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Wireless Networking Hardware

Implementing WiFi in the Real World 237

Posted by timothy from the linksys-wcf11-1500-feet-my-foot dept.
John Jorsett writes "Seduced by the siren song of wireless access throughout the home, many a user has experienced the discrepancy between the manufacturer's advertised claims (150 feet indoors, 300 outside) and real-world implementation (the living room and upstairs bedroom may as well be on different continents). In steely-eyed determination to exercise his inalienable right to network access anywhere on his property, MSN author Paul Boutin hired a Wi-Fi engineer to help him bathe his property in 802.11 waves, using only mass-market consumer hardware."
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Implementing WiFi in the Real World More

Implementing WiFi in the Real World

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  • So wait (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CptChipJew ( 301983 ) * <michaelmiller@gmail . c om> on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:44PM (#6155275) Journal
    This whole time I've been using my Airport network in the fake, alternate-universe world? Freaky.

  • Hmmm (Score:5, Funny)

    by konichiwa ( 216809 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:44PM (#6155278)
    I don't have internet either. Thanks, Paul, I just looked up your address. Who's up for some wardriving?

  • Implementing WiFi in the real world.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by rkz ( 667993 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:47PM (#6155308) Homepage Journal
    This is how to do it in 3 steps:

    1)Buy a Wireless access point [jessops.com]

    2) Plug it into a network.

    3) Visit slashdot to see how you should have done it.

  • In Other News... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:48PM (#6155314)
    "MSN author Paul Boutin hired a Wi-Fi engineer to help him bathe his property in 802.11 waves, using only mass-market consumer hardware."

    Later that month Mr. Boutin's beloved cat, Fluffy, was taken to the vet after sprouting a second tail.

    "It's not all that concerning, no more than this third ear I've grown," said Mr. Boutin of his cat's irregularities.

    • Re:In Other News... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Illserve ( 56215 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:10PM (#6155608)
      Daft enough to say stupid things while trying to sound smart.

      "Set the AirPort up as close to the center of the house as possible, because wireless signal strength fades geometrically with distance."

      Isn't it decreasing exponentially? (x^3)

      And Airports? a "little" more expensive? Crikey I can get b WAP's for $40 or less that are configurable from any platform's web browser and he's blanketing his house with $200 routers that can only be configured by a mac?

      Color me unimpressed.

  • Cartoon (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by BWJones ( 18351 )
    Yeah well, the cartoon referenced in the article does not do justice to OS X. I am running a couple of websites on OS X with one [utah.edu] running on a little old G3 iMac that now has around 80 days of uptime. I never have to touch the thing and it is solid and stable as a rock.

  • He's sooooo fired (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:48PM (#6155326)
    MSN author Paul Boutin decides apple makes the best products
    • No, I think this was to show us how much of a hard-core geek he was who doesn't pledge allegiance to any corporate entities. We can tell he's hard-core from the following statement:

      "Jazzed on too much caffeine, we did this to ourselves..."

      Obviously, anyone crazy enough to go out and get "jazzed" on caffeine of all things should be taken as seriously as we would take Linus himself.

    • No kidding. (Score:5, Funny)

      by NoData ( 9132 ) <<moc.oohay> <ta> <_ataDoN_>> on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:13PM (#6155634)

      And what stoopid trade-off he's proposing. Sure, Airport stations can be both AP's and bridges. But, as he notes...

      There's only one major caveat on the AirPort: You'll need a Mac to configure it. Since you'll only need to do this once, though, it's not a big problem. Only a small percentage of us own an Apple computer, but we all know someone who does and never stops reminding us. Not only will your Mac Buddy come over and set up your AirPorts, he'll be hurt if you don't let him. Go ahead, ask him and see.

      WTF?! What kind of trade-off is this for a PC owner? Thanks, Paul, you saved me from (gasp!) buying two kinds of hardware, but now I have to call my smug "Mac Buddy" over every time I want to manage it. AND, this smug Mac Buddy of mine has administrative rights on my LAN. I better stop calling him smug.

      Airport is great, Macs are great, but this is a horrible solution for the mission he set up for himself: Propose the dead-simplest full-coverage wireless home network for your average (i.e. Windows-using) person.

  • "wi-fi engineer" ? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:48PM (#6155332)
    MSN author Paul Boutin hired a Wi-Fi engineer

    Even my mom was able to setup her 802.11b card to use my access card. Are Microsoft employees that daft ?

