Hi Everyone! Just install Linux Mint 17 Qiana Cinnamon on my good old Toshiba Sattalite M55 laptop. I was wondering if I can improve my wifi connection on my laptop. I have a two story house and wondering if the range is bad on my router. But My wifes laptop is a HP with Windows 7 and it works fine downstairs and always has same for may tablet and so on. I checked the Driver manager and its running a "sl-modem-daemon version 2.9.11-20110321-9" Driver. Wifi works fine when I'm upstairs where the router is but bad downstairs. is there a better Driver I can install to improve the connection? Thanks in advance!

Here is my system:

moises-satalitem55
description: Notebook
product: Satellite M55
vendor: TOSHIBA
version: PSM53U-00K008
serial: Y5298560K
width: 32 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.34 dmi-2.34 smp-1.4 smp
configuration: boot=oem-specific chassis=notebook cpus=1 uuid=B77DF256-51BD-11DA-9C59-000FB0A5662A
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: HAZ00/HTW01
vendor: TOSHIBA
physical id: 0
version: Null
serial: 0123456789AB
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: TOSHIBA
physical id: 0
version: V1.10
date: 08/26/2005
size: 100KiB
capacity: 960KiB
capabilities: pci pcmcia pnp upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect int13floppytoshiba int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb smartbattery biosbootspecification
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor 1.60GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 4
bus info: cpu@0
version: 6.13.8
slot: U1
size: 1600MHz
capacity: 2GHz
width: 32 bits
capabilities: boot fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss tm pbe nx bts
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: 5
slot: L1 Cache
size: 32KiB
capacity: 32KiB
capabilities: asynchronous internal write-back
*-cache:1
description: L2 cache
physical id: 6
slot: L2 Cache
size: 1MiB
capacity: 1MiB
capabilities: burst internal write-back
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 12
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 2GiB
*-bank:0
description: DIMM DRAM Synchronous [empty]
physical id: 0
slot: J400
*-bank:1
description: DIMM DRAM Synchronous [empty]
physical id: 1
slot: J401
*-bank:2
description: DIMM DRAM Synchronous
physical id: 2
slot: J501
size: 1GiB
width: 64 bits
*-bank:3
description: DIMM DRAM Synchronous
physical id: 3
slot: J500
size: 1GiB
width: 64 bits
*-pci
description: Host bridge
product: RC410 Host Bridge
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 01
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
configuration: latency=64
*-pci:0
description: PCI bridge
product: RC4xx/RS4xx PCI Bridge [int gfx]
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 1
bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pci normal_decode bus_master cap_list
resources: ioport:9000(size=4096) memory:c0100000-c01fffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: RC410M [Mobility Radeon Xpress 200M]
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 5
bus info: pci@0000:01:05.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pm msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=radeon latency=66 mingnt=8
resources: irq:17 memory:d0000000-dfffffff ioport:9000(size=256) memory:c0100000-c010ffff memory:c0120000-c013ffff
*-pci:1
description: PCI bridge
product: RC4xx/RS4xx PCI Express Port 1
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 4
bus info: pci@0000:00:04.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pm pciexpress msi ht normal_decode bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:40
*-usb:0
description: USB controller
product: IXP SB4x0 USB Host Controller
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 13
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.0
version: 80
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: msi ohci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ohci-pci latency=64
resources: irq:19 memory:c0004000-c0004fff
*-usb:1
description: USB controller
product: IXP SB4x0 USB Host Controller
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 13.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.1
version: 80
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: msi ohci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ohci-pci latency=64
resources: irq:19 memory:c0005000-c0005fff
*-usb:2
description: USB controller
product: IXP SB4x0 USB2 Host Controller
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 13.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.2
version: 80
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pm msi ehci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=64
resources: irq:19 memory:c0006000-c0006fff
*-serial
description: SMBus
product: IXP SB4x0 SMBus Controller
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 14
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.0
version: 81
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
configuration: driver=piix4_smbus latency=0
resources: irq:0 ioport:8400(size=16) memory:c0007000-c00073ff
*-ide
description: IDE interface
product: IXP SB4x0 IDE Controller
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 14.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.1
version: 80
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: ide msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pata_atiixp latency=64
resources: irq:16 ioport:1f0(size=8) ioport:3f6 ioport:170(size=8) ioport:376 ioport:8410(size=16)
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: IXP SB4x0 PCI-ISA Bridge
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 14.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.3
version: 80
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: isa bus_master
configuration: latency=0
*-pci:2
description: PCI bridge
product: IXP SB4x0 PCI-PCI Bridge
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 14.4
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.4
version: 80
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master
resources: ioport:a000(size=4096) memory:c0200000-c02fffff memory:78000000-7bffffff
*-network:0
description: Wireless interface
product: AR2413/AR2414 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5005G(S) 802.11bg]
vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:04:02.0
logical name: wlan0
version: 01
serial: 00:11:f5:b7:29:14
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath5k driverversion=3.13.0-34-generic firmware=N/A ip=192.168.1.103 latency=168 link=yes maxlatency=28 mingnt=10 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
resources: irq:9 memory:c0200000-c020ffff
*-pcmcia
description: CardBus bridge
product: CB1410 Cardbus Controller
vendor: ENE Technology Inc
physical id: 4
bus info: pci@0000:04:04.0
version: 01
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pcmcia bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=yenta_cardbus latency=176 maxlatency=5 mingnt=192
resources: iomemory:780000000-77fffffff irq:16 memory:7c000000-7c000fff ioport:a400(size=256) ioport:a800(size=256) memory:78000000-7bffffff memory:80000000-83ffffff
*-network:1
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 6
bus info: pci@0000:04:06.0
logical name: eth0
version: 10
serial: 00:0f:b0:a5:66:2a
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 100Mbit/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=8139too driverversion=0.9.28 duplex=full ip=192.168.1.120 latency=64 link=yes maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 multicast=yes port=MII speed=100Mbit/s
resources: irq:22 ioport:a000(size=256) memory:c0210000-c02100ff
*-multimedia
description: Multimedia audio controller
product: IXP SB400 AC'97 Audio Controller
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 14.5
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.5
version: 80
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=snd_atiixp latency=64 mingnt=2
resources: irq:17 memory:c0007400-c00074ff
*-communication
description: Modem
product: IXP SB400 AC'97 Modem Controller
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 14.6
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.6
version: 80
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: msi generic bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=snd_atiixp_modem latency=64 mingnt=2
resources: irq:17 memory:c0007800-c00078ff
*-scsi:0
physical id: 1
logical name: scsi0
capabilities: emulated
*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: ST980815A
vendor: Seagate
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: 3.AD
serial: 5LYD2B36
size: 74GiB (80GB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 sectorsize=512 signature=00004536
*-volume:0
description: EXT4 volume
vendor: Linux
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sda1
logical name: /
version: 1.0
serial: 60ca1175-9cd4-40cc-87d2-bee9e74abeac
size: 72GiB
capacity: 72GiB
capabilities: primary bootable journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink extents ext4 ext2 initialized
configuration: created=2014-08-28 08:36:01 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/ modified=2014-09-06 07:26:30 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered mounted=2014-09-06 07:26:31 state=mounted
*-volume:1
description: Extended partition
physical id: 2
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
logical name: /dev/sda2
size: 1917MiB
capacity: 1917MiB
capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
*-logicalvolume
description: Linux swap / Solaris partition
physical id: 5
logical name: /dev/sda5
capacity: 1917MiB
capabilities: nofs
*-scsi:1
physical id: 2
logical name: scsi1
capabilities: emulated
*-cdrom
description: DVD-RAM writer
product: DVD-RAM UJ-841S
vendor: MATSHITA
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom
logical name: /dev/sr0
version: 1.50
capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
*-battery
description: Lithium Ion Battery
product: PA3457U
vendor: TOSHIBA
physical id: 1
version: 08/25/2005
serial: 3658Q
slot: 1st Battery
capacity: 31500mWh
configuration: voltage=14.8V

