Poor SSID signal strength

We have 4 SSID configured on our WCS 7.0.164.3. The last SSID signal strength is not as good as the previously configured SSID, why?

Do you have multiple Wireless LAN controllers? Is the SSID being broadcast on both controllers?
If the SSID is hidden on half of your APs, a client selecting the SSID from the list will only roam between the APs that are broadcasting the SSID. Same applies if someone manually enters the SSID. It will only roam to APs where the AP is hidden.
Regards,
Brett

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I seem to have very poor wifi signal strength,is there any way to boost my signal

I seem to have very poor wifi signal strength,is there any way to boost my signal

If you gave some information on what network equipment you are using (make, model, version) and where you are experiencing signal problems it would help in giving advice.

Why do I have such poor/sporatic signal strength?

I have an iBook G4, and ever since I bought it i have had trouble with wireless connections. In my home, a small one bedroom apartment, I have and airport station. Connected to this is an external antenne. This is hooked up to a PC. My laptop has an airport extreme card. I have double checked and the card as well as the airport base station are installed correctly.
I am able to connect to the internet in my apartment. However, my wireless signal is always very weak. I am currently less than ten feet away from the base station and I am at less than half signal strength. Inside of my bedroom, approximatly twenty feet away from the base station I have little or no signal strength depending on what part of the room I am in. The signal strength varies constantly and does not allow me to connect to the internet.
My boyfriend has a PC laptop and is able to connect fine anywhere in the apartment. Also, he is able to detect several other wireless networks, where as I am only able to detect one.
When I am outside of my home and attempt to use hotspots, at school or coffee shops, I have little or no signal strength and am almost never able to connect to the internet for more than five minutes at a time, if at all.... All around me I always see PC users, as well as other Mac users serfing the internet without trouble.
How can I fix this? Should I buy a replacement airport extreme card? Is there any external USB devices that would help?
Thank you in advance for any help you are able to provide. I am desperate and will take any suggestions.

Hi Kat,
Welcome to the Discussions.
An improperly inserted antenna is the usual cause of weak signals. It takes considerable force to get it all the way in. This article illustrates a properly attached antenna.
John

Problems with poor wifi signal strength, need help?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated? This is a lengthy explanation. Thanks in advance.
I have a 3rd generation Airport Extreme wirelessly bridged to a 4th generation Time Capsule. I have noticed only mild increase in signal strength. Surprisingly I have only 1 – 2 bars of signal strength when standing next to the bridged Airport Extreme. There are areas of the house that continue to have very weak coverage ranging from 0 – 2 bars depending on the day and others that continue to have no wifi coverage.
The house has Cat 5 cable in all rooms. Most rooms only have a phone jack wired to the end of the Cat 5 cable but two rooms have data ports. All the wires (phone and data) run to the same junction box and are connected to, what appears to be, a simple parallel bridge. (There are a couple unused access points on the bridge. A few years back, I ran an additional line for a phone by simply pressing the colored wire into the corresponding site and the phone works fine)
It was suggested to plug the two routers directly into the data ports rather than have them communicate wirelessly. When doing this, I had no signal at the other end and the phone stopped working.
What is the best way to fix the weak wifi signal problem?
1.     Do I need to tweak my current wireless set up? (FYI, In the Airport Utility, both devices are listed and have green dots)
2.     Do I need to buy an additional Airport Extreme to bridge to the Time Capsule to cover the current dead areas? (unless there is something I should do different in the set up, hesitant to do this, since I have only seen a marginal boost with my current bridge)
3.     Would it be better to use the existing cat 5 cable and create a functional “hard wired” network that I can use to connect the two wireless routers? (If this is the answer, is this something relatively simple that I can do myself or should I hire a professional?)
Thanks again.

The house has Cat 5 cable in all rooms. Most rooms only have a phone jack wired to the end of the Cat 5 cable but two rooms have data ports. All the wires (phone and data) run to the same junction box and are connected to, what appears to be, a simple parallel bridge. (There are a couple unused access points on the bridge. A few years back, I ran an additional line for a phone by simply pressing the colored wire into the corresponding site and the phone works fine)
It was typical awhile back, where you have "whole-house" Ethernet running back to a patch panel to use the cable runs for both data and phone service. This works fine as long as you only wanted 100 Mbps Ethernet (or Fast Ethernet) connections for data. Gigabit Ethernet requires all of the twisted pairs in the CAT-5 cable and cannot share any of those pairs for phone lines.
So any wall outlet that is wired for both phone & data will not provide Gigabit Ethernet ... unless there are at least two CAT-5 cables going to that outlet. I am only mentioning this as to the potential for reduced bandwidth on some of your connections as all of your AirPort base stations are Gigabit capable.
As far as "weak" signals, I am assuming that you have configured all of your AirPort base stations for a roaming and NOT an extended wireless network ... correct? Even if you already have, please review the following Apple Support article to make sure you didn't miss anything. Please post back your results.