  • Reinventing the wheel (Score:5, Funny)

    by mao che minh ( 611166 ) * on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:49PM (#6155336) Journal
    Getting an engineer to come and help? A few Pringles cans would have been a heck of a lot cheaper. Geez, those Microsoft guys, always reinventing the wheel.

    • Re:Reinventing the wheel (Score:5, Funny)

      by FosterKanig ( 645454 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:59PM (#6155490)
      Plus with the Pringles, you get a snack,
      plus the joy of taking two pringles, turning one upside down, sticking them part way into your mouth, and imitating Donald Duck.
    • Even if you ignore the fact that he was claiming to want to use only off the shelf equipment, geez! The article has NO CONTENT of any importance. He could have summarized it in 5 words: buy lots of airport WAPs.
      • Yeah, you're right. It's like an article titled "unhappy with your toaster's capacity?" and then reading on to find that the article tells you to buy a new more expensive toaster, heck buy five of them!
        Does anyone have any real data on the problem at hand here? Are there any companies that are bold enough to put real ranges (ie. 30 to 100 ft. for decent signal strength) on their product spec sheets?
        My apartment has a lot of EMF noise and the only unit I am able to get even a low signal out of is a
    • Pringles cans work great for unidirectional. I'm going to go out on a limb here and gues that he didn't try a cheaper alternative like maybe An apple approved omnidirectional high gain antenna for the AirPort Extreme [apple.com]. At half the cost of an extra AirPort, I would think it a pretty good deal.

  • Has the world gone topsy-turvy? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kaz Riprock ( 590115 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:49PM (#6155337)

    A Slate article advocating the purchase of AirPort Extreme??

    How long until this guy gets 86'ed?

    In the meantime, I think he's got a great point. We use Airports in and around our department at my university because a) educational discount and b) easily extendable whenever a new hall would like to be added to the network of base stations.
  • Next time I'll bring my coffee to his house to warm it up in the morning.
    • I know this is meant as funny, but even with a 24Db 4 foot dish antenna you still can't feel the energy from a 11b radio, it's still under 8 watts or about the same a a high power CB (5 watt max), and about 100X weaker then even a cheap microwave.

  • Range (Score:5, Funny)

    by ka9dgx ( 72702 ) * on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:51PM (#6155364) Homepage Journal
    I've never had an issue with range on WiFi... now if I had one the the Apple Titanium Faraday Cage laptops, then things might be different. I get 150 feet, through walls, downstairs even.

    --Mike--

    • I don't know what it is, but the walls of my house seem to be nearly as effective as steel plating in blocking WiFi. I can't get 30 feet away from my WAP if there's a wall in the way. So I sympathize with this guy. However, I'm not going out and buying hardware that I have to have a Mac to configure. I'll have to wait for the article that deals with practical mass-market hardware.
      • I've got the same issue, I live near a naval weapons station and apparently they use most of those frequencies as part of some internal system...I just have to deal with it. The answer was of course a trip under the house and some gigbit ether to all the rooms. Not quite the portable I wanted but at least it stays connected, and thru-put of 100mbs is really nice.

      • Re:Range (Score:4, Interesting)

        by afidel ( 530433 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:35PM (#6155850)
        Chances are you have metal mesh backed plaster or plasterboard. This is common in some parts of the country and acts as a faraday cage. btw the numbers listed are always in an open space such as a cubicle farm devoid of cubicle walls, no manufacturer will make claims about any other environment. Also the airport has configuration programs written in java and native version for linux and windows as well so unlike what the author claims you do not need a mac to configure it.
    • I was thinking the same. Multiple access points?

      Sheesh, how big is that house? Is he on a frickin' farm?!?

      In my 2-bedroom, 2-bath palace I have plenty of power for myself, my neighbors, the guy across the alley, the bum down the street...

    • Range problems debunked (Score:5, Informative)

      by _avs_007 ( 459738 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @09:25PM (#6157345)
      802.11b/g:

      If you have a Linksys 802.11 b/g router (WRT54G), then you have boughten a piece of crap. No seriously, that router has terrible range. I should know, I used to have one. I verified on the net, that is was the case. I exchanged it for a Netgear WGR614, which uses an Intersil PrismGT chipset, and my coworker bought the DLink variety, which also uses the Intersil PrismGT chipset. It gets MUCH MUCH better range.

      With an Intel 802.11b gateway that I used to have, I would get -65db signal in my master bedroom, and XP would report VeryGood connection. With the Linksys G router, I got -77db, and XP reported Poor signal connection. When I connected the Netgear G router, I got -57db and XP reported Excellent signal strength. I borrowed a friends signal booster, and connected it to the linksys, and found it to be useless.

