A long time ago, long before wifi was invented and the World Wide Web was still merely an idea in someone’s head, a contractor built my house. Not knowing this would hinder wireless LAN reception, they used reinforced concrete, and put the cable and telephone connectors in a far corner of the structure. As a result, I now have an upstairs study that’s almost impossible to get to with wires, and where only the best wireless adapters get a decent signal.

To deal with this, I’ve been using an wireless bridge. Strategically placed for best reception, it connects to my wifi, and allows (wired) devices in my office to connect through it. This setup works pretty well, except that the first, rather low-end adapter I got turned out to have some pesky issues. The most irritating being that it lost the wifi password every time the power was disconnected, and had to subsequently be reconfigured. So when DrayTek offered to send me one of their offerings to check out, I jumped at the opportunity.
More DrayTek VigorAP 800

Like most people who know a thing or two about computers, I often get asked to help out friends and family when something’s not working. As long as their questions aren’t about printers I don’t really mind. It can be a real eye-opener to see how even the most basic settings sometimes puzzle users. Especially when it comes to networks.

Most people have no clue as to how the most important box in their network setup works. I thought I’d try to clarify. It’s really not that complex, and it might help you troubleshoot issues should they arise.
More Wireless routers explained