Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

a


@maortega15 wrote:

@tns_2 wrote:

I didn't see a mention of which version of the router you have.  From the fact that it is using WEP it would appear not to be one that supports wireless-n.  And so you are not ever getting to much faster than 20 as your wireless speed.

You still may see some improvement over your posted speed if you switch frowm WEP to WPA2.  Probably not that much, but of course your security would go from the the broken WEP security to the hard to crack WPA2.


Actually, I have the MI424WR which is the latest one but it seems that its g is what im getting rather than n.


There are 8  version of the MI424WR.  Only two (G+I) have full 802.11n support, and the F has draft 802.11n support.  Those should default to WPA2.  And without WPA/WPA2 you cannot get full speed as WPA2 is the standard for 802.11n wireless security.

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Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
maortega15
Enthusiast - Level 2

@tns_2 wrote:

a


@maortega15 wrote:

@tns_2 wrote:

I didn't see a mention of which version of the router you have.  From the fact that it is using WEP it would appear not to be one that supports wireless-n.  And so you are not ever getting to much faster than 20 as your wireless speed.

You still may see some improvement over your posted speed if you switch frowm WEP to WPA2.  Probably not that much, but of course your security would go from the the broken WEP security to the hard to crack WPA2.


Actually, I have the MI424WR which is the latest one but it seems that its g is what im getting rather than n.


There are 8  version of the MI424WR.  Only two (G+I) have full 802.11n support, and the F has draft 802.11n support.  Those should default to WPA2.  And without WPA/WPA2 you cannot get full speed as WPA2 is the standard for 802.11n wireless security.


So how do I know which version of the router I have? And do you know how to change the settings on the router to make it WPA2? I assume WPA2 is better than WPA right?

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Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

The sticker on the router should tell you the version (except for some really old ones which are version A). 

Verizon's instructions for changing to WPA2 security are at

http://www.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/fiosinternet/networking/setup/security/125521.ht...

Note that all your devices will also have to change to the same settings.

Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
maortega15
Enthusiast - Level 2

Its Rev I.

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Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
maortega15
Enthusiast - Level 2

I just changed my settings to WPA2, and its a huge difference! Before the change, I was getting 18 up and 20 down. Now, Im getting about 69 down, 30 up. 😄

Now my question is when I configured the wireless adapter settings,there was an option between No authentication (Open), Shared, WPA2-Personal, WPA-Personal, WPA2-Enterprise, WPA-Enterprise, 802.1x under Security type, TKIP and AES under encryption type. Which should I choose? 

Undr advanced settings, there is an unchecked box that says, "Enable Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) compliance for this network. Should I check that, or leave that unchecked? 

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Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
walt178
Specialist - Level 3

WPA2 personal

AES

FIPS  leave unchecked

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Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
maortega15
Enthusiast - Level 2

In the router settings, what should I choose between ASCII or Hex?

 

Other than that, are there anymore ways to boost the range and speed of Wi-Fi and make the network more secure?

 

Would buying 9dBi or more antennas help or not? 

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Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Use ASCII, not Hex for your key. Also, buying a better antenna or two can certainly help to improve your range. Antennas with more gain and less attenuation in the antenna itself can usually add some range and performance over the otherwise weaker antennas on the Rev. I. Just keep in mind, with higher sensitivity comes higher sensitivity to noise.

Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
maortega15
Enthusiast - Level 2

@Smith6612 wrote:

Use ASCII, not Hex for your key. Also, buying a better antenna or two can certainly help to improve your range. Antennas with more gain and less attenuation in the antenna itself can usually add some range and performance over the otherwise weaker antennas on the Rev. I. Just keep in mind, with higher sensitivity comes higher sensitivity to noise.


When you say, higher sensitivity comes higher sensitivity to noise, what does that mean?

 

Do you have any antennas to recommend?

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Re: What would be the best way to boost Wi-Fi speed and range?
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

@maortega15 wrote:

In the router settings, what should I choose between ASCII or Hex?

 

Other than that, are there anymore ways to boost the range and speed of Wi-Fi and make the network more secure?

 

Would buying 9dBi or more antennas help or not? 


Glad to hear you are getting better speed with WPA2.

The Performance option, which works if all your devices are wireless-n, would help.  It would support higher speeds in your local network, although probably not faster speeds to the Internet with your current package.  Range might be helped by an antenna but I have never tried one.  Normal range is actually fairly good if you don't have to much problems with things in between your router and devices. 

Ascii or hex?  USE ASCII.  Hex means base 16, number 0-F (a is 10,b is 11,..f is 15).  I suggest a ascii passphrase (random is best, but something at least hard to guess and 16-26 should be long enough, and maximum length is 63).  A passphrase generates a passkey of 64 hexadecimal (256 bits).  If you use a passkey it must go 64 hex characters.  I never tried the hex option mention in the router, and not sure if it then pads with 00 if you don't enter 64 in the route.  Most devices force you to enter all 64 or they consider it an ascii passphrase

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