      I ran NetIQ and did some through-put tests. With the Linksys, I got 17mbit/sec when I was in mixed mode, and 20mbit/sec in G only. On the netgear, I always got 21mbit/sec. With the 802.11b, I got 4.5mbit/sec...

      802.11a:

      With an AP based on the Atheros 5000 chipset, I got crappy signal at our work. Thanks to Tomshardware, I bought a Netgear WAB102, which is the ONLY A/B dualband AP that uses the second generation A, (Atheros 5001) chipset. This thing is awesome. At our work, its coverage actually exceeds that of B.

      At home, I get -59 to -65db in the master bedroom on A. However, the cool thing is the throughput. In non-turbo mode, I get a constant 24mbit/sec in the master bedroom. On the G router, it seemed to be more sensitive to the signal strength, as it would always connect at 36mbit/sec or 48mbit/sec, consequently, I only get 21mbit/sec throughput if I was in the computer room. In my bedroom I got between 14-18mbit/sec.

      With A however, I got 24. And I enabled Turbo mode, and it connected at 108mbit/sec, and I measured a constant 35-40mbit/sec everywhere in the house! and thats a two story house, with the AP upstairs.

      Keep in mind the "b" radio in the Netgear WAB102 is a piece of crap Atmel chipset. Everytime I "accidently" rest my arm on my card, I lose connectivity. I found my Prism2/Prism3 cards would go into 1mbit/sec mode, and never recover, unless I unplug the card, and plug it back in. The A radio in it on the otherhand is truly awesome.

      In the end, I returned my G router, and kept the Netgear WAB102 dual band A/B, and reconnected my Intel gateway for the B, and use Netgear for A.

      Atheros has an white paper [atheros.com] they posted talking about range and such of A and B, and testing results in an actual home environment and corp environment. Its rather interesting. I verified it myself at our office here with my own testing with various A and B equipment along with Netstumbler and NetIQ, and it is truly suprising.

      So anyways, most range problems can be attributed to a shoddy AP, not the "technology". I mean, I've tested the Netgear WAB102, Netgear WGR614, Linksys WRT54G, Linksys WAP54G, Intel ProWireless 5000AP, Intel Gateway, DLink DI-624, and the Linksys BEFW11S4. I tested with Orinoco Silver, Linksys WPC11V3, Linksys WPC54G, Linksys WPC55AG(my fav card), Cisco Aironet 350, Linksys WUSB11 v2.6, and assorted generic Prism2 cards, so I can safely say I know what I'm talking about ;)

      (I work in a lab and have lots of wireless toys, if you guys can't tell :)

  • uhh...right (Score:3, Funny)

    by Connie_Lingus ( 317691 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:51PM (#6155380) Homepage
    The first time you dispose of a tedious backlog of e-mail while kicking back in your favorite lawn chair...

    Just make sure that your kids don't decide to COWABUNGA all over you and your pricey laptop...

  • only product? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by DarkSkiesAhead ( 562955 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:52PM (#6155392)

    setting up multiple Wi-Fi bases ... all had to be the same model ... had to be mass-market consumer hardware ... The only product that met our needs was Apple's AirPort Extreme base station.
    This jump in logic baffles me. Those aren't exactly difficult standards to meet. Wouldn't any old Linksys wifi router suffice for mass-market? Why exactly would it be difficult to have multiple instances of the "same model"? The author doesn't jutsify the choice or even explain any of the differences between Apple's product or anyone elses.

  • a great plan! (for his neighbors) (Score:5, Funny)

    by macsox ( 236590 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:53PM (#6155399) Journal
    i know this will be beaten to death, but it really is great to be able to cancel your DSL service after a neighbor leaves his wifi unencrypted.

    when my phone service was dropped, i threw a d-link access point on the back fence and ran a 50' ethernet cable in through the back window. thanks Laura'sP4! i appreciate your having broadband and a linsys router!

    and thanks mr. boutin for not mentioning WEP encryption!
  • Everytime I have grabbed my checkbook, and gotten ready to head out for wireless...the articles say "in a few months_____________", the new standard, the longer range, etc. is going to come out, and render my purchase just foolish, and I will be so embarassed I didn't wait.

    Gee - If he had waited until "this summer" when the new .g standard is ratified, I'm sure one WAP for only $199 would cover his whole house, and garage and his patio too.

    But, the one coming out after that....

  • Irradiation (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:54PM (#6155419)
    to help him bathe his property in 802.11 waves

    How many hits per second during a typical slashdotting session again ? Poor Paul Bouttin must have received a good dose of radiation by now.

    Paul, the iodine pills are in your left drawer. Good luck buddy !

  • Speaking as a Mac Boy ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by burgburgburg ( 574866 ) <splisken06@@@email...com> on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:55PM (#6155432)
    I'm completely unwilling to come over to his house and configure his AirPort Extreme until he works on that attitude. Looking askance at hardware/software that just works: let him use solutions through his corporate overlord.
  • There are much cheaper bases and access points that will accomplish this for you (linksys, dlink) and they dont require you to find someone with a mac (surprisingly I dont know someone with a mac laptop). His solution of 'it doesnt reach? spend $200 more!' isnt very adequate for a typical home user

  • Actually, I've got 2 airports at my house (Score:5, Informative)

    by azav ( 469988 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:55PM (#6155443) Homepage Journal
    I've got an extreme near the front of the house and an old graphite in the bedroom.

    The nice option about the airport is it will let more than one airport act as the same network - so when I walk from the back to the front of my house, I'm not switching from network 1 to network 2. I know it says it in the article but it's nice to see in action.

    FWIW, bathroom tiles are bad for range and for some reason, I have trouble connecting one room away with my tibook unless it is turned just right.
  • ...I really think Mom and Pop are going to find it SO easy to get an Apple and set up their Airport! Especially if it's broadcasting to PCs
    instead of Macs!

    Really though, why on earth would anybody waste their time doing this? Sure the Airport is good, BUT spend less time, buy a Linksys or a DLink or a Cisco or something, plug it in, plug some wireless cards into the computers, turn it on, and let the wireless router and software do the rest!

    Man.. I wonder if this guy gets paid more than I do! *grin*

  • Need a Mac for an AirPort? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by steveha ( 103154 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @05:59PM (#6155493) Homepage
    The article says that to configure an Airport, you need a Mac.

    Really?

    Every firewall/router I have used, including the ones that have 802.11b features, are configured using any web browser. Is it really true that Apple did something different, which requires a Mac?

    If so: I suggest you buy a Netgear instead.

    steveha

  • hmm (Score:5, Funny)

    by deadsaijinx* ( 637410 ) <animemeken@hotmail.com> on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:01PM (#6155510) Homepage
    "Paul Boutin hired a Wi-Fi engineer to help him bathe"

    taking things out of context is always more fun than adding insightful comments
    • How do you know that that Wi-Fi engineer isn't a bombshell blond geek girl? I mean, why else would he want the laptop by the pool? To hookup his webcam. Duh.
      • tell ya what, when you run into a hot blond engineer, you tell me.

        Naturally, I don't expect to be hearing from you anytime soon.
        • tell ya what, when you run into a hot blond engineer, you tell me.

          I knew one a number of years ago. However, she thought she was God's gift to engineers.

          I worked with another a few years ago. A nice lady, but way too young for me (unless I wanted a trophy wife).

      • How do you know that that Wi-Fi engineer isn't a bombshell blond geek girl?

        We just do.

  • Marginal article for Mac users, but the bigger question is what's it like out there for PC users, especially Linux driver support? I've got a mix of Windows and Linux boxes at home, and am fearful that WiFi cards aren't going to have much support yet in the Linux platforms.

    • Re:Uhhhhh....great (Score:3, Interesting)

      by afidel ( 530433 )
      buy Cisco cards, they cost a bit more but they will have drivers for their 11a and 11g stuff eventually and already have it for their 11b cards. They have a person dedicated to linux development including drivers and support software for their LEAP secure authentication system.

  • BS (Score:2, Informative)

    by ejdmoo ( 193585 )
    "Most important, it's the only home consumer base that flaunts its support for the Wireless Distribution System, which knits multiple access points together to act as a single network. An AirPort base plugged into the DSL or cable modem can bridge to up to four additional AirPorts, nearly doubling the network's wireless reach in four directions at once. Even better, the method lets you put an AirPort right in the room with you, rather than trying to beam the connection through a wall. This approach vastly r
    • My father has a three-year-old, original model, Apple airport base station sitting in the basement. Not only does it cover the entire house, but it reaches all the way out to the garage. Is your house unusually large or something?

  • Wi-Fi for dummies? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by El_Smack ( 267329 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:05PM (#6155551)

    $650 so I can surf from poolside? I'll take a 75 ft. patch cord and a window that is open 1/2 inch, thank you very much. No new NIC required, either. And don't even get me started on Wi-Fi security.

    This article really illustrates how far Wi-Fi has to go before it's widely and *easily* adopted by consumers.
    • My X-terminal really gums up a wifi connection, if the connection is working at all.