The "reception" will vary based on the hardware (WiFi antennas) in the laptop. Boosting the output of the router may help, some routers have this capability...

How can i do that?

I have a Cisco Linksys WRT160N V3 ROUTER

Go into the router setup and see if it has an entry for transmit power - some do. Google "boost WiFi signal" and there are a bunch of articles where you may find a solution...

Position and antennas...

You can try to move both the laptop and the router to see if there is any betterment. Antennas, both in the laptop and router are directional; they send and receive better in some directions than others. Don't forget to try the router both lying flat and standing on edge.

If your router has external antennas, you can install some with higher gain, to narrow the spread of transmitted and received radio signals, getting some more range. This, however, makes the position of your devices more critical. Gain is not the same as power. It shapes the signal, and your sending and receiving devices have to be where the signal is concentrated.

If you think you have a good, strong router signal and you still can't get the reception you need, you might consider buying a USB wi-fi dongle for the laptop, one with an external antenna you can play with. Consult the Internet for which ones have a radio chip that work under linux.

For more information try this.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-basics

Hi, is there a better driver I can install?

In general a driver is not going to make WiFi reception better. If the connection is stable when in close-ish proximity to the router than the driver is doing its job correctly. It's more a function of hardware and location - the transmit power of the router, the reception capability of the laptop and the location of each.

Did you do the Google search I recommended?