With each step from your home role to your living room , you watch the signal - intensity bars on your laptop drop . Then , as you step onto your deck of cards , the signal is abruptly lost totally . It ’s the heartache of AirPort .

Apple ’s AirPort engineering science has ambit issue . The official specification say it should reach 150 understructure when you ’re sending data at 11 Mbps , and 50 feet at 54 Mbps . But in actual home , with walls containing metal scantling , lath , poultice , and other signaling - reducing stuff , that range can be dramatically reduced .

Fortunately , there are hatful of ways to extend the range of your AirPort web ( or any standard Wi - Fi wireless setup ) . By adding a new feeler , an additional base place or two , or a HomePlug web adapter to your be setup , you really can work or surf the internet wherever you desire .

But before you buy any of that hardware , you should check over first that your existing base of operations place is located in the ripe place possible . practice your laptop computer or a handheld Wi - Fi sniffer such as theMarware WiFi Spyto measure signal strength in the spots where you ’ll need insurance coverage . Then move your base post around to find out where it raise the warm signals . You ’d be surprised how much improvement you’re able to attain just by moving your base station a couple of feet .

Antenna Upgrades

A good transmitting aerial on your base post will receive signal from farther by and discombobulate your data point sign around with greater military group . Two kinds of antennas are ordinarily used indoors : omnidirectional or “ omni ” antennas , which disperse radio frequency in all commission , and directional or sectorized antennas , which focus signals on a specific belt of outer space , such as an arc of 45 degree .

But there are two problems with upgrading your AirPort home station with a Modern antenna . First , the Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) say it ’s illegal to add a novel feeler that was n’t specifically tested to work with your specific base post . The fear is that untested antenna could overwhelm out neighborhood cordless phone and Wi - Fi net , and maybe break users to Brobdingnagian amount of microwave radiation .

Only two antennas have been approved for use with the AirPort Extreme , and both are from Dr. Bott : the ExtendAir Omni ( $ 100 ;) and the ExtendAir Direct ( $ 150 ;) . When we reviewed these units in our September 2003 issuance , we find out that the Omni increased range by as much as 50 percent in every direction , and the Direct doubled the range within the 70 - degree bow that it covered .

The other halt in tot up a new antenna to an AirPort base station is that only two AirPort Extreme models — a modem - Jack-tar model and a Power over Ethernet model — have feeler jacks . You ca n’t add antenna to other AirPort model without change the case .

Some folks are happy to try just that . Over the year , Constantin von Wentzel has documentedwarranty - voiding instructions for each AirPort base station model . MacWireless.com has less - detailed , downloadable PDFs of the process .

Upgrading the antenna is easier on non - Apple Qaeda station . Linksys , Buffalo Technology , and D - Link all sell models with screw - on , removable feeler . HyperLink Technologiesoffers a wide assortment of antenna for these and other vendor ’ understructure stations ; prices range from $ 18 to $ 70 .

The FCC lately revised its antenna rule . Starting in July 2004 , base - station makers are allow to test their devices with generic antennas . But until Apple or other makers retest their gear or free new logic gate - way , you ’ll still be a scofflaw of sorts if you attempt to add up an unauthorized antenna .

Multiple Base Stations

Even if you ’re willing to pull out a soldering Fe or risk of exposure the wrath of the FCC , a novel antenna may not be the resolution . If the walls of your star sign are too thick or made of the wrong stuff , or if you need to send your sign even far than an antenna can throw them , you have two other option .

The first is to add more base station . Designate one groundwork place as the gateway , which connects to your broadband modem . Then add “ dumb ” base stations — also called repeaters or extenders — which pass along the wireless signals from the principal gateway and thus extend its scope .

you’re able to plug into such speechless stations in two room : either through Ethernet or through something called Wireless Distribution System ( WDS ) . WDS is construct into the AirPort Extreme , the AirPort Express , and many of the posterior , 54 - Mbps 802.11 g Wi - Fi gateways from other manufacturers ( see “ What You Need to Know about WDS ” ) .

