How to Extend Your Wireless Network without Replacing It

The top three connection issues and how to fix them

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Aug 12, 2011 11:46 AM

What’s the biggest difference between a wired and a wireless network? A wireless network is only as robust as its signal. In other words, setting up a Wireless-N network doesn’t always mean you’re going to get Wireless-N speeds. Poor signal strength and range, interference from non-network wireless devices, and the way your router broadcasts Wi-Fi signals can cause network slowdowns. If you’re ready to improve your wireless network but you’d rather not start from scratch with a new router, read on. We’ll show you exactly how to deal with the three biggest challenges.

Overcoming poor signal strength and range

Amplifi Wi-Fi Booster

You can easily extend your existing network into hard-to-reach locations by installing an access point, which connects directly to your existing router and improves its wireless signal. Access points like D-Link’s DAP-1525 Amplifi Wi-Fi Booster require no additional setup or passwords to distribute a wireless signal to areas that need it most. What’s more, if you have a router that uses the older Wireless G standard, the Wi-Fi Booster automatically upgrades the signal to Wireless N. The MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) technology built into Wireless-N routers gives you greater speeds and wider ranges than a Wireless-G router can.

Targeting your Wi-Fi signal

Most wireless routers create a signal “bubble” that radiates out from the device’s antennas like a giant donut. The farther away from the router, the worse the signal quality becomes. Special antenna technology can pinpoint this signal like a laser beam in a specific direction to give you increased strength at a longer range, but up to now, this technology has only been available on expensive, professional-grade equipment designed for businesses and large buildings.

But now, you can take advantage of both approaches affordably. D-Link’s SmartBeam technology, built into the Wi-Fi Booster, combines these two transmission types. Six internal antennas automatically track the whereabouts of connected devices and target a wireless signal directly to their locations for increased range and signal strength. It’s the best of both transmission worlds.

Coping with interference

What do baby monitors, cordless phones, and garage door openers have in common? Their wireless transmissions all operate within the 2.4GHz spectrum, which can interfere with your router’s wireless network signal.

Here again, D-Link’s Wi-Fi Booster offers a solution. This amazing device allows you to broadcast a network signal on either the 2.4GHz spectrum (for Wireless-B, -G, and -N devices) or the 5 GHz spectrum (Wireless-N only). This allows high-speed devices that need an uninterrupted connection to connect to the 5GHz signal, which offers better bandwidth and is ideal for streaming high-def video and games.

New Technologies Work for You

For all three issues, D-Link offers a ready fix. Wireless-N is the best technology for obtaining top speeds and good range using your current router. The Amplifi Wi-Fi Booster with SmartBeam technology can help you patch any dead zones you encounter. And dual-band technology frees you from the interference caused by non-network wireless devices. With these solutions, you’ll have the best wireless network on the block.

Petrol vs Diesel: And the Economies of Scale

With the prices of petrol skyrocketing, car buyers seem to be lining up to book diesel variants as they are highly economical and easy on the pocket compared to their gasoline counterparts. Well, that is only if you discount everything else and consider the running cost. We at ZigWheels take a look at the bigger picture and bring it down to simple numbers to find the cost-effective option between petrol and diesel fueled variant

The acceptance of diesel vehicles has witnessed a rapid rise in the last decade in India. With the advent of new technologies such as common rail direct injection, EGR systems and exhaust treatment systems, diesels today offer great performance, excellent mileage and on many accounts it is the cleaner fuel! The inherent ability of diesel engines to produce excellent low end torque makes for great driving; however these factors basically aided diesel engines to gain an acceptance in the passenger car market as they didn't spew black smoke like in the past. The icing on the cake however has to do with the pricing of fuel. Diesel is priced at around Rs. 50/litre and petrol is approximately Rs. 70/litre. The rates change in different parts of the country; however the ratio of difference between the two is more or less the same. It is the cumulative knowledge of all these facts that make diesel engined passenger vehicles the number one choice for many customers, however there is a kink in the diesel armour and that has to do with the pricing of the vehicle as compared to its petrol counterpart.

New Maruti Suzuki Swift VVT

A deeper insight is required while trying to decipher the cost benefit between diesel and petrol vehicle variants. Elements such as the timeline of usage, cost difference between the two models, fuel price disparity, maintenance expenses and service charges, parts wear and tear and depreciation costs sum up the major list to assist in calculating the actual benefit. It is a line of thought that most customers overlook, however our cost-benefit study should shed some light on the topic and hopefully help customers make a more informed decision, rather than just going with gut instinct or following the claims of manufacturers.

Note: The study is based under the following assumptions: 

• The difference in price of petrol and diesel remains constant throughout the five years.
• Cost of repairs and maintenance on both the variants remains nil or equal.
• Both the variants will bring in 50% of the cost at the time of resale
• Average driving is 15,000kms/year for both the variants. (in case 2)
• The car model under consideration is the new Maruti Suzuki Swift (entry level variants for both diesel and petrol). This is only indicative, and gives a good idea since the difference of cost between petrol and diesel variants of other cars also hovers around the same figure.

