Is there a wireless router which lets you reduce the range of its signal?

Hi

I currently have a wired network setup, connected to 4 Mbps broadband internet. But I want to get a wireless router for my very small bedroom so that my Nintendo Wii and DS which are located there, can connect wirelessly to the internet.

I do have a Nintendo Wifi usb connector setup, but i have to turn my PC on to use it. Also my Nintendo Wii is meant to be connected to the internet permanently so that it's 'Wii connect 24' feature can be used to automatically update software when its on stand by.

So i want to get a wireless router but i don't want the signal to be strong enough to leave my room - this is obviously unsecure since other people with wireless networks could try and access my network through the wireless router.

Does anyone know of a router which allows you to reduce the range of its signal?

I've got these router requirements from Nintendos website :

# 802.11G/ 802.11B (or mixed)
Routers that mention 802.11N or pre-N (as well MIMO) may not be compatible with the Wii.

# WEP and WPA/WPA2 encryption
The Wii is compatible with WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption methods if you wish to enable wireless security on your router.

There are several different WPA variations. The Wii is compatible with:

* WPA - PSK (TKIP)
* WPA - PSK (AES)
* WPA2 - PSK (AES)

You could try and get a router that will allow you to reduce the transmit power therefore reducing the signal strength over a distance

diesel
auswireless.net

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Free Wireless Hotspot Directory - auswireless.net

What I would recommend, is get a wireless router that transmitts the full range, but do the following:

Disable the broadcasting of SSID (and change it from the default), this will make it a little harder for people to be able to locate the network and connect to it.

Enable encryption, and set a strong key for it, and then change the key every so often if you are really paranoid.

I haven't had any trouble with my wireless network, and having others access it, although I have several neighbors who do have unsecured wireless networks, so that may be why.

there's absolutely loads of them out there which will allow this.
and you are right.... why blast a signal out to places where its not needed.
there also the issue of quality as well. not a lot of people realise that transmitting on the same channel with overlapping networks can reduce performance eg you are on channel 6 and so is your neighbour.
however, if its down to cost and you'd rather no spend, then the above tips are good enough and really should be standard anyway.

You can also restrict access to the wireless router to specific mac addresses. i use that with wep encryption.

Try forcing your wireless router to use only G mode.

Best thing to do is not worry about reducing the signal, but to use WPA2 (with a long paraphrase with both uppercase, lowercase and numbers) and use MAC filtering.

Just using MAC filtering with a WEP key is useless against someone determined to steal your internet. WEP can be cracked easily and MAC can be spoofed with ease!