Re: WRT350N ----- Very poor Wireless signal strength from my router

I have a WRT350N router. I had it for a year now. In the begining the Wireless Signal strenth was good.
I used to get 4-5 bars in my bed room which is about 10 meters from the router.
Now I have my laptop sitting 1 feet away from the router and I get only 1 bar.
I upgraded my firmware. I rebooted my router a few times still no luck.
Current Firmware Version: v1.04.4 build 003 Jul. 14, 2008
Can any one tell me whats the problem. More importantly can some one help me resolve this problem.
Thanks
Sunny

As you upgraded the router's firmware,I would suggest you to reset the router for 30 seconds and reconfigure it from the scratch, as it is advisable to reset the router after upgrading the router's firmware.
On the router's setup page,Under Wireless tab..Give unique name in the Wireless Network Name (SSID). Change the Radio Band to Standard-20MHz and change the Standard channel to 11-2.462GHz... Under the Advance Wireless tab,change the Beacon Interval to 75 and click on save settings.... Now,check.

HT5012 My iPhone carrier signal strength is not good

My iPhone carrier signal strength is not good

I have a "case" open with Apple for poor carrier signal strength after upgrading my iP5 to iOS7.
Please make sure you open a case with Apple.

Signal strength poor

My computer is a floor above and about 50 feet diagonally from the primary computer linked to fios internet thru a wireless connection. The primary computer has great signal strength but mine is always poor. I heard that other wireless products might interfer with my antenna's signal. Is there a cure for this (besides hard wireing)? Thanks.

I suggest you might try several things:
1) Move the router around a little. The signal strengh at your wireless PC is affected by the path the signal has to take, how many walls, mirrors, etc, it has to go through, so moving the router a little bit might help. Try moving it both horizontally and vertically.
2) Try moving the antenna. I have mine vertical, but you can rotate it to horizontal or anywhere in between. With your PC above the router, horizontal might just work better
3) Try using a different channel, especially if there are other networks in your neighborhood. From looking at my Actiontec router, it appears that the default channel setting is Automatic, but you can change it to any channel you want, 1 to 11 (Wireless Settings ==> Basic Security Settings ==> 3.Channel). It might take some experimentation, but what you want is a channel that is not in use by other networks nearby. Some wireless cards/notebooks offer a function that allows you to see what other networks are available, and what channel each is using (including your network). If yours has that capability it might help you figure out another channel to use.
Beyond the above, another thing you could try is to buy a higher gain antenna for the router or the wireless client, but that costs money. Or invest in a wireless access point, which can be placed nearer to the computer with signal strengh problems - money again.
I suggest you try the free things first. And maybe someone else will come along with additional suggestions.
Unfortunately, wirelss can be somewhat hit or miss. I presume you are using the Actiontec router that Verizon gave you; some people report that the wireless capability of that router is terrible. I have the Actiontec, and for me the wireless signal is great, much better than the signal from the router I replaced. But your mileage may vary.....

Poor signal strength on MacBook Pro

We bought a new AirPort Extreme 802.11n for Christmas. Setup was fairly easy. We have two Macs--an 2005 iMac which is plugged into the AE via Ethernet, and a MacBook Pro from mid-2006 that we use in other rooms.
Our problem is that the signal strength on the MacBook Pro is terrible. Even at just 20 feet away, the signal strength varies between 1 and 3 bars (most often just the one tiny bar). The wireless is basically unusable at that point because pages stop loading.
To eliminate interference as a problem, our daughter brought her 2008 MacBook Pro over and we carried it around the house. It had 4 bar strength with no problems wherever we went and held 4 bars for hours while she used it in the kitchen. So we're pretty sure the problem is not interference in our house, unless her newer AirPort card is far better at blocking it.
What could be causing the signal strength on the older MacBook Pro to be so lousy? The computer is a Intel Core Duo, 2.16 GHz, running 10.4.11. The wireless card is 0x168C, 0x86. The wireless network adapter is 802.11 a/b/g, so it's not running "n", but I can't believe that's the only reason it won't hold a good signal. The AE is set up to run "n" as well as the older ones. (Bear with me...this is my first experience with wireless!)
We've been trying everything we can think of to improve the signal but nothing works. When the bars are in the 2-3 range it runs the internet fine, but the problem is that the signal constantly shifts between 1 and 3. So is the AirPort card in the computer that weak?
Any ideas are most welcome. Thanks.

