tracking the losses on wifi network

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luthierwnc

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Apr 19, 2013
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Hi all, Forgive me it this is well covered elsewhere but I couldn't find it. I have a small office with two desktop computers. The reception area computer is hardwired to an inexpensive router (Linksys E2500) that I got five years ago. My machine is about 40' away on the other side of a Class A wall (steel studs).

The machine in the lobby tests around 55 mhz and mine is usually around 20-24 mhz. Some streaming on my machine comes in fine while other programs that were prerecorded buffer miserably.

My first inclination was to replace the router but I can't rule out:

a) internal wireless card is cheap and/or behind the desk,
b) the computer itself has another weak component,
c) the TV station I'm trying to stream is the culprit or
d) I need to change some settings internally to get the most of what I have.

so I guess the question is; how do I look at the signal through the chain to find the hitches?

Thanks for any comments, sh

computer: I5, 8gb ram, SSD and HDD, Win 7, added video card.
 
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bill001g

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Your questions was similar to mine when I first looked at the source code for dd-wrt. I figured I would just write a interface to see how many packet re transmission were happening.

What I found is all that stuff is handled by the wifi chip and that is a blackbox. All the software is not provided as a source, all you get is a bin file from the manufacture you load into the chip. At that point you can only see the thing the chipset manufacture allows you to see talking to the firmware bin file you loaded.

Now I suspect if you were to say run a ethernet cable it would all be fine. All that does is confirm that your problem is the wifi. It does not tell what is happening in the wifi.

Wifi problems pretty much are blindly change and replace things and see if anything improves.
 
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vmfantom

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Nov 28, 2017
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Sometimes our first inclinations are correct. The E2500 is pathetic in the year 2017. Its transmit power is only 438 milliwatts at 2.4 GHz and 45-390 mW at 5 GHz (http://fccid.io/Q87-E2500). Its max throughput in Mbps is about 1/10th that of a modern 5 GHz router (https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31578-cisco-linksys-e2500-advanced-dual-band-n-router-reviewed?showall=&start=1). So if I factor in the lower 5 GHz bands, 40 feet of free space path loss, and the steel wall (possibly 20 dB of attenuation), it's possible that the relative signal strength indication (RSSI) would be weaker than -73 dBm and would have packet loss issues in addition to lower Mbps throughput.

You can measure RSSI with an app like WiFi Analyser and report the results in negative dBm. That would help determine if signal strength is too low for video streaming. And some replacement routers do come to mind.

Also, do you have any Ethernet cabling or coaxial cabling that runs between the reception area and the other room that isn't currently used? Your setup isn't optimal for those distances and the attenuation that steel walls would cause.
 
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luthierwnc

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Thanks to both of you. I figured the router was obsolete but I've been known to replace the obvious choice and make things worse. It's a gift. I thought that because things that used to work fairly well don't anymore.

Supplying the one computer and boosting my cell phone is all I need. If there is a router that is all I need but not a lot more, I hope you'll offer some suggestions. Thanks, sh
 
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vmfantom

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If there's any way to use cabling between the two areas, that would open up several other solutions. But in general, the average size of webpages keeps increasing, as does the bitrate of streaming video from many websites, so any losses caused by attenuation between the reception area and your office would be exacerbated by the E2500's poor transmit power and low Phy rate.

List of routers with approx. 1 watt of transmit power, 512 MB of RAM, and 4 MIMO antennas (to achieve up to 500-700 Mbps throughput on 5 GHz when distance is minimal), with upgradeable antennas:

ASUS RT-AC3100
ASUS RT-AC68U Extreme
ASUS RT-AC86U
ASUS RT-AC88U
TP-LINK Archer C2600

Or for 256 MB of RAM and 3 MIMO antennas but comparable transmit power, you can find the D-Link DIR-880L for $60 on Amazon or eBay sometimes, either new or refurbished. Most other routers with 3+ antennas and that much power would be near $100 or higher. The Asus RT-AC1900 is good as well.

As for boosting your cellular signal, you could get a Cel-Fi kit or something comparable from Wilson Amplifiers, but how well that works depends on topography, rain fade, and some other attributes specific to your location that we haven't discussed.
 
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luthierwnc

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Thanks again. I might just run a cable through the ceiling. There are some RJ45 outlets near my desk but not near the other so a old-work box and fishtape might be a Saturday project. If not, thanks for the router ideas. sh
 
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vmfantom

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RJ45 is naturally the simplest way of getting a wired connection. Alternatively, if you had coaxial outlets, you could use MoCA or WoCA to either extend Ethernet or wifi without degrading the signal much (although WoCA would require detachable antennas on the router).
 
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