Low Signal Issue w/ D-Link DWA-552

[xhellionx]

i bought a D-Link DWA-552 Wireless N Desktop adapter for my comp. we have the CG814WG v2 Netgear wireless cable modem and residential gateway in our house. this DWA-552 is suppposed to be the titties of wireless adapters but i only get 1 bar of signal strength from my room. the modem is about 50-100ft away and is down the hall a couple rooms away from me. because of the low signal, it constantly disconnects and has terrible performance. when i am connected though, i can get almost 7000 down and 1500 up according to speedtest.net so the speed is fine...WHEN IT WORKS. i did buy the D-Link DGL-4500 Wireless N router also, this thing is supposedly the titties and balls of Wireless Gaming routers. i have yet to hook it up because i'm not good with wireless technology and i'm not sure how to do it without jacking up the current internet since my roommates are connected wirelessly to the Netgear gateway/modem mentioned above via their laptops (which brings up another point: my roommates have cheap wireless adapters in their laptops yet they get Excellent signal throughout the house yet mine is crap when i have the $75 adapter...). can i overwrite the Netgear somehow and use the new D-Link instead? i'm hoping it will give me better signal since it is stated to work well with the DWA-552. any other suggestions would be great...keeping in mind i CANNOT go with a wired solution because they do not want me to drill holes, etc. and i cannot move the Netgear modem from where it is. i am limited to working with what i have so any help would be great. THANKS!

 

[rgeist554]

Have one of them go where you are and see what their signal strength is. If it's is way better than yours, then you may have a driver issue or defective hardware.

Just as a precaution:
Move all speakers, microwaves, or cellphones away from the wireless adapter & router.

Make sure there aren't any radio devices running between you and the router.

Try reinstalling the device with the latest drivers / firmware via the manufacturer's site.

As for replacing the router (or "Residential Gateway" as most ISP's like to call it now), is it a modem / router bundled into the same box? If so, you'll need a switch in between or a crossover cable to connect the two devices. Even then, you'll have to disable DHCP on one of them and it could end up being a huge headache.

If the router / modem are separate items. Just unplug the current Netgear thing and plug in the D-link. You may have to mess around with a few settings, but it should be relatively painless.

 

[xhellionx]

i appreciate the response. i will check one of their laptops in my room ASAP to see the difference. i've done the best i could to elimate anything that may be causing interference in between me and the modem.

the modem and wireless router are ONE UNIT. this is a problem then per your reply. i assumed it wouldn't be that difficult to disable the wireless portion of the modem (or "gateway") and replace it with the D-Link via Cat 6 cable or something. is that going to suck or what? any tips?