A linear consecutively-connected system consists of N + 2 linear ordered positions. The first position contains a source of a signal and the last one contains a receiver. M statistically independent multistate elements (retransmitters) with different characteristics are to be allocated at the N intermediate positions. The elements provide retransmission of the received signal to the next few positions. Each element can have different states determined by a number of positions that are reached by the signal generated by this element. The probability of each state for any given element depends on the position where it is allocated. The signal retransmission process is associated with delays. The system fails if the signal generated by the source can not reach the receiver within a specified time period. A problem of finding an allocation of the multistate elements that provides the maximal system reliability is formulated. An algorithm based on the universal generating function method is suggested for the system reliability determination. This algorithm can handle cases where any number of multistate elements are allocated in the same position while some positions remain empty. It is shown that such an uneven allocation can provide greater system reliability than an even one. A genetic algorithm is used as an optimization tool in order to solve the optimal element allocation problem.