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[mrgou]

Hi,

I need to replace my router, which is giving me some trouble, and the DIR-868L model seems to meet my needs. However, an important point for me is the signal range: I want to get a good signal the furthest away possible without needing a repeater (I have one, but the more I can do without, the better).

I have no idea how distance range is specified. How can I determine the signal range of a router like this one, and make sure it's at least as broad as my current router? What determines it?

Thanks!

R.

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

What range or distances are you needing. Building materials and external environment conditions also impact signal operation and range. 5Ghz is effect mostly by building materials.

• Any other WiFi routers in the area? Link> Use InSSIDer to find out. How many?

Review these articles as well:
Links>Wireless Installation Considerations and Managing Signal Congestion and Good Neighbour Policy

The DIR-868L is a great router and works well. Also the 880L is good too.  

What model router do you have currently?

[mrgou]

Thank you for your reply. In terms of pure distance, I probably need no more than 20-30m, but since I live in a 2-floor appartment with fairly thick walls, signal tends to weaken quickly. I currently have a Belkin Play 750N DB router, but I've had much better experience with D-Link recently. Nonetheless, I want to make sure I don't replace it with a unit with a weaker signal.

Also, since I live in a city, it's pretty crowded with other routers, so I have to tweak the channels.

Apart from a higher wireless speed, do you think that the 880L would have a wider range (again, I have no idea of what determines a given router's signal range)?

Cheers!

[FurryNutz]

Think your main issue is going to be that your in a apt complex with thick walls and in a WiFi congested area. You may see problems with any router, especially on 2.4Ghz.

One thing I do like about the DIR series of routers is that they have the ability to lower the power out put on the radios as we've seen in the one article, lowering the power output helps in a congested area.

I think either router would be good. I have tested both and both are great routers. However I don't live in a congested area. I may have JavaLawyer give his feed back here as well as he has the 868L and lives in a Apt complex in NYC.

If you have thick wall, one idea would be to minimize the broadcast foot print and use one additional extender or AP on the other level. It's recommended to have the main host router central to the main floor however being multi-level and if there is concrete and or metal rebar embedded in the structure, this will imped any single. SO do't discount the use of one good AP to help out.

I would try one of these routers. If you have a local store or online e-tailer and has a refund policy, it's worth trying one out for a period of time and see how it goes. And if your not satisfied, then you'll know. I presume that either one of these routers will be good for you however.

Do you have AC or 5Ghz supporting devices? I hope so as you can get away from the 2.4Ghz congestion and use 5Ghz where it maybe less congested...

[cable2]

My 2 cents, basically, I agree with everything Furry has to say.  If you are anxious to get this resolved, I would try getting a 868L from an online retailer with a friendly return policy(Glamazon).  I was impressed mainly with the signal strength and throughput when I first got an 868L on both bands.  I looked up that Belkin router you are using and I would guess that you would be coming up at least 2 notches, maybe more.  I would be amazed if you didn't find much improvement.  Mine goes through 3-4 walls in places and still does great, but they are just sheet rock and framing.  If you have metal lath or mesh...that could be a problem with anything but if you were marginally getting by with the Belkin, this should be your solution.  If it is not...return it and possibly consider a MoCA solution but that can be tricky and involve a bit of trouble shooting.  Anyway, bottom line, give the 868L a try.  I bet you will be happy.  Good luck!

[mrgou]

Many thanks to both of you for such great advice. I appreciate your time. I do have a 5GHz receiver on my laptop, and it's indeed better today already. Trouble mostly come from other devices such as my tablet or my media player that don't have such capacity.

So I'll go ahead and give it a try with the 868L.

Cheers!

[FurryNutz]

Let us know how it works out for you. 

[24zeven]

Compared to my Linksys 610N with DD-wrt on 5Ghz (wifi-N), the signal strength does'nt seem to be better.

I compared the to signals with the routers next to each other 5 Ghz-only.
InSSDer gives me an signal strength for both of 50 dBi when I'm connected.
(note that wifi radio on 2,4 Ghz is of in both cases.)

As the DIR-868-L has Smart Beam; I expected at least an signal strength of 48-49 dBi.

Can anybody explain why the signal-strength is'nt better? Or is the SmartBeam technology as an extra over it's competitors just an sales-story?

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

• What Hardware version is your router? Look at sticker under router.
• Link>What Firmware version is currently loaded? Found on the routers web page under status.
• What region are you located?

