Desktop PC Wireless Connection Problem

Sparrow2142 · 07 Mar 2010

Hello,

I recently spent £700 on a very nice budget gaming computer. Runs games beautifully, does everything spectalularly, you couldn't really ask for more. One thing it doesn't do, is pick up my Router, from where it is in my bedroom. Seeing as my bedroom is next door to the Router's room, and my laptop picks up the Router from all the way down the street, I can't see that the range of the router is the problem.

The adapter is a TP-Link TL-WN851N, 300mpbs. It's supposed to be state-of-the-art with an awesome range. Apparently not. The Desktop only picks up the router when I turn it the other way around, but this only gives me a signal of 2 bars, and won't let me access any of my online games (eg. COD4, SWG).

I'm operating Windows 7 on this computer, so I'm wondering if that's the source of my issue. Router is a Belkin 54g, and as I said... my laptop makes this computer look like I've just recovered it from the junkpile.

Please help me to solve this issue!

IggyAZ · 07 Mar 2010

Sparrow2142 said:

Hello,

I recently spent £700 on a very nice budget gaming computer. Runs games beautifully, does everything spectalularly, you couldn't really ask for more. One thing it doesn't do, is pick up my Router, from where it is in my bedroom. Seeing as my bedroom is next door to the Router's room, and my laptop picks up the Router from all the way down the street, I can't see that the range of the router is the problem.

The adapter is a TP-Link TL-WN851N, 300mpbs. It's supposed to be state-of-the-art with an awesome range. Apparently not. The Desktop only picks up the router when I turn it the other way around, but this only gives me a signal of 2 bars, and won't let me access any of my online games (eg. COD4, SWG).

I'm operating Windows 7 on this computer, so I'm wondering if that's the source of my issue. Router is a Belkin 54g, as I said... my laptop makes this computer look like I've just recovered it from the junkpile.

Please help me to solve this issue!

Hi and welcome.

Have you tried relocating the desktop?
Is it on the floor?
Under a desk?
Also being the antennas are in the rear near all the wires may be limiting the signal. Are you using both antennas?
Have you tried adjusting the antennas at different angles?
I'd just first try raising your box up a little to see if that helps.

I'm also guessing that the card is working properly with the latets drivers and network setup.

Latest Drivers LINK

This is just a start and not the final answer.

Sparrow2142 · 08 Mar 2010

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately the problem's a bit nastier... Here's what happened:

Location: It resides on top of my desk, with the rear facing the wall. It's safe to say it's facing directly away from the router. I could always move my desk around to another part of the room, which would be a huge job though, as my room is small, and the furniture big. That was NOT my idea. Hehe.

Relocation: I've actually tried moving it so that both the antennae are positioned, pointing towards the router, with all the wires moved out of the way. Mind you, if the wires are the problem, I'd love to know who thought it was a good idea to build a £700 computer with the network card directly underneath the VDU connection wires.

Function of the Card: It's all updated with the latest drivers and shizzle. I tried a few suggestions from other threads, including turning it on and off, and putting Windows Firewall down to try and get a connection... Unfortunately they didn't help me.

Raising the box: It's already up pretty high on my desk. I tried putting up a bit higher, on top of some books, but that didn't do anything for it.

I wonder what it is about Laptops that gives them such an amazing range with their network cards? The expensive hardware I bought with this computer can't seem to compete.

It's also crossed my mind that maybe I should get an ethernet port set up in my room. Anyone know how easy / hard that task would be? I'm guessing if it involves taking apart the wall and re-wiring a lot of stuff, it might be more trouble than it's worth... *ponder*

IggyAZ · 08 Mar 2010

The only other suggestion I have other than adding new wiring is try one of the external antennas that replaces the card antenna and cand be placed at another location.

Here is a LINK that will give you some suggestions on what I'm talking about.
LINK