Wireless Signal Boosters

The free wifi in my parents condo is pretty weak, can this signal be boosted?

My parents live in a condo building that offers free wi-fi but some rooms of their unit are so far from the router the signal is weak. They are able to get the signal just fine from the front hallway of their unit - but not in the bedrooms/office. I've heard of ways of boosting a wifi signal from the source but is it possible to setup something that will pick up the existing signal from the hallway and boost it to the rest of their unit? I've heard of signal boosters for cable tv. Does something similar exist for wifi?

Public Comments

1. You could try getting a router that supports 3rd party firmware and set it up as a repeater or I think some of the NetGear routers will act as a repeater.
2. The condo committee needs to have a reputable firm perform a site survey and determine how many wireless access points need to be installed. The wireless routers or access points need to use different channels to make sure that you do not get interference between them. I am part of a group that does this type of work and we need to access all of the rooms to determine the optimum placement of the routers/access points. Generally our predicted placements work very fine, but occasionally there is something in the building construction that is not obvious, so we need to modify the locations.
3. Try a repeater type booster. These pick up the signal where it is strong in one part of the house, amplify it, and boost it on to the rest of the house. You can find these for less than $60.00. For them to work you must have a useable signal in one part of the home. It sounds like you do, so a repeater type WiFi booster would most likely solve the problem.