bridge and then you can use the 2.4GHz N wireless on your bridge to connect your local devices to the bridge (and you also have the 4 LAN ports).

I did this with a pair and it worked fine. I did flash the custom Merlin firmware onto the bridge from HERE but I believe that is not necessary to do this, as this firmware only fixes a few bugs and does not add major features. The media bridge range with this setup is amazing and the N wireless 2.4GHz at the media bridge end is what you usually get near an N router.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

Jenna Routenberg

Honorable
Sep 6, 2013
3
0
10,510


I recommended the ASUS. Another roommate (there are five in total, which is a part of the issue) who is more... how should I put this... visibly nerdy (but no networking experience), wanted a Linksys. The landlord got a cheaper Linksys than the one recommended. http://www.linksys.com/en-apac/products/routers/EA6700 Is the one, I believe.

Everyone else in the house seems happy with their internet now. Another roommate just gave up entirely and found his own solution--I'm not sure what, but I don't think he's pulling much from the main network anymore. It's just me, down here in the lower floor, that's still having trouble.

Because it's not my equipment--not my router, modem, service, or computer responsible for network setup--the changes I make need to be quick and minimally invasive.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RealBeast

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Sep 13, 2010
17,109
474
104,790
At your distance and the intervening floor you cannot expect much signal from N wireless, especially since others use it. But even someone turning on a microwave oven will shut down an N 2.4GHz connection since they (even the newest microwaves) leak a lot of RF interference that covers N channels 5-11 pretty well totally. And 5GHz N does not have as good a range when penetrating buildings since higher frequencies are attenuated more by intervening matter.

There is no reason that an ASUS RT-AC66U in media bridge mode should not work with that AC router, if they actually have the AC 5GHz wireless enabled on it (I would check that with the landlord), although I would definitely buy the ASUS from a local place that you can return it without penalty if it does not work or does not provide an adequate signal (IMO unlikely if it actually can make the bridge connection as I found the AC66U's range awesome).

The setup should not require you to do anything to the Linksys router and all you should need is the SSID, security type and security passphrase for the Linksys.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
J

Jenna Routenberg

Honorable
Sep 6, 2013
3
0
10,510


Oh, yeah. I don't even bother trying to get online when people are cooking dinner anymore. The microwave kills the WiFi.
Okay, so if I buy the ASUS router (and we are talking about the router now, not the extra antenna), and connect it in bridge mode, will I need to borrow the landlord's computer to modify the network settings? Or can I just stack the two, Ethernet them together, and go?
And the only way to know if the 5GHz is enabled is if I look myself. This isn't her area of expertise.

Thanks, everyone, for all your help.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

bill001g

Titan
Aug 9, 2012
28,319
2,754
125,640
If you have not already done it get inssider and see what channels are in use. It will also tell you if the device is sending out 5g. You do need to run this on a machine that has a dual band nic or it won't see 5g.

You could stack them as you indicate but I suspect you will get better results placing the device along with a direction antenna on YOUR end of the connection. Without a direction antenna (no matter which end you place it on) it will likely not improve the signal at all.

Now if you cable it to the landlords router you need to run this as a AP not a client-bridge.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RealBeast

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Sep 13, 2010
17,109
474
104,790
Yes, you must insure that the 5GHz AC is enabled. You would not stack them though, your media bridge unit would be in your room and would make a 5GHz AC wireless bridge. Take a look at THIS and your end would be the media bridge. It will not be affected by microwave oven use.

If you can run a cable that is a whole different story -- but your original description led me to believe that you cannot run an Ethernet cable all the way to your room (although that would be the cheapest and best solution) to add an AP in your room.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom