How-To Geek

A few possibilities:
1. Question is what protocol your sons PC is using. The most common one today is 802.11g. But that just came out in 2003 and it is possible that your son's PC still runs on the older 802.11b which is a lot slower. But that is easy to fix. Just get a USB dongle for 802.11g (costs around $20 and looks like a USB stick) and plug it into a USB port of your son's PC.
2. Another possibility is the distance from the router. The WRT54G is not a world champion in range. That could be fixed with a Range Booster (sells for $50 to 60) which should be installed about in the middle between the router and your son's PC. Note that walls, furniture, etc. also play a role and can dampen the signal.
3. Move your son closer to the router or the router into a more central location of the house - if you have a telephone outlet that is more central..

This is a matter of trying. The router range is influenced by so many factors (make, model, walls, distance, etc.) that it is difficult to give a general guideline. If you use an "N" router, your chances are a lot better. But then you also need N-dongles for your systems.

If you connect with the WiFi, the distance to the router does not really matter a lot as long as you receive a strong signal. You can even attach to the router with a relatively long ethernet cable (I think 100 meters is the maximum lenght - only a matter of cost). Remember though, for the router setup, you have to be connected with an ethernet cable. But as I suggested before - it is a matter of trying it out. Hard to draw definite conclusions without knowing your exact environment.