I'll bet this is a hardware/firmware card with a chunk of AEx cards. I have had the same problem with a recently purchased iMac that was assembled in early '08. I tried all sorts of fixes, but ultimately took it in to a local Apple shop. The "geniuses" spent about 30 seconds looking at the machine (failed to replicate the problem), but then recommended replacing the airport card. I just got it back today &, while I can't yet say everything's hunky-dory, I think the problem's been solved. I'll bet there's a service bulletin that the genius bar has access to that describes this issue.
I had the same AEx series you report. I had the problem with 10.5.4 & then with the 10.5.6 upgrade.
See the following lengthy thread for more similar tales of woe: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1815644&tstart=0.
I think this is hardware-related. It's a $183 dollar fix (parts & labor) -- mine was under warranty, but I think there's enough in the discussion forums to justify pushing for a free replacement, even in an older machine.

IMac G5 AirPort Issues - Very poor signal strength.

Disclaimer: I am normally a PC user, but just bought a iMac G5 for my son's bedroom. Problem is that I am having a **** of a time getting the iMac to stay connected to my network long enough to download a newest OS update and in general, it is very slow downloading webpages...clearly not normal...at least I hope not.
My connection is Broadband DSL to my main PC equipped with a Linksys WRT54G Broadband Router. My 2nd PC is connected wirelessly and is much further away than my iMac, but gets better reception.
Therefore, what is the deal with my iMac??? It seems to be super slow downloading the large software updates and has often timed out as they have bogged down.
As a PC guy, I am wondering is it an internal antenna issue in the iMac G5 or is it something as simple as Wi-Fi (AirPort) setting?
If is is a lousy internal antenna, what can I do to boost my signal strength? I was thinking of disabling the Wireless and buying Gaming Console access point to hard wire to the ethernet port. Is that possible? Would AirPort Express device be good for anything?
Help...I am ready to return my first Apple and go with a Dell!!!
Solutions???

Thanks Rod. Your comments were very helpful...
Apologies for the dash of sarcasm, M., but these things usually are just that simple to get running, and your Dell jokes started me down that path you know . Yes, I should have resisted the temptation.
Screen orientation really can make a difference in a low signal situation. So can simply changing the channel on which your wireless router operates (have you tried that yet?). You also can't assume that because a computer in a neighbouring room gets gets adequate signal , the one that you are working on will too. Walls, power circuits, nearby electrical gear, etc etc can all have highly localised effects with this stuff.
If, as it appears, you have adequate signal strength (I thought you indicated initially that you didn't have) and the problem is not related to local interference on the channel which the router is using (that's why you need to try a different channel) , then its time to check other aspects of the setup, both of the router and the iMac. The problem could be caused at either end.
Lets take the router first. The WRT54G usually actually works pretty well with Macs. In some cases, however, it may need a firmware update from the Linksys site. There have been quite a few different models of this particular router produced, so you'll need to check the downloads section at Linksys support for the correct one.
The best people here to answer this sort of stuff are probably Henry B. and Frank Canzolino . They both spend much of their time over in the Airport forums. If a firmware update for the router , or a simple channel change, doesn't fix the problem then I'd try posting there with "WRT54G and iMac G5 AE " displaying in the subject line.
As far as toast goes, I personally recommend asking the power company to drop the voltage for a few minutes. Saves all that time wasted knob twiddling.
Cheers
Rod

Can I configure a wireless home network with two cable routers (both with separate connections to the same cable company)? Issue is poor signal strength even with multiple Airport Expresses added to the network.

I have a wireless home network consisting of a time capsule, two airport expresses and a cable modem. Even with this configuration I get a very weak signal in much of be condo - the walls, etc. are solid concrete. I want to see if I can add another separately connected cable modem and connect one of the existing airport express to it by Ethernet cable. If so, this would give me two wired hubs and greatly improve signal strength. I do not know if this configuration will in fact work or if I will just wind up with two, separate and unrelateable networks. Unfortunately, there is no way to run any additional Ethernet cable and I doubt simply adding more Airport Express will help. Thanks.

Try Ethernet over Power adapters.. these are very popular for your kind of environment.. being able to make non-wireless link to another area where you can setup a wireless access point.
Airport Express are not great for wireless power.. if you really have issues with wireless strength in a bad environment apple stuff is not the way to go.
The comparison chart here.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/58-2_4-ghz-dn?see=P_F
This is their worst test location you can also see averages.. the latest airport extreme.. is there a long way down.. and that is a much better wireless device than Airport Express.
The Ubiquiti power AP is small cheap and designed for precisely this duty.. useless in an apple wireless network.. you will need to run ethernet or EOP adapters back to the main router.. but if the normal omni directional antennas don't provide enough signal you can get directional ones.. I suspect you can cover your whole apartment with a pair of these and high gain directional antenna.

