To increase the range of your wireless network simply place a wireless repeater near the edge of your wireless signal where the strength is starting to degrade but still strong enough to allow you to use the network. The repeater will receive the signal from your router and re-broadcast it extending the area your wireless network encompasses. To set up a wifi repeater it is pretty easy, just put it where you need the signal extended but still inside the range of your wireless network. Scan for wireless networks in the area and you should pick up on yours. Choose your wireless network, enter your password and encryption (if applicable) and you should be set. Note it is also possible to connect many wireless repeaters to the network via Ethernet cable then they broadcast the signal.

Many companies like Cisco, Linksys, Netgear, Belkin, Trend and D-Link manufacture wireless repeaters. If you are looking to purchase one the price can usually range from $50 to $140 depending on the device you choose. You can find them on sites like Tiger Direct, Amazon and Ebay as well as in many technology stores.

Dave Gram – Information Technology University Student

Check out the site Wifi Repeaters for more information on the Wifi Repeater

http://www.wifiprintersinfo.com

Wifi repeater or wireless range expanders function by increasing or amplifying the signal originating from your wifi router so that it’s going to reach a a lot wider location. Normally, wireless routers can only transmit signals anywhere between 100-150 feet. This is fine as long as it can be utilized in a small place, but it will not operate when employed in a campus or any large area.

Specifically, wifi router antennas capture radio waves coming through the router and convert them back into understandable data that the PC could read. Wireless repeaters operate by taking the radio frequency released by the router and then bouncing them back or repeating them into the rest of the space.

An excellent attribute for range expanders is that they don’t need people to add an Ethernet cable. This will greatly do away with irritating wires running from one space to another. All it demands to run is to be able to identify the wireless signal from the router and it may work at improving these signals the proper away.

Range extenders are regarded as directional antennas. The nice factor about range extenders is the fact that they can be applied either as omni or directional antenna. It works by bouncing off the signal from the router so that the other wifi devices positioned in remote places can find the signal as well.

Increasing wireless speed and coverage at your residence or in the workplace doesn’t need to be tough any longer. All that is required is a reliable wifi range extender or repeater to ensure that every space area is turned into a wifi hotspot. These kinds of expanders usually cost close to $50-100 according to the quality and brand of the manufacturer.

To find more helpful info on getting one of these devices, go to this website: Wireless Range Extender.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Statler_Waldorf
By Statler Waldorf

The iPhone has been designed to work on GPRS, EDGE and Wi-Fi networks but doesn’t include 3G support. Apple has stated this has to do with the power requirements of the 3G chip.

EDGE provides higher download speeds than the 2G network and GPRS (2.5G) but less than what can be achieved with Wi-Fi and 3G. and it has been labeled 2.75G.

The coverage of the EDGE networks around the world is very sparse, some places only 10s of percent actually. And that is disappointing numbers and not good news for the users of iPhone.

Trying to talk up the iPhone’s Wi-Fi compatibility and its deals for free hotspot are not doing the trick either.

EDGE is the existing standard for GSM data networks. GSM is a direct rival to CDMA. In the US, Cingular is the largest GSM provider.

EDGE offers service rated at about quarter Mb/sec. That’s about twice the speed of ISDN (.128 MB/sec), but significantly slower than even the slowest offerings of DSL (.3 to 1.5 Mb/sec), and a fraction of the throughput of 802.11b WiFi (typical: 6.5 Mb/sec).

EDGE is far faster than GPRS or old dialup networks however (both are about .03 Mb/sec), so while EDGE not capable of supporting iChat style video conferencing, it is useful enough to browse web pages, receive HTML emails, and support the other web service features demonstrated on the iPhone such as Google Maps.

EDGE is also widely deployed in the US. Newer generation technologies, including HSUPA and EVDO, are not. If the iPhone supported newer networks at launch, it would offer users less data service coverage at higher service fees. HSUPA does promise a future path for faster data, and will no doubt unlock new applications for future phones.

Along with the confusing acronym soup of HSDPA and HSOPA, HPUPA competes against other mobile 3G standards. Wikipedia says the next set of standards are edging out existing CDMA2000 and EVDO rollouts in some markets.

In addition to the factors of availability and cost, another reason for Apple going with EDGE rather than a faster network is that the iPhone won’t have to rely solely on mobile phone networks for data. It’s designed to use WiFi wherever it’s available.

WiFi is far faster than any mobile networks now in place, including EVDO and HSUPA (2.5 – 5.76 Mb/sec). Typical 802.11b and g offer 6.5 Mb/sec and 20 Mb/sec transfers. WiFi is so much faster because it is designed to serve a much smaller range of local service.

For iPhone users in a school, home, or office with existing WiFi service, automatic use of WiFi for data service will not only be far faster, but far cheaper: free in many cases.

Getting EDGE to work on your iPhone is simple, but require some knowledge about application set up in your iPhone.

You will need iBrickr to browse the file system of your iPhone (www.ibrikr.com)

There is a video turorial available for iBrickr if you want to learn how to use this system (www.i4u.com/article11028.html)

Once you have downloaded the iBrickr and the PXL files installed on your iPHone, you can launch iBrickr.exe. You will be able to see the main interface and click on files to browse your phone file system.

