7800N poor WiFi range

[NewBillion]

Hey Jeremy,
How are you measuring the Wifi coverage?
Or put it another way, how do you determine that your wifi coverage is really bad?

Something to note which caught me out...
I bought a 7800N a couple of days ago to replace a router which stopped working.
I was measuring the wifi coverage using the "Wifi Analyzer" app on an Android phone.
The coverage it was reporting was really bad.
Eg. -45 DBm right beside the router. -80 DBm a couple of rooms away.
And Broadband download speed tests dropped from 4M to 1M when -80DBm was reported

I played around with all the router settings, turned off all electrical equipment in my house etc
Nothing made any difference

I then installed a Wifi analyzer on my laptop (Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector)
It reported -20 DBm beside the router. -55 DBm was the worst I found anywhere in the house.
This was a Huge difference vs what my Phone was reporting at the time (-45DBm and -80DBm)
I double checked everything on a second laptop.

So looks like my phone has an inferior Wifi Receiver, which distorts the wifi coverage figures.
And there is no problem with my 7800N

[frelesxy]

How do I find out the wifi password for my virgin broadband? My friend has virgin broadband, and a WiFi network, but it has a password on it? We've looked for codes on the little box by the computer, she read them all out and I typed them in, but it said incorrect password. There was lots of codes on this little box, but none worked. Where do I find the WiFi pass code?
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[billion_fan]

How do I find out the wifi password for my virgin broadband? My friend has virgin broadband, and a WiFi network, but it has a password on it? We've looked for codes on the little box by the computer, she read them all out and I typed them in, but it said incorrect password. There was lots of codes on this little box, but none worked. Where do I find the WiFi pass code?

If you friend is using a Billion router, you should be able to login to the routers configuration page http://192.168.1.254
Use the username 'admin' and password 'admin' to login.

Once logged in, click on 'WLAN' on the left hand column, here you should find the security password set to your router, if you are using WPA, the key will be in the 'WPA Shared Key' section.

I hope this helps.

[Stevenrw]

frelesxy - do you mean the password to access the wifi signal? When you want to connect to a secure wifi network (shown with a small padlock symbol) you will be prompted for a key (password). This is not the same as the router which is quite often "admin" fo the username and again "admin" for the password.
All the stuff that Billion_fan set out above is right. Just to add a bit more info to what Billion_fan set out,
The security code for the domestic wifi network is one you set yourself. It certainly won't be on the router box.Your friend will have set up the password herself.I don't think there is any way you can find this out as it is just a local password. Sometimes people put in their full phone number. Maybe she has a "pet" password that she uses for other stuff.
Open a browser window and type http://192.168.1.254 - in the dialog box that opens up enter admin for both the username and password. This will get you into the router configuration pages.
Click on "Advanced" in the left column and then "Configuration". Under "LAN" about halfway down you will see Wireless security. Click on this and you'll get what ever security system your friend set up. Below the security mode on the right panel you'll see the "Shared Key" - this is the password that you need to enter to connect to the wifi network.
Other manufacturers will be slightly different but similar in principle.

[Tomken]

There is one more password to consider and that is Virgin's Broadband password (if it's the same as TalkTalk's setup), which would have come with Virgin's documentation and is needed when initially setting up any non-ISP supplied router.

With TalkTalk, you simply log into your account and there is provision to change it to whatever you like. Does Virgin have a similar setup and if not, they must have have a procedure upon phone contact, for those who have forgotten or lost theirs'.