4th Generation iPad wifi poor signal strength

I recently purchased an iPad 4th Gen. It seems to only want to connect to wifi when I am within 15-20 feet of the antenna. I have tried removing the iPad from the case and still nothing. I have the problem at home and work, and have tried 4 different routers. My phone and laptop have full signal strength while my iPad cannot even find the network. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bill

I recently purchased an iPad 4th Gen. It seems to only want to connect to wifi when I am within 15-20 feet of the antenna. I have tried removing the iPad from the case and still nothing. I have the problem at home and work, and have tried 4 different routers. My phone and laptop have full signal strength while my iPad cannot even find the network. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bill

VERY poor signal strength

I'm lucky if I get one bar at home, often getting the connection lost message every few minutes. We have another iphone in the household though that is absolutely fine.
Is this something that is supposed to improve after a couple of days (I did transfer my number from an old provider, and I still keep getting texts saying "We haven't set picture messaging up yet"), or could something be wrong with the phone?

Re picture messaging: I believe that's coupled to MMS which AT&T does not yet support. Should not be related to signal strength.
Re signal strength: I'd try a full reset (hold down the Home button below the screen and the power button at the top simultaneously). You might also try cycling Wi-Fi and 3G on and off in the Settings: I've seen my signal low and jump back to normal after changing such settings.
If anything my phone signals at home are better (consistently full bars) than they were with the 2G model. And 3G tests out as about 8x faster than EDGE, but substantially slower than Wi-Fi, here.
Phil

WRT54GX2 0 Poor signal strength

Had to replace router. Had a WRT54Gv1 that went bad.
Bought a WRT54GX2 for additional range and
- placed router in same place as old one
- didn't alter ANYTHING regarding location, cables, etc.
Signal strength is significantly lower / less.
Any suggestions?
Regards,
-jP

Are you then saying that with everything else staying the same that replacing an old linksys G router with the new SRX wireless router will not improve the strength?
The effect is minimal, it will not improve strength as it will only function as a G router when you are using a G card. The SRX effect will only work with an SRX adapter.
I was hoping to provide great distance and speed from what we have without going out and buy another adapter for my laptop. My wife has a new laptop with wireless built in...will that have to be changed to a plugin SRX card to get benefit?
If you want the SRX range to work, you need an SRX card. The G card will work still but it will work on G speeds only. If that would be the case then yes, you would need to have an SRX card for it to take effect.
Also what about using expanders with the new SRX stuff?
It will work with the range expanders...not much of a conflict with them...but the expander is expensive than the card...your call...
"Sometimes your knight in shining armor is just a retard in tin foil.."-ARCHANGEL_06

WRT350N Signal strength

I recently bought the WRT350N to go with my MacBook Pro and iMac and Powerbook G4, and so far I am very unsatisfied....
One major issue (mentioned in my other thread) prevents me from being able to connect wirelessly if the signal is broadcast at "mixed mode". If I change to "G only" or "N only" ... its fine. But in mixed the signal constantly cuts out, and most of the time I can't even join the network (yes password and login name is correct).
The other main issue I am finding is that the signal strength is piss poor. I am currently sitting on my MacBook Pro about 5 feet from the router. It is on "G only" cause I am forced to downgrade for the network to be functional. I have about 30-40% signal strength. Meanwhile my neighbors router (don't know what model) has to be at least 20-30 feet away, and yet their strength is at about 80-90% strength.
What do I need to do to improve the strength or speed of the wireless connection? The Belkin router I owned previously was much easier to setup...the Linksys I have no clues on channels and modes, and settings.

I am sitting about 5 feet away from my AP. It still often does not show a strong signal. Right now I have less then 50%. Still I have very good transfer rates.
To make a simple speed test transfer a larger file from one computer to another. The computer from which you download should be wired to the router. Now make two tests downloading the file from that computer once through a wireless link and once through a wired link. Then you'll see how fast it could be in comparison.
Moreover, let the wireless card in the computer scan for other wireless networks in your neighborhood. If you find quite a lot (keep in mind that you can only find those which broadcast the SSID, thus there may be even more) then you will always have issues with transfer rates simply because there are so many other wireless routers and thus you have a lot of collisions.

