TP-Link WDR4900 poor signal (bad coverage)

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TP-Link WDR4900 poor signal (bad coverage)

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TP-Link WDR4900 poor signal (bad coverage)
TP-Link WDR4900 poor signal (bad coverage)
2013-03-23 00:02:15
Region : Others

Model : TL-WDR4900

Hardware Version : V1

Firmware Version :

ISP :


Hello,

I have several devices (a few phones and three laptops) in my apartment. Until now, I was using a Linksys WRT54GL 54Gbps router with a Tomato firware and increased signal strength via command shell. It had great coverage (has two external antennas), but its speed was bad, so I bought this new device (TP-Link WDR4900). This router has three (3!!!) external antennas, and they are all for the 5Ghz band, which is actually a band which has problems with the coverage. The 2.4Ghz band performs better when it comes to coverage,
which is why (I suppose) TP-Link decided to use only internal antennas for the 2.4Ghz band module. However, the coverage on 2.4Ghz is not good. I had excellent quality of the signal when I was using my old Linksys router, and with this new router - I have poor quality of the signal. I am inside my apartment, in the bedroom, next to the living room (where the router is connected). There is just one wall between me and the router, the router is way high (almost reaching the ceiling) and is around 4 to 5 meters from me. And I have poor quality of the signal on my laptop now, when I had an excellent quality of the signal before.

I still have the opportunity to return this TP-Link router; however, I wanted to like it, as it is advertised to be a very nice and reliable device. Moreover, I have a full HD TV which does support 11n on the 5Ghz band, and I wanted to use this router for HD streaming.
Could you please let me know if there are any settings I could use in order to improve the performance of the router? Is it at all possible to use the external antennas for the 2.4Ghz band?

Thank you in advance for any comments you may have.

Best Regards,
E
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3 Reply
Re:TP-Link WDR4900 poor signal (bad coverage)
2013-03-23 00:19:35
On your unit under "wireless advanced" there is a wireless setting for transmit power which, by default, seems to be set to "high". Check if your unit is set to "high". Another setting that you can try is setting the 2.4 Ghz radio to "mode" "11 N only". I do not know why setting it to N only rather than b/g/n should make a difference but it seems to help speed and reception in my experience at least. Give it a try.

Good luck.
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Re:TP-Link WDR4900 poor signal (bad coverage)
2013-03-23 00:29:14
The problem I have stands even with the "Transmit Power" property set to value 5. Highest and the "11n only" mode in the Wireless Settings for the 2.4Ghz network. Actually, such were my settings before I posted the thread.

@canuck - Thanks for the suggestions but unfortunately, they did not fix anything. I would have decided that the problem is with the wireless network adapter on my laptop if the same problem was ongoing when I was using my previous router, but this is not the case.
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#3
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Re:TP-Link WDR4900 poor signal (bad coverage)
2013-03-23 04:13:13
OK.................well here is my last idea. Check to see that you have the latest firmware installed on the router. If you do, then maybe you should return this router and try a different one since this one would not seem to meet your needs.
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