We did the math to compare the cost of operation for an entry level Maruti Suzuki Swift petrol with the diesel variant. The difference in the cost of the two variants is Rs. 90,000 with diesel being the more expensive of the two; add to that the interest one would gain on the excess amount at 10% p.a if the petrol variant was purchased. The diesel variant being more efficient and the cost of diesel being Rs. 20/litre lesser than that of petrol, it saves a lot of expenses on fuel (See Case 1), but the cost of regular maintenance of the diesel variant is higher than that of its petrol equivalent. Taking all these dynamics into account, the running cost of a petrol car comes to approximately Rs. 4.93/km in comparison to Rs. 9.5/km for the diesel if both the vehicles are run for 15000kms annually. Increasing the annual mileage put on the odometer, the diesel is at par with the petrol variant if and only if a person does a minimum of 45,000kms annually.

 

New Maruti Suzuki Swift Ddis

Low running? Wait for longer to recover costs

Now, it is understandable that an average Indian cannot put 45,000kms on the odometer annually considering the average run of an Indian being around 15,000kms per year. So does that totally rule out the diesel option? Well, no. Reverse calculating the amount of money saved on fuel (See: Case 2) by using a diesel car amounts to Rs. 30,500 annually after deduction of service costs for both the vehicles. Even so, after adding interest on the additional amount paid by a buyer at the time of purchase the diesel would be at par with the petrol variant mid-way through the third year. At the end of the fourth year with an annual running of 15,000kms, the money you would have saved in terms of running costs in a diesel would cover up the extra price you have paid, and you would have saved an extra Rs 9,700 as well. Only at the end of the fifth year do things begin to look rosy for diesels, with around Rs 40,000 saved in running costs over these five years.

What about depreciation?

Alright, so you finally made up the extra amount you spent in the initial invest of a diesel car, but what about depreciation? Assuming that both the variants have been reduced to half their cost after 5 years, you will still be losing more money in depreciation for the diesel, since it was a more expensive buy to start with.

The value of a Rs 4.95 lakh petrol car will be reduced by Rs 2.47 lakh at the end of five years. The value of a Rs 5.85 lakh diesel car on the other hand will be reduced by Rs 2.92 lakh – that’s Rs 45,000 lost straight in depreciation for a diesel.

This is an extreme scenario, we accept. The market dynamics for more-in-demand second hand diesel car space may result in lesser depreciation, and a better resale price. Either ways, the Rs 40,000 that a diesel user may gain after using the car for five years starts looking less rosy once you factor in depreciation as well.

Although, with the price of petrol is as high as Rs. 70/litre, the diesel may seem like a more affordable option, it may not necessarily be so. The diesel starts making economic sense for users who either have a run of 45,000kms annually or those who plan to retain the car for atleast five years or till the time they hit 50,000 kms on the odometer. And for those who have much less travelling to do in a car, the petrol still makes for a better buy.

What about the feel factor?

Although mathematics seem to be in favour of a petrol car unless you plan to retain a diesel for a prolonged period or drive seriously long distances within the first year itself, it is clear that the choice between petrols and diesels also has other angles that must be considered before making that final call.

 
Psychological satisfaction is of utmost importance to an Indian customer; and along with it comes the mental peace of not having to refuel a diesel car every few days unlike the petrol equal which is pretty much perpetually thirsty. But, simply the fact that the diesel needn’t be refueled very frequently doesn’t make it a more economical option. A diesel starts making sense only when you have a run of at least 15,000kms anything less than that and diesel will smartly fool you into feeling richer just because you end up filling fuel less frequently. 

It is not just the thirst for fuel of petrol cars that brings diesel vehicles into the lime light. The numbers before you clearly state, that you should consider buying a diesel only if your monthly run exceeds a 1000 kilometres. In fact our thesis was endorsed by Toyota at the recent launch of the Etios and Liva diesels, where they made it very clear that for a diesel to start looking rosy; one has to run it for nearly 2000kms a month. The numbers are before you, so remember that with a diesel, you would still be paying that extra cash for the first three-four years of running for the satisfaction of driving a diesel. It still is a case of different strokes for different folks, and choice still remains in the hands of the buyer. Hope this article helps you make a more informed one.

Data recovery for free!

Recovering lost data is possible if your system can still detect your hard drive or memory card! CHIP shows you how to retrieve your lost data using a free utility.

   Many people accidentally delete important data and usually, most of them do not know how to retrieve it. There are free utilities available online that can help you rescue your data to a certain extent. We will explain to you how you can recover accidentally deleted or lost data in just four simple steps using a free utility ‘Raid2Raid’ that can be downloaded from ‘http://raid2raid.com’.

Raid2Raid is a powerful utility that not only recovers deleted files, but also reads data from RAID volumes when hard drives in RAID are relocated from one computer to another. Here are four simple steps to recover files from hard drives, flash drives or memory cards. To recover the data from a medium, it needs to be connected and detected by the computer and the primary hard drive where the recovered data will be stored should be larger than the capacity of the data to be rescued.

You can also create an image of the hard drive, particular volume or partition for future analysis. This image is a mirror image of the drive and will be saved as a single file on your hard drive. You can later mount the image and recover more files. The physical hard drive can later be formatted and put to use again.