sharing wireless connection.?

Question

i have three commputers in difeerent rooms. one has a router atached to it in the second floor. the other one is in the second floor but in a different room, with a d-link airplus DWL-520+ wireless PCI Adapter. the third one is in the first floor with a linksys wireless adapter in it. but it don't get enough signal to connect to the router. so i want to connect it to the computer with the d-link wireless card so that they can share internet.

Answer 1

Wireless routers signal strengths vary depending upon a number of factors- going through walls or floors is a big one. Sometimes you'll be ok, other times the signal won't make it.



Using Internet Connection Sharing on the computer with the D-Link wireless card isn't really an option. That card is being used to communicate with the router/internet, so it's not available for an ad-hoc (computer to computer) connection. Your problem is no physical connectivity between machine #3 and the rest of the network, so ICS doesn't help- you'd need a 2nd network adapter to use the D-Link machine as a bridge, and Windows ICS is a poor solution compared to any dedicated hardware.



You best options are:



1) Run CAT5 cable between the two floors so the 3rd computer can connect via regular ethernet.



2) Try a wireless range booster- the trick with those is figuring out where to place it (needs to be a spot within range of both the router and your 3rd machine- so in this case probably in the room with computer #2)



3) Use powerline ethernet adapters to connect the two floors, and connect your 3rd computer via regular CAT5 cable. This is a nice option since it eliminates drilling holes or stringing long runs of cable between the floors. It's also free of wireless interference issues.



4) Upgrade your current Wireless-G router to a MIMO model, which will increase range. There are some Wireless-G MIMO routers, and of course Wireless-N routers qualify.



The most reliable is option is #1, the easiest is option #3 (since no software changes or reconfiguration are needed)

Answer 2

Both PCI cards have a 2 DBI aerial recommendations: 12 DBI aerial to put on both cards and router. Another way is to bridge 2 access points or lower encryption: example: from WPA to WEP. Another way change channels, make sure you have the latest drivers for each PCI card. If your going through double brick maybe worth spending out on a Netgear range max or put a repeater in the centre of the house to increase signal.

Answer 3

Use a range extender to boost the wireless signal between the router and the 3rd computer.

Look at D-Link.com