If you ’re hold fast with Apple basis stations , assure outApple ’s Designing AirPort Extreme Networks guidefor detail on how to set up multiple foot place .

If you ’re willing to go non - Apple , floor stations from Asanté and fresh fashion model from Buffalo and Belkin should be compatible with AirPort and AirPort Extreme ; they also brook AppleTalk for old printers and waiter . These third - party base stations usually cost between $ 50 and $ 100 — they’re much cheaper than the standardised AirPort Extreme Base Station , and they provide greater coverage than an AirPort Express .

But note that only the AirPort Express supports AirTunes music streaming from iTunes , and only Apple offers USB printer sharing as a received feature film on all its base place . And while almost all non - Apple Wi - Fi base stations can be configured with a vane web internet browser , tasks such as upgrading microcode may require a Windows machine or a non - Safari internet browser .

HomePlug

One problem with the multiple - foundation - post strategy is that it still depends on wireless signals move from station to station . In some household , that may not exploit . If that ’s the case at your house , you could be a honorable prospect for HomePlug .

The HomePlug criterion station networked datum over your plate ’s electric cables . The speed is throttle to just 14 Mbps , but it ’s a simple-minded way to go around thick walls or other obstacle that defy wireless signals . Hook up your principal base place to a HomePlug adapter , and then install more HomePlug arranger around the house , and you ’ve got an expanded mesh .

You could install HomePlug adapters in every room where you need to compute , and then connect your laptop computer or desktop to the near adapter using Ethernet line . But it ’s well to get a HomePlug transcriber with a ramp up - in Wi - Fi base station . Most of these HomePlug stand - station transcriber apply the former , 11 - Mbps AirPort or 802.11b standard ; Netgear recently preface an 802.11 g option , the WGXB102 54 Mbps Wall - Plugged Wireless Range Extender Kit . For more on HomePlug , see “ Get connect . ”

So which of these range - extend strategies is ripe for you ? Your alternative will depend on your tolerance for price and complexness . Adding a Wi - Fi antenna is probably the cheapest choice , but it may require an understanding of radio engineering science and soldering . Then there ’s that pesky little trouble of its likely illegality . total more base post or installing a HomePlug web is comparatively simple and can provide the greatest coverage , but both options can get expensive quickly .

Nevertheless , with all the money you ’ve already spent on that home internet , should n’t you make certain that it actually networks your entire home ?

[ Glenn Fleishman edits the daily tidings blogWi - Fi Networking Newsand write a regular column on the Mac for theSeatle Times . ]

Wireless Distribution System ( WDS ) is a technology for linking up multiple wireless al-Qaeda stations . WDS - enable base stations can route data among computer plug into to different base post , or road datum from the net to any cornerstone station that ’s part of a WDS connection .

WDS is build into the AirPort Express and the AirPort Extreme but is n’t available for the original AirPort Base Stations . It ’s a feature of speech in other manufacturers ’ stem stations , too , though it ’s often send for “ point - to - stop ” or “ repoint - to - multipoint . ” Buffalo ’s WBR2 - G54 , for example , lets you colligate as many as six theme station , and it retails for around $ 70 a pop .

WDS need that each base place be on the same Wi - Fi TV channel . Unfortunately , this increases the hazard of incumbrance , which can scale down the amount of data you could commit among base stations and connected computers . With two base stations , bandwidth could be sheer in one-half ; with three , by two - thirds ; and so on . If you regularly exchange large file cabinet over a meshing or take on demanding web games , you might think about using received Ethernet or else .

Unfortunately , WDS does n’t seem to cultivate very well among base post from unlike makers , even if their underlying chips are the same . For instance , Apple and Buffalo both use chip from Broadcom for their 802.11 g base stations , but I ’ve had bother getting their theme stations to interoperate . Depending on the microcode in the base station , your fuel consumption rate may vary .