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getting wifi signal through the floor

S

steve-noob

Junior Member
Hi all! This is my first post here, so I hope I'm not breaking any rules 🙂
Also: non-native English speaker.

Straight to the point: I have a router (crappy one given by ISP) in my living room on the ground floor of this building.
I also have a basement, that is under my living room, where I've put a desktop pc that I'd like to connect to the Internet. I've equipped it with an entry-level wifi card (TP-Link TL-WN881ND), but the connection is too unstable to even surf the web (~15/20% packet loss on average by pinging Google; strength is around -80/-85dBm).

Nonetheless, I'm writing this from my very basement using a super cheap laptop (US$ ~300 AsusPro), that has a better signal (around -70/-75 dBm) and a flawless connection (no packet loss). Even my phone is stabler than my desktop computer.

Also, I don't think it's a matter of signal congestion, since only 2 SSIDs show up on the list.

The question is: what do you think would be the most cost-effective way to resolve this issue? Should I invest in better antennas for my wifi card, buy a range extender, change the card itself for a more expensive one... or something else? Maybe there's also some software workaround I haven't thought about.

Thanks pro-folks.
 
The best option is a dedicated access point (AP) on that floor if you want decent connectivity for any wifi clients on that floor. You would need to run a dedicated ethernet cable up to that floor and attach the AP to that. But barring that, you could try MoCA adapters if you have coax outlets.
 
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Can't run cables (I'm not the owner), and in the basement I have only an AC outlet.

What puzzles me, is that I have no issue with the laptop. I mean: it has a thumb-sized wifi card, and its "antennas" are actually 2 thin wires running under the screen bezel. And it works great. So, I suppose there must be a way to make things work just fixing the computer hardware.
 
Sounds like the card or maybe the drivers or are there any? You have the Antennas on I guess? 🙂 Sent it back and get a replacement?
 
Thebobo said:
Sounds like the card or maybe the drivers or are there any? You have the Antennas on I guess? 🙂 Sent it back and get a replacement?
Click to expand...
I'm on Xubuntu, and after a Google search I've found out that the drivers should already be into the firmware. I can install the cutting-edge ones, tho. Antennas are just those plastic sticks screwed on the card's outlets, so I think they're powered through the PCIe port.

Do you think it can be a faulty card, then? I've never used wifi on desktop computers, so I don't really know what to check to find out.
 
Could just be a crappy location for the desktop to connect with the AP. Could also just be a crappy antennas on its wifi card.
 
Update: took the computer to my living room. It works like a charm.
At this point, I don't think the card is faulty. Just poor quality, I guess.
I also see that the 2 antennas provided with the card are 2 dBi each. Maybe replacing them with better ones can make things better?
 
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