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Please help me improve my wifi range
I'm using my netbook right now, so my computer specs at the bottom don't apply to this post. This is my netbook: Hannspree HannsBook SN10E22BU3221 Netbook - Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz, 1GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, 10 WSVGA, 6-Cell, Windows 7 Starter, Black at TigerDirect.com
(Newegg link: Newegg.com - Hannspree SN10E22BU3221 Pearl Black Intel Atom N450(1.66GHz) 10.1" 1GB Memory 250GB HDD Netbook )
I've attached a cap of my device manager network section.
I've already updated all three of those drivers. Only the third one had an update from right clicking and selecting "update driver software".
Even though it is a netbook, and it's expected to have an inferior WiFi range compared to full laptops, I wanna see if I can boost it a little, because it is very weak. If I'm more than like 30 or so feet away from the router, I can still pick up the signal, but can't connect to it.
I've looked under the options and wanted to see what stuff I could change to improve my range without messing something else up.
Just a side note, I've set all three of my network adapters so that the computer can't turn them off to save power. Is that okay? The only times I would want my WiFi to be off would be when I close the netbook or manually turn off the WiFi (Fn + F9)
Since under Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter I can't tweak anything, I'm gonna focus on the first two.
Under the first one (Atheros AR5B95 Wireless Network Adapter), in the Advanced tab, the following Properties are listed, with their choice of values next to them. I'll list each property and the value selected next to it, with the other value options in parenthesis
802.11b Preamble - Long and Short (Long only)
AdHoc 11n - Disable (Enable)
Dynamic MIMO Power Save - Disable (Enable)
Network Address - Not Present (Manually enter value)
Receive Buffers - 256 (+/-)
Scan Valid Interval - 60 (+/-)
Transmit Buffers - 512 (+/-)
And for the second adapter (Atheros AR8131 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.20) #5), in the Advanced tab, the following Properties are listed, with their choice of values next to them. I'll list them all just like I did above.
FlowControl - Tx & Rx Enabled (Disabled)
Interrupt Moderation - Enabled (Disabled)
IPv4 Checksum Offload - Tx & Rx Enabled (Disabled, Rx Enabled, Tx Enabled)
Jumbo Frame - Disabled (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9KB MTU options)
Large Send Offload (IPv4) - Enabled (Disabled)
Large Send Offload v2 (IPv4) - Disabled (Enabled)
Large Send Offload v2 (IPv6) - Disabled (Enabled)
Max IRQ per Second - 5000 (+/-)
Network Address - Not Present (Manually enter value)
Receive Buffers - 512 (+/-)
Receive Side Scaling - Disabled (Enabled)
Shutdown Wake Up - Disabled (Enabled)
Speed & Duplex - Auto Negotiation (10 Mbps Full Duplex, 10 Mbps Half Duplex, 100 Mbps Full Duplex, 100 Mbps Half Duplex)
TCP Checksum Offload (IPv4) - Tx & Rx Enabled (Disabled, Rx Enabled, Tx Enabled)
TCP Checksum Offload (IPv6) - Tx & Rx Enabled (Disabled, Rx Enabled, Tx Enabled)
Transmit Buffers - 256 (+/-)
UDP Checksum Offload (IPv4) - Tx & Rx Enabled (Disabled, Rx Enabled, Tx Enabled)
UDP Checksum Offload (IPv6) - Tx & Rx Enabled (Disabled, Rx Enabled, Tx Enabled)
Wake Up Capabilities - MagicPacket & PatternMatch (All, Magic Packet, None, Pattern Match)
Please, please, please someone help me understand these properties and values; which ones I should tweak; what they do; etc.
It took a long time to type all of this out so it could be as comprehensive as possible and I'd hate for it to go to waste. My netbook supports up to 802.11n so I thought the wireless card would be pretty good and I would rather improve my current one than have to buy a new one. Thanks so much in advance to anyone who decides to tackle this post. I really really appreciate it. Hope to hear from someone soon.