# Need STRONG wireless cable router. Suggestions?



## syndragon (Jun 3, 2007)

I'm in the market for a strong dependable router. I used to use the belkin 54g NEver had problems with it. But I don't have it no more. I'm wondering whats a good cable wireless router with a strong signal. I don't require anything fancy, It's just for one computer. I don't require any advanced crypto. I just need something that is stable and strong. The reason being, It will be upstairs and I can't walk. So when it goes down I have to wait a day to get it back up. 
I'm not sure what the latest and greatest routers are now days. Any recommendations greatly appreciated. I'm looking to keep it under 100 dollars. And I'm not sure If I honestly need one of them N or Pre-N routers. Maybe a super-G with Mimo would work. Thank you so very much for your replies and expert advice.


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## invalidusername (Apr 29, 2007)

Belken is not bad. I have one and it has been very nice to me. What kind of problems you have and why don't you have it any more? Maybe your problem was not caused by the router itself and aonther mark router may give you the same problem.

Linksys is very popular and is a very reliable mark (belongs to Cisco)


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

If you need a really strong signal, maybe you don't need a new router, perhaps a signal booster and a hi-gain antenna is closer to the solution.

Hawking Tech has a number of products that will help you increase your wireless range. The root page is Hawking Hi-Gain™ WiFi Range Extending Products.

Some of the more interesting products are this Hawking [HSB2] Hi-Gain WiFi Signal Booster, which can be used on either end of a wireless connection to boost the signal power.

Another way to increase your signal strength is by the use of hi-gain antennas. You can choose from omni-directional or directional models, here are a couple of examples.

Hawking [HAI7SIP] Hi-Gain 7dBi Omni-Directional Antenna

Hawking [HAI15SC] Hi-Gain 15dBi Corner Antenna


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## syndragon (Jun 3, 2007)

Well the belkin wasn't mine and I moved hehe I forgot what model, it had 2 antennas. I was in the basement and it was 2 stories up. Worked fine. I used to work for belkin, And when are call volume was low, We'd take calls from isp's for 2wire, Motorola and linksys. SO I agree belkins are nice. Firmware is linux also  
Now the reason I'm asking for strong routers is this house is old and huge. And I wont be able to walk upstairs to perform maintenance. 
I had a 2wire with a 500mW signal, like 37 dbm, most linksys and other routers are only 16 to 18dbm and 100mW. I even looked up them 300 dollar routers and there only 19 dbm. So I was hoping I could find a cable router with this much power. But so far Nothing. And my 2wire was only 100 buxs. You can find it on ebay some times. But I wish I could make it work with cable. So if any one knows of a cable router this powerful for under 100 buxs let me know. I guess Pre-n or N is a waste of money cause there all 18 dbm also. Not stronger then the G routers. So I guess I'll just go with another belkin or linksys. Wich is now cisco owned like you stated.


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## syndragon (Jun 3, 2007)

Yeah I saw them there good ideas. I was wondering if building one my self would be cheaper, like one of theme chineese cookware antennas as they call them. They can be made for like 30 buxs vs 85 dollars for hawkins stuff. But yeah I never thought of using Hi gain stuff. But for the price I guess I'll just buy a good router. Or try hacking my dsl 500mW. 
In theory I should be able to connect the main computer to it and disable all the natting and firewall stuff and maybe use windows netconection sharing? Or should I start a new thread for that lol. Thanxs for the advice.


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## invalidusername (Apr 29, 2007)

syndragon said:


> Now the reason I'm asking for strong routers is this house is old and huge. And I wont be able to walk upstairs to perform maintenance.
> I had a 2wire with a 500mW signal, like 37 dbm, most linksys and other routers are only 16 to 18dbm and 100mW. I even looked up them 300 dollar routers and there only 19 dbm. So I was hoping I could find a cable router with this much power. But so far Nothing. .


Router having strong signal is only 1/2 of the process, what about the signal coming out of the computer? In order for optimum performance, the system needs to be ballanced, i.e transmit signal of each end must be as strong, and also recievers at each end must be as sensetive. It is just like two people talking at a distance, one of them shouting realy loud, the other one not. When they walk away from each ohter and when the get to a specific separation, only the person that is shouting can be heard by the other side, but not the other way around. This is why in many cases you can see the SSID but you can not connect to it.

1 milliwatt=0 dBm
10 milliwatt=10 dBm
100 milliwatt=20 dBm
1000 milliwatt=1 watt=30 dBm, So 500milliwatt (1/2 of 1000 which is a factor of 1/2=-3 dB) = so, 500 milliwatt is 27 dBm


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## syndragon (Jun 3, 2007)

Yeap I totally agree. The 37 was a typo. Thanxs for the reference though of the mw's vs dbm


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