Networks Wireless Connection Woes...

Hey all,

Just set up my first wireless network in my new student house, and it's just basically rubbish... the setup is a wireless router/modem at the bottom of the stairs, with computers in various places around the house connecting to it. My room, as an example, is at the top of the stairs and I only get 20% signal strength... from about 5 metres away!

The second problem is that we have a 2mb connection, verified by the router, and yet I can only surf and download at about 0.5mb (checked with a speed test).

Here's the information I've got that might be needed to help:

I'm using a Netgear DG834G router, all the computers have Wireless 802.11b/g capability of one kind or another, the signal appears to be poor throughout the house, and the slow internet seems to be a problem whichever computer connects. I've tried assigning myself a static IP on the network, and it's made no difference. I'm using WEP, but I've tested without and the problem stays. All software firewalls are switched off.

Thanks in advance guys, I'm pretty desperate here!

AH