Improving N performance at a distance

I have Comcast cable internet. It's connected to a Linksys WRT610N Dual Radio wireless router. It's at the top front left corner of a very large house (3 floors, 5800 square feet) which is the only place the cable connects. As it happens, my main work area is 2 floors down (bottom, right corner of course). I was afraid that would be problem but the first computer I hooked up, an HP Touchsmart IQ800 with a built in N adapter does great measuring >5,000 k bps in spite of a very low signal strength. To connect my other computers I bought a Linksys WRT600N wireless to Ethernet (gaming) adapter, hoping to connect it to switch the would then support a wired network in the office for multiple computers etc. The 600 barely connects after several tries and speedtests at <400k bps. A laptop with a 300N V1 PC card does similarly poorly in the same area.

Can anyone suggest a way to get performance like the HP has (or even just something acceptable) to the other systems? If I got Comcast to install an additional cable outlet on the second floor I assume that would help. I've also thought of getting someone to run Cat 5 from the current location to the thrid floor but I can see an easy/cheap way to do it without outdoor conduit or breaking into walls etc.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Bill Dwyer

You can use repeater to increase your signal strength(linksys range expander) however I would recommend the alfa 500 mw wifi adapter instead of netgear, linksys, etc brands which are all made by the same foreign manufacturer)
With the alfa 500 mw adapter your strength will go from low to excellent
(from 1 bars to 4 or 5 bars) I noticed this when I purchased it. Also when your strength goes from low to very good, your download and surfing speed will increase as much as 3 to 4 x faster(I noticed that with the alfa 500mw adapter)
You can get a good deal on this one on ebay approx 59.00 max
Hope this helps
Remember the best chips are made by Realtek(like alfa 500 mw adapter)
NOT NETGEAR, NOT LINKSYS or BELKIN!!
(the only time the alfa adapter will not fix your problem is if you have great interference, but when I turn my microwave oven on, the connection remains, though the speed reduction is evident)

Thanks, I'll give it a try

If you buy it from a vendor on ebay whose user id was roland, he will refund your money- shipping if you buy it from him if it does not work for you (I did) and he ships it very quickly
Send him a msg thru ask a question feature on ebay, he will email or call you
The access pts you see now will increase by 3 or times more, the signal strength
will go from low to very good or excellent. As I said, after using alfa , actual download speed increased by 4 times
it is not wireless n but still much better and faster then anything I have tried
The realkek chip(check their site out) (54mpps w 2.0 usb port)
alfa 500mw usb wifi adapter(.5watts power)
external indoor antenna comes w it, it is good enough to see large improvement
check it out on ebay, look for that vendor in the 'buy it now' section
And no, I am not roland but you can find: ebay eg wg111 netgear(which is not very good wifi adapter, this is approx 50.00 on staples.com; I just bought one on ebay for 11.00!
For your wifi and hardware, you should check it out.(ebay.com)
Have a good weekend.

Bought an alfa from ROKLAND on ebay and it solved the problem. I now get amazing speed two floors and many feet away from my hub. Tried lots of other things including N USB and Ethernet adapters that did very little

SEE, I know about stuff like that; if you need any computer hardware eg:
new keyboard for your old dell latitude laptop, or want to change your 40gb drive for a 120gb one for your ibm thinkpad, you can get the best deals on ebay.
Today I bid on a usb wifi adapter(forgot the brand) it was over 40.00 on the net and at least over 35.00 on ebay as buy it now. Well I bid on it, my maximum bid was 24.00 incl the shipping cost. Well anyway, I won the item(bid)
for 12.00 which is Including The Shipping Charge!! Still in box, New.
Well I am glad you are happy with the alfa 500mw adapter, yes it is very powerful and your signal goes from low to very good or excellent.
It is the realtek rtl 8187 chip which is the best driver I have seen so far.
You should update your driver on the realtek site(if you want to, post on here, I will post the link on here) to the 2008 version which is not on the cd which came w the unit. You will notice a definite improvement to the driver on the cd.
Well I am glad you found a good vendor; I am willing to help anyone if I have the time.
Happy surfing and downloading, if you need support, post on here
Good night