TS1559 wifi signal strength problem

my ipad 3 wifi signal strength is very (increase or decrease) and some time its appear one bar
please tell me what i do for its solution
thanks

Could be a router problem or settings problem.
Some things to try first:
1. Turn Off your iPad. Then turn Off (disconnect power cord for 30 seconds or longer) the wireless router & then back On. Now boot your iPad. Hopefully it will see the WiFi.
2. Go to Settings>Wi-Fi and turn Off. Then while at Settings>Wi-Fi, turn back On and chose a Network.
3. Change the channel on your wireless router (Auto or Channel 6 is best). Instructions at http://macintoshhowto.com/advanced/how-to-get-a-good-range-on-your-wireless-netw ork.html
4. Go into your router security settings and change from WEP to WPA with AES.
5. Renew IP Address: (especially if you are droping internet connection)
    •    Launch Settings app
    •    Tap on Wi-Fi
    •    Tap on the blue arrow of the Wi-Fi network that you connect to from the list
    •    In the window that opens, tap on the Renew Lease button
6. Potential Quick Fixes When Your iPad Won’t Connect to Your Wifi Network
http://ipadinsight.com/ipad-tips-tricks/potential-quick-fixes-when-your-ipad-won t-connect-to-your-wifi-network/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
iOS 6 Wifi Problems/Fixes
Wi-Fi Fix for iOS 6
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4823738?tstart=240
How To: Workaround iPad Wi-Fi Issues
http://www.theipadfan.com/workaround-ipad-wifi-issues/
Another Fix For iOS 6 WiFi Problems
http://tabletcrunch.com/2012/10/27/fix-ios-6-wifi-problems-ssid/
Wifi Doesn't Connect After Waking From Sleep - Sometimes increasing screen brightness prevents the failure to reconnect after waking from sleep. According to Apple, “If brightness is at lowest level, increase it by moving the slider to the right and set auto brightness to off.”
Fix For iOS 6 WiFi Problems?
http://tabletcrunch.com/2012/09/27/fix-ios-6-wifi-problems/
Did iOS 6 Screw Your Wi-Fi? Here’s How to Fix It
http://gizmodo.com/5944761/does-ios-6-have-a-wi+fi-bug
How To Fix Wi-Fi Connectivity Issue After Upgrading To iOS 6
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/09/fix-wi-fi-connectivity-issue-after-upgrading- to-ios-6.html
iOS 6 iPad 3 wi-fi "connection fix" for netgear router
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWS4ha-dn0
Apple's iOS 6 Wi-Fi problems
http://www.zdnet.com/apples-ios-6-wi-fi-problems-linger-on-7000004799/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Boost Your Wi-Fi Signal
http://ipad.about.com/od/iPad_Troubleshooting/a/How-To-Boost-Your-Wi-Fi-Signal.h tm
Troubleshooting a Weak Wi-Fi Signal
http://ipad.about.com/od/iPad_Troubleshooting/a/Troubleshooting-A-Weak-Wi-Fi-Sig nal.htm
How to Fix a Poor Wi-Fi Signal on Your iPad
http://ipad.about.com/od/iPad_Troubleshooting/a/How-To-Fix-A-Poor-Wi-Fi-Signal-O n-Your-iPad.htm
iOS Troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1398
iPad: Issues connecting to Wi-Fi networks http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3304
WiFi Connecting/Troubleshooting http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/wifi/
How to Fix: My iPad Won't Connect to WiFi
http://ipad.about.com/od/iPad_Troubleshooting/ss/How-To-Fix-My-Ipad-Wont-Connect -To-Wi-Fi.htm
iOS: Connecting to the Internet http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1695
iOS: Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4199
How to Quickly Fix iPad 3 Wi-Fi Reception Problems
http://osxdaily.com/2012/03/21/fix-new-ipad-3-wi-fi-reception-problems/
iPad Wi-Fi Problems: Comprehensive List of Fixes
http://appletoolbox.com/2010/04/ipad-wi-fi-problems-comprehensive-list-of-fixes/
Connect iPad to Wi-Fi (with troubleshooting info)
http://thehowto.wikidot.com/wifi-connect-ipad
Fix iPad Wifi Connection and Signal Issues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwWtIG5jUxE
Fix Slow WiFi Issue https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2398063?start=60&tstart=0
How To Fix iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch Wi-Fi Connectivity Issue http://tinyurl.com/7nvxbmz
Unable to Connect After iOS Update - saw this solution on another post.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4010130
Note - When troubleshooting wifi connection problems, don't hold your iPad by hand. There have been a few reports that holding the iPad by hand, seems to attenuate the wifi signal.
Wi-Fi or Bluetooth settings grayed out or dim
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1559
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If any of the above solutions work, please post back what solved your problem. It will help others with the same problem.
 Cheers, Tom

Poor SSID signal strength

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