Locate your /private/var/root

Launch notepad and paste this code;

Function FindProxyForURL(url, host)

{

If (isInNet (myIpAddress(), “10.0.0.0”,

“255.0.0.0”))

Return “PROXY 216.155.165.50:808”;

Else

Return “DIRECT”

}

Save the file as proxy.pac and upload it to /private/var/root

Right click this file and select “save link as”, you need to save the file as

Preference.plist, you will then upload preference.plist into the following iPhone directory:

/private/var/root/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

NOTE! If you are on firmware 1.1.3, upload the preferences.plist to this directory;

/private/var/preferences/SystemConfiguration

This will overwrite the current file that is already in that directory.

Now grab your iPhone and tap settings – General – Network – EDGE. The APN you will use is wap.voicestream.com, username and password will be guest. Reboot your iPhone and there you are, you should be able to browsw online using EDGE.

NB! After performing this hack you will notice that EDGE will interfere with your WIFI connections whenever it sees it. IF this happens to you, there is a solution for this as well.

Click on the Browse Application button, this will launch a list of 3rd party applications you can install at your will. For our purpose we will install an application called Services. Basically what this does is allow you to turn off the WiFi, Bluetooth and EDGE according to your needs.

Once you are done with the installation, iPhone will reboot and on your Springboard you should see a Services icon, tap on the icon and here you can toggle between EDGE and WiFi connection.

Wifi stands for wireless fidelity. This is a technology which allows users to access a network through the transmission and receiving of radio waves. Nearly all laptops and notebooks are now fitted with WiFi technology. If you are considering using an older laptop you can get adapters which will make wifi possible. Bear in mind that as more and more laptops are wifi compatible, the manufacturers will slowly phase out the adapters, so think forward and decide if that really is the sensible way forward.

If you are looking to use your laptop when you are out and about you will need to find some hotspots. These are usually in cafes, airports, hotels and other similar places. Hotspots are basically wifi networks which are open to the public. They are usually strategically placed by companies who are trying to get your business or are hoping that you will spend money with them while you are surfing the net; e.g. cafes and hotels.

So if you are sending information through the airwaves between your computer and the network is there any security or can someone simply catch your message and steal your information? Due to the location of most hotspots and the ulterior motive to get you to spend money with them, your security is not their primary concern. Wired equivalent privacy (WEP) was the original standard; this was a form of encryption. As with many security measures this was quickly and easily broken. Most wireless networks are open and hence have no encryption at all.

There are, however, a few tips which may help you to maintain a level or security. Firstly you must check that your firewall if activated. The firewall monitors information getting into your computer and will try to stop anything which is known to damage or compromise your computer. Secondly, you should disable the file sharing facility which Windows offers. This facility is great on a secure network, but if you are in a public network you do not want to share your files with anyone else using the same network.

Finally you can make the actually files slightly harder to access by marking the folders as private and by password protecting the documents. None of these are guaranteed to protect your data or computer from hackers or viruses, but they are all steps to help.

Hopefully this information will help any new wifi user to go out with confidence and log on to a public network. Once you start, you will suddenly find that you can work from anywhere, and work does not even have to know where you are! Or you can simply stay in touch with your friends and family while enjoying traveling the globe.

This Virtual Wi-Fi feature will make it easier to set up a mesh network where every system in the network act as a repeater i.e. one adapter grabs a signal and another passes it another.

The Virtual Wi-Fi (VWIFI) feature has been included in Windows 7 for the first time which is in its RC1 Phase of evolution. Although no drivers are reportedly available to take advantage of the feature so this feature is still waiting to come out and play.

Some users wonder why more than one wireless card would be needed inside your computer. There are a very few circumstances where multiple wireless adapters would be needed. For instance, users could connect to one wireless network and use the virtual adapter to turn their machine into a hot spot that other computers could connect to and share the internet access.

Another good usage scenario for the technology would be connecting to a wireless network while also connecting to a wireless ad hoc network at the same time. Istartedsomething reports that supporting Virtual Wi-Fi is going to be a requirement for WLAN drivers sporting the  Windows support Certification Logo. The drivers will be coming to add support for the feature.

The feature is described as, “On Windows 7 and later, the operating system installs a virtual device if a Hosted Network capable wireless adapter is present on the machine. This virtual device normally shows up in the “Network Connections Folder” as ‘Wireless Network Connection 2’ with a Device Name of ‘Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport adapter’ if the computer has a single wireless network adapter. This virtual device would be used exclusively for performing software access point (SoftAP) connections. The lifetime of this virtual device is tied to the physical wireless adapter. If the physical wireless adapter is disabled, this virtual device will be removed as well.”

The caveat to the technology is that only one virtual adapter can be created.

What is a Wifi Repeater?

Its a standalone wireless unit that is positioned withing the wange of a wireless router. Wifi repeater are also known as range expanders. They serve as a two way signal relay station for Wifi signals. People who are far from the original router can connect with the wireless LAN through the wifi repeater.

How does a WiFi repeater Work?

A WiFi receiver works by simply taking the Wifi signal from a remote device and blasting it around locally. There are problems however, first its a radio device and these can fail to work if models or make differ. Secondly, it is vital to get a good repeater for a reliable and stable signal from the radio device.

A good WiFi repeater to use or the best solution is WDS or Wireless Distribution System. With WDS you can use multiple repeaters. Each Wifi Repeater can talk to each other in order to reach a destination.