couple of questions for you IT guys

[joe camel]

ok so firstly, i bought a ps3 the other day, the guy threw in a free wireless router with it, linksys 2.4ghz with the two antennas on the back. i am using a cisco one right now with no antennas. anyways, i used to get great wifi signal in my room upstairs even with the router being downstairs. now i only get one, maybe two bars and i can barely play online games without getting disconnected/banned/lagging all over the place. i did ipconfig, nobody is stealing my wifi or anything, i do not understand why i don't get signal like i used to. i used to be able to play all night with my dad on the computer downstairs with no problems. would swapping out the routers help? if i swap out the routers, it will change my wifi password and all that right? so i will have to set up the wifi all over again on my ps3, phone, computer, etc right? can anyone give me a reason why i don't get good signal anymore? do wifi repeaters work?

another thing, i typed in my default gateway, when it prompted me for username/password, i tried the usual admin/blank, admin/admin, etc, couldnt log in. anyone know how i can log into that?

[panthrax]

Your router's login information has suddenly changed without you doing so? That's suspicious as hell.

I was going to suggest logging into your router and changing the wireless channel you're on, as that can sometimes help with signal strength, but if you can't login to do that, then out that goes. Does your Cisco router have a hard reset button on it physically that you can press? You may need to do this.

If you swap out wireless routers with the Linksys one, your SSID will change along with the password. You will need to connect to this new network with any wireless device you use in the home. I'd try to see if I can reset the Cisco router first, see if that takes care of the problem, and if not, then try swapping those routers.

Here is a general overview of how a 2.4Ghz wireless band operates. It helps to understand this so you understand what I mean by wireless channels and how they work in relation to other people in your area using their own wireless networks. If everyone around you is heavily using the same channel, you may need to switch channels. Similar in a roundabout way to CB radio. Certain channels correspond with certain wavelengths best, but you'll get into that later.

Try to hard reset Cicso router, failing that, swap routers.

[joe camel]

Well to be fair i don't believe ive ever logged in using the default gateway before. I have when i was working on friends computers and knew that the username and password is usually admin/leave it blank or admin/admin. It does have a reset button i believe, will tty that when i get home and post results.

[panthrax]

Any luck, Joe Camel?

[joe camel]

I used the reset button, i didnt try ti log into the default gateway though but i swear it just made my connection worse.

What about a Wi-Fi repeater? I am thinking of trying that. If that doesn't work, i'm moving the computer upstairs to one of the unused rooms.

[joe camel]

Still cannot log into my default gateway.

[vonunov]

Repeaters do their job but maybe that's not what you need.

What is the model of each router?

Is the Cisco router capable of 5GHz? Try switching to that. 2.4 is often congested.

You will need to hold the reset button probably for >10 seconds. All configuration will be cleared and the default credentials should now work.

Once you have access to the config, disable remote administration and administration over the wireless network (meaning you have to be wired to the LAN side of the router to access the admin page).

Did anything change in your physical environment? Any new solid objects in the way?

i did ipconfig, nobody is stealing my wifi or anything

An ipconfig will show you the properties of your adapter, nothing about who else is on the network. If you haven't been able to access the router's admin page, you'll have no idea if anyone is on your wireless.

Running cable is 100% effective in resolving wireless issues, but if you can't do that, just try the one with antennas.

http://pressf1.pcworld.co.nz/showthread.php?66696-Where-should-I-point-my-Router-Antennas

[aldra]

it actually sounds like you've never logged into your gateway before, so it's possible someone else set it up and changed the password so the defaults don't work. maybe check with your dad or whoever else might have initially installed it.

do other devices get poor signal as well, or is it just the ps3? my ps3 always had shitty wireless connectivity, and even has trouble getting decent connection speeds via LAN so it might just be that.

[-SpectraL]

depends on you model..

blank as the username, admin as the password

or...

Administrator as the username and admin as the password

[RustyShackleford]

Default passwords:
http://www.pcwintech.com/default-router-modem-passwords

[joe camel]

I ended up calling my isp and they reset it somehow.

[LiquidIce]

You could always buy your own 20-30 router and put openwrt on it and configure it to your heart's desire.
That's what I did - I disabled the wifi in my ISP's modem/AP and hooked up a fairly cheap TP-Link router, set things up with openwrt and never been happier.