Wireless and hard to make contact

[Joe50]

Hi, I have a Router Linksys model WRT310N and my daughter loose wiresless connection very often. The router is installed vertically again a wall. The floor of the house are all ciment 8 in. thick. Her computer is located on the second floor about 15 ft. in direct distance. What can I do to better the wireless connection, buy a stronger sending unit or any other thing that you would suggest.
Thank you.

[tonster]

You have several options here.  The first is to buy an external wireless antenae.  Dlink makes one. 

Another option is to buy an access point and tie it to your network. 

I think the best option would be to install DD-WRT firmware found here:  http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/v24-sp1/Consumer/Linksys/WRT310N/dd-wrt.v24_mini_wrt310n.bin  Then you can download and install this: http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/v24-sp1/Consumer/Linksys/WRT310N/dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin

You might want to double check me on my bins here:  http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=26355&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=wrt310n&start=150
Tony

[IH8U]

I think one thing that is being forgotten here is that wireless is a 2 way street. I can have a very powerful output at the router side but if my wireless card has a lower output I would be able to receive a signal from the router ok but not send to it very well. What kinda of wireless card is in the laptop? If it's a G card then your not getting the full potential from the N router. Both the router and the wireless card have to be the same type, in this case N, to get the best signal possible. 

The WRT310N does not support a wireless antenna being attached to it.

I would recommend getting a wireless N MIMO card for the laptop if it doesn't already have one and maybe getting a little creative with the router placement. You can always use a program like NetStumbler to test signal strength in real time.

[Joe50]

I think one thing that is being forgotten here is that wireless is a 2 way street. I can have a very powerful output at the router side but if my wireless card has a lower output I would be able to receive a signal from the router ok but not send to it very well. What kinda of wireless card is in the laptop? If it's a G card then your not getting the full potential from the N router. Both the router and the wireless card have to be the same type, in this case N, to get the best signal possible. 

The WRT310N does not support a wireless antenna being attached to it.

I would recommend getting a wireless N MIMO card for the laptop if it doesn't already have one and maybe getting a little creative with the router placement. You can always use a program like NetStumbler to test signal strength in real time.

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Not knowing APPLE very much, how do I check what type of wireless card this computer has.
Thanks
Joe50