26 replies to this topic

[paws]

Ok, in that case I would abandon for the moment trying to connect the desktop computer to your network via the XE102 and either run an ethernet cable to the desktop computer or try a wireless adapter, something like a WG111 is very inexpensive but you may need to boost the signal if your basement is a long way from the desktop computer or there are non radio lucent barriers between them. Regards paws

[dconant1]

Paws, I just bought a wireless adaptor (http://www.ebay.com/...=item4aaa1c8a72). Would you please check it out and see if it will do the job I need it to do. It sure appears that it's the correct kind.

[paws]

Hi, Yes that should do the job...... although I would use something bigger and more directional if I was fitting this for a customer..... example...Hawking hi gain dish adapter....
http://www.amazon.co...D/dp/B000DINCIQ
However there are 2 things to think extra hard about;

1 Using a wif i adapter will always produce a worse result than having a wired ethernet connection so the wired route is preferable and should be your first choice......You know that if you plug the ethernet cable directly into your router then it all works...so this is definitely the way to go. Its worth a little bit of work running an ethernet cable.... however some folks perceive it as difficult to run a cable from the basement to an upper floor...but a handy person should have no real difficulty. Only use a wi fi based network if after costing things out you decide you must go down that route.

The antenna inside the USB wi fif adapter is very tiny.... it has to be to fit in the very limited space, and this is what you will be relying on to receive the wireless signal from your wireless router. It may therefore be best to plug the wi fi adapter into a USB extender cable so that you can orientate the wifi adapter in the best direction to pick up a signal and avoid shielding by metal parts of the computer case or other barriers to radio waves present in your home. Depending on the barriers in your home (walls, metallic objects, telephones, baby alarms microwave ovens etc (all working on similar frequencies to a home wifi network) you may well need wi fi range extenders to get the signal through (more expense!) so this is why I recommend a ethernet cable as first choice.

A good test of wif efficiency in your house is to take a laptop to the upper floor, place it beside the desktop computer and try to connect wirelessly to the router in the basement....if it connects OK then there is a good chance that the desktop may be able to connect wirelessly........but if not then you will definitely need a more sophisticated approach using a wi fi range extender. Remember when doing this test that the antenna within your laptop may well be18 to 20 inches long.......( they usually fit around the top and sides of the laptops VDU....that must be 18 or so times longer than the antenna in the USB wirelss adapter.........

One final thought on wi fi and that is that its unusual to have arouter in the basement....... the router is recommended to be fairly close to the master socket provided by your telephone company...and in the centre of the area that is required to be used.....Why not move the router to a more suitable area...a degree of trial and error will probably be needed to ensure that the signal carries OK.

2 If you do go down the USB wireless adapter route then on most of them its necessary to install the drivers for the network adapter BEFORE plugging it into a USB port....

Good luck
Regards
paws

[dconant1]

paws, all excellent suggestions. I did take my laptop into the room on the 2nd floor where I eventually want my desktop and I rec'd an excellent signal (wirelessly). So that would seem to bode well for what the wireless adaptor might give me when I install it. The other suggestions concerning the Hawking Hi dish adaptor, plus the moving of the router all seem great and may have to be attempted in the days to come. We'll see. In the meantime ... can we live this topic open until I install the new adaptor I've bought? It should arrive with a week to 10 days. I'd like to let you know how it turns out.

[paws]

Hi dconant1, Yes thats a good idea... lets wait and see how it goes Keep us posted Regards paws

[terry1966]

like paws said the new adaptor should work fine, wish you'd stuck with working on the plugs, i'm really curious as to why they worked with the laptop yet didn't with the desktop pc. pity i've no experience with troubleshooting such problems because i'd love to have helped you figure it out at least until the wifi adaptor arrived. would probably of used the laptop first to check any settings on the plugs setup/home page, before using the desktop again and trying to make the connection to the plugs, maybe in safemode with networking.

Edited by terry1966, 18 October 2011 - 07:15 PM.

[paws]

@terry

wish you'd stuck with working on the plugs,
i'm really curious as to why they worked with the laptop yet didn't with the desktop pc.

Yes so am I .....
The trouble is we are thousands of miles away.... and I reckon this one needs a housecall.....

[dconant1]

Terry & Paws, You got me to thinking more about it myself. Why didn't the XE102 plug work with the desktop. I went back over everything paws had asked me to do and I'd done it as he asked. Then I recognized that I had more than one plug. I "assumed" that all three plugs were all good and used them interchangeably whenever trying to follow paw's suggestions. After reading Terry's response above I decided to check each plug individually with the laptop. Two worked and one didn't. Apparently I used the non-working plug with the desktop and the working plugs with the laptop. So I just finished getting the desktop back upstairs and tried a good plug with it. And .......... problem solved!! The desktop now has internet reception just fine. My oh my what was I thinking. Well, that's just it, I wasn't thinking. At least not through the everything I was doing. I'm so sorry paws for putting you through all that. Thanks so much for all your help.

[paws]

Hi dconant1, That's excellent news...well done on your detective work..... We had reached a difficult situation as all the evidence of the procedures we ran indicated that all was likely to work.... but in practice it just didn't..... and as both terry and I are several thousand miles away it was easier to go down a different route ( using a wireless network adapter) to help solve the problem. Regards paws

[terry1966]

well done. curiosity satisfied. i'd keep using the plugs, even when the adaptor arrives(test it of course but i'd keep it as backup, from the little i read about those plugs they do have a high failure rate after x amount of time.) i think your connection with the plugs should be faster than a wifi connection.

Edited by terry1966, 19 October 2011 - 11:37 PM.

[dconant1]

As far as I can tell the connection speed with the plug is 100 Mbps and wireless is 54 Mbps.

[paws]

Hi dconant1, The figures you quote are the theoretical maximum that the network components could support...... they dont bear any relationship to the actual speed of your connection......

Here's a site that will show you the sort of speeds that you are actually getting:
http://www.broadband...dchecker.co.uk/
There will be similar speed checking sites closer to your actual physical location, so its best to use one that is more local to you (providing it is of good repute.....)

Just for information the speeds you quoted are the same as apply to the machine that I'm currently using for this reply....... however the actual speed I'm getting is just about 1 Mbps
That just 1% or 2% of the theoretical..... My actual speed is slow as I'm operating on a copper wire system at maximum range from our local telephone exchange.....

There are folks who get a fast 100 Mbps service but they usually either pay a huge amount for it... ; lease or buy their own line (if ADSL) or have a cable network or fibre optic connection..... Some folks benefit from a private satellite connection, or receive a fast connection via a University or other academic or business institution that has specified and paid for it .........but lesser mortals, like me trickle along at 1Mbps or so!
Regards
paws
Edit I just performed a speed check on my system here and I'm getting, currently, 1.2 Mbps for down loads and O.3 Mbps for uploads... my ADSL connection is (as it says) asymmetric..!

Edited by paws, 20 October 2011 - 08:43 AM.
input actual figs