No aerial router direction

[#1]

A friend has a router similar to these http://community.plus.net/library/hardware/tg582n-information-and-specifications/ . It is fixed flat to a wall. In the direction of the large top surface of the router there is a poor signal.  Is there a internal aerial and does this have the same donut shaped transmission as a normal router antenna?.

[#2]

I don't know the answer to your question but I would question the wisdom of mounting the router on a wall.
In my experience wifi signal strength is reduced if the router is placed too close the a vertical surface. In fact changing the position of a router, some times by only a few inches, can significantly increase or reduce the received signal.
I suggest your friend experiments with different positions for the router.

[#3]

Interesting, mine is mounted on a wall, cable connections downwards and have no problems.
As noted, experiment with different positions/orientation.

[#4]

My researches suggested that the best place is suspended in mid air towards the top of the room to avoid immediate obstructions to the signal - the closer items like walls, furniture and mirrors are to the router the more of the signal will be lost before it has a chance to reach where you would like it to.
Suspect not many Wifi users have their routers dangling from their ceilings  ::), so best to experiment whilst trying to avoid obvious obstacles - apparently wall mounting in the recess between a chimney breast and another wall would be about the worst place to start.

[#5]

mounting on a wall high up shouldn't be an issue at all - providing the router has external directional aerials.
this is the common mounting option for businesses.
however, almost all the "free" supplied routers from ISP don't have external directional aerials - and there lies the issue.

[#6]

Could contemplate using as mirror as a reflector for the antenna...... or not, whatever rocks your boat.
But more seriously, if it's mounted on an internal partition wall (maybe HP's is) then there may not be any real issues unless the plaster board is foil backed.

[#7]

Actually, mine is on an external wall, adjacent to the front door and a few inches above the BT master socket.
Due to there being a sort of small porch/recess for the front door it's at right angles to the front of the house and pretty central.

[#8]

Looking at some pictures of 582n internals, there's one internal antenna on each side (short edge) of the circuit board.
Edit: there's one internal antenna highlighted in this post.
There's pictures of the 582n circuit board here (low res) or http://s6.postimg.org/uhcf2nam9/Superspeed_Technicolor_TG582_N_router_Plusnet.png

[#9]

Thanks. They're clearly not the same as a stick antenna so may have a different transmission pattern. Moving the router is the obvious trial and error solution.

[#10]

If you have a portable WiFi device then downloading a Wifi analyser app will help both with the positioning of the router and possibly changing to a less congested channel.
E.g. (for android devices):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en_GB