Setup problems with the WRE54G Expander

Question

My router is the WRK54G and its hooked up to my PC on the main floor family room. My notebook (Wireless card: Intel Proset/Wireless 3945ABG) is on the 2nd floor. I set up the expander and the link is blue showing a successful connection. The problem I am having is the signal strength is still very poor (-88dBm) I have moved the expander to different location in my house and the signal is still poor. I tried setting up the expander with the setup wizard software and the network setting cannot detect my wireless card. What can I do to get a better signal on the second floor.

Answer 1

Hi,
I am also using an Intel ProSet driver, Sony Vaio laptop, and have no trouble connecting.
Try starting up your Intel ProSet utility and check you have the following:
General Tab:
Network Name (SSID): (should match your network SSID)
Profile Name: (whatever, I use my SSID)
Mode: Infrastructure (AP)
Security: WEP (if your Router has security set on)
Speed: 54 MBPS
Band 802.11g
Channel: 6 (or whatever channel your routher is on)
802.1x Protocol: Disabled
Hardware radio switch: On
Switch radio - On
Networks Tab: A list of available networks should appear. If not, hit the Scan button and pick your network. Make sure your SSID shows up under Network name column and that there is a little radio beacon in the far lefthand column indicating you are associated with the correct router/AP (I have between 4 and 6 neighbors APs show up). You may need to go into your router setup to enable SSID broadcast for trouble shooting if you have turned it off (or you may not be able to "see" you are connecting to the correct Router).
Under Networks Tab, Advanced Settings: Connection Preferences should be set to Connect to ad hoc networks (first or third choices should work). Wireless mode selection should be set to "Connect to both 802.11g and 802.11b". 11b/11g mixed protocol should be set to "CTS to self enabled". Both boxes under Advanced security should be checked.
Back out to the Networks tab screen that lists the available networks and Double Click the SSID of your network. A screen should popup labeled Profile Wizard. In the Profile Wizard dialog box there are 4 tabs. Under the General Tab check that the SSID is correct and under Operating mode, the Infrastructure button should be selected. Uncheck Enable Cisco Extensions. Under Security Tab: Network Authentication should be Open, Data Encryption should be WEP (if you are using WEP), under Encryption Key settings: Check "Set Manual Key", confirm Encryption level matches your Router (128 bit on mine), check your Hex Key is correct (reenter or cut/paste from your Router setup utility), uncheck "802.1x Enabled"; Under Advanced Tab: all but last should be unchecked (only check is on "This profile can be used by all users").
Adapter Tab: Doesn't matter
If that's all OK, go into the Range Extender Web utility (192.168.1.240), make sure the Mode is set to Mixed, SSID matches your Router and Laptop SSID including the case (for example, use all upper case letters), Channel is set to the same number as Router and Laptop, Security is Enabled  if on on your Router and Laptop, go into "Edit Security Settings" button and check that Security Mode is set to WEP, Default Transmit Key is correct (use 1), WEP Encrypption is same (mine is 128), and that the Key Hexadecimal numbers are same as on your Laptop and Router and that the same Key is being used on all (ie Key 1). Note that if you generated the Keys from a passphrase, the keys will be differ if the capitalization of the passphrase differed between your Router, Laptop, and Range Expander.
If all this is OK and seems to match, I would temporarily disable security on the Router, Laptop and Range Extender and retry. Hope that helps