In theory, the further the distance is between an access point and the adapter connecting to it, the slower the transfer speed is. This is because most access points automatically reduce the speed based on signal strength. This is to ensure a continuous connection and to manage the lost of packets. Some access points, however, don’t automatically control the speed of the connection, and as a result the potential range of the connection can be severely limited.

If all you want to do is to surf the internet, but wish to do so at a greater distance from your access point, you can manually reduce the transmission speed of most access point. This can improve range up to 40%. This probably won’t have too much of an effect on your true browsing speed either, given that bandwidth required rarely more than 1 Mbps.

Single Band Only

If you are using an 802.11g router, setting protocol back to ‘b’ only may also help. For example, login to Linksys BEFW11S4 router, click the ‘Advanced’ tab on the top right. Next, select the ‘Wireless’ tab. On this screen, you can reduce Basic rates and TX rates. Remember that other factors also play a part in your connection strength.