Kind of hard to compare apples to oranges since there are different Mfrs, Different FW, Good Neighbour Policy, and configurations between these 2 routers, your envrionment and HT 20/40 Co-existence.

Also I presume that you were testing these two routers next to each other while online at the same time?

FYI:
Links>Wireless Installation Considerations and Managing Signal Congestion

[24zeven]

Hardware version: A1
Firmware original: 1.04 -> updated to 1.07 when It came out of the box, before setting up. Did'nt put an factory reset on.
region: Western Europe: timzone GMT+1,00 hour.
Wlan-card PC: 'Intel Dual-Band Wireless AC-7260'

For the test the 2 routers were standing next to each other and of course I made sure that the channels didn't overlap. But the channel-space in-between is very small as both routers can not communicate on channels above 56 at this moment.
I was online with one at the time. But switch a couple of times.
When I was online with the 868-L, I had 50 dBi on 5Ghz on it and 56dBi on the 610N with DD-WRT.
When online with the 610N on 5Ghz I measured 50 dBi on it and 57dBi on the DIR-868L

BTW the D-Link is an replacement for the older router.
At this moment the radio of the older router is turn off. And I measure an signal strength of 54 dBi on DIR-868L 5Ghz. Lower signal strength???  Mayby because my wife is seeing a movie on her laptop.

There are a lot off 2,4 radio's around, but on 5Ghz my 868L is the only radio I can find scanning on InSSDer..
Therefore the 2,4 Ghz radio is always off.

[FurryNutz]

b]Wireless Configurations[/b]
Links>Wireless Installation Considerations and Managing Signal Congestion and Good Neighbour Policy

• Ensure the default (dlink) SSID name is changed. Can be anything and not something that's already in use by any neighboring WiFi routers. Under Setup/Wireless/Manual.
• What security mode are you using? Preferred security is WPA-Personal. WPA2/AES Only. Some WiFi adapters don't support AES, so you might want to try TPIK only or Auto TPIK and AES.

Router Placement
Forum User - "Well I feel really dumb. After moving the router away from other electronic devices my speeds are back to normal. Just a heads up for anyone experiencing slow speeds, you might want to move it away from other electronics and see if that helps."
3-6' feet minimum safe distance between devices.
Placement on main level floor and central in the building and WELL ventilated is preferred. Not in basements or closets as building materials, or near by electronics devices could interfere or hinder good signal propagation.

[24zeven]

- SSID + password + IP is changed already. CHECK
- I use WPA2/AES Only, I did already on the 610N and never experienced any problems with it in the past.
- 3-6 feet (= 1-2 meters) to any other electronic devices. That's is a hard one. 2 feet (0,6 m) might be possible, but I don't have enough space here to move everything away much further. I might switch other devices temperately off, just to test if the signal get's better.
Then again both devices have the same problem with this one, so it should matter a lot to the test. And if it does it only makes clear that one of the 2 is more sensitive than the other.
- Well ventilated place. The only place that has better natural ventilation is outside. CHECK

[FurryNutz]

What is the square footage of your place is?
if it's small then you may not need full power either, you can lower the power of the radios from High to Medium or Low if your area is fairly small.

[cable2]

Hi 24zeven,
I am curious if you had a chance to determine if your actual transfer speed was any better.  Given that you have an AC adapter in your pc, the throughput should be better with the 868L.  If you already did this, could you tell us your results and what kind of link speeds you get.  If not perhaps you could run a lan speed test as the relative value of the router is really a function of throughput for most of us. 
Another thought, are all the higher 5GHz frequencies off limits in EU?  I believe that these higher frequencies transmit at higher power. 

[24zeven]

When downloading from my Synology-NAS:
(NAS -> LAN -> 868L -> AC-WLAN -> Laptop = average speed over 700 MB = 4 MB/sec)
When uploading to my Synology-NAS:
(Laptop -> AC-WLAN -> 868L -> LAN -> NAS = average speed over 700 MB = 7 MB/sec)
Hope this is enough. If not; let me know.

There are limits on high power. Not sure if it makes the higher frequencies off limits.
According to Wiki the channels 100 - 140 are allowed to use in Europe.

The square footage is small, only the place is strangely build. With the living on the first floor and bedroom on the third floor (second floor is an other apartment).
With the power up high the range is very poor up there...