      Diagnosing Wifi is voodoo some days. The funny part is 9 times out of 10 it's my damn card. (I don't suspect the Linux drivers, because windows with the same card is every bit as bad.) I more or less stay in patch cable range if possible. Wireless is a great frill if it works.

    • Yeah, Wi-Fi certainly hasn't archieved any sort of widespread adoption.

      Oh, except the other day I went "wardriving" and picked up about ten access points in twenty minutes. With an early model PowerBook G4, which has very substandard wireless reception. With no external antenna. In a small midwestern city of fifty thousand people.

      Too bad about that Wi-Fi. It sure would be nice if it ever caught on.
  • If I get a cheap wireless pci card and throw that in an already networked machine would I be able to connect to the net through that with a wireless pcmcia card in my laptop?
    • I should think so. I think you'll just need to set up a software basestation.

      This is what I'm planning when I get a desktop mac, you can set up Airport as a software basestation to share internet connection etc.. .
      I think there are some loss in functionality though and range - but I haven't tried it yet. That said, peer-to-peer ad-hoc networks seem to perform adequately when connecting to other airport enabled macs.

      Going off-topic here, but woa, I have just discovered live spell checking in forms withi

  • And he still didn't do itby the optimal method (Score:5, Informative)

    by Realistic_Dragon ( 655151 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:13PM (#6155640) Homepage
    All the nodes on my WiFi network talk in ad-hoc mode, using Mobile Mesh [mitre.org] for routing (including the Zaurus). Traffic is then encrypted with IPSec and authenticated against my LDAP server.

    As a result as long as I am in range of any one of my nodes (not a difficult thing in this house) I get a good signal - the cloud covers most of the garden too. And all without dropping a bundle on network engineers, antennas, amplifers or anything else.

    But then again what do you expect of someone who works for MSN? Routing? Isn't that the thing you do with some kind of workmans tool?
    • I noted the following in their Routing Protocol [mitre.org] link:

      The Mobile Mesh Routing Protocol (MMRP) is a robust, scalable, andefficient mobile adhoc routing protocol based upon the "link state" approach. A node periodically broadcasts its own Link State Packet (LSP) on each interface participating in the protocol. LSP's are relayed by nodes, thus allowing each node to have full topology nformation for the entire adhoc network. From its topology database, a node is able to compute least cost unicast routes to all

  • There's a much cheaper way to do this.... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Newer Guy ( 520108 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:14PM (#6155660)
    D-Link makes the WAP-900+ access point. Cool thing about it is that it can be used as a wireless repeater. I bought one on sale for 69 bucks a few weeks ago. Two of these and a D-Link DI-614+ wireless router ($49 bucks after rebate). would have done the same thing he did for less then the cost of one Airport. Plus you don't need an Apple computer to configure it (any web browser will do).
    • Have you gotten this to work yet?

      I picked up a 900+ a while ago to see what it would do, in the hopes of filling in some bad coverage areas. First I found out it only does repeater mode with one specific other model, the 614+, but not any other kind of AP. Screwey proprietary protocol, not debugged at all. Fortunately I have a 614+.

      First we had all kinds of problems getting it to stay configured, and we never were able to get the 900+ to run a full 24 hours without a problem. Reading the support sites, th

  • he hired wha?? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Lumpy ( 12016 )
    This explain's alot. ANYONE with any technical skill can set up a WiFi net to completely cover their property. It's not difficult except for those that have low IQ when it comes to technical things like engineering or computers.

    Hell I spent Tons less than he did, got the same result, 100% coverage.. AND has better security than he does.

    It's just another example of someone who is rich spending money like water... no need to even pay attention to it. Now when he actually become innovative, Let me know.

  • Lead Paint (Score:2, Insightful)

    by butane_bob2003 ( 632007 )
    I bet people have the best results in wood framed, drywalled houses. Does anyone know if lead paint and pressed steel fabrication has a negative effect on wi fi signals?

  • PCMCIA vs. integrated adapter (Score:3, Informative)

    by eyegone ( 644831 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:30PM (#6155796)
    I first set up my home wireless network with a SMC2632W PC Card adapter. It quickly became obvious that one access point (SMC2655W) wasn't going to cover my 2100 square foot house, so I set up one access point in my study at the front of the house and another in the laundry room at the rear.

    Flash forward a year or so, and my employer issued me a spiffy new ThinkPad T30 with an integrated (MiniPCI actually) Cisco Aironet 350 adapter. This adapter uses an antenna that's actually built into the laptop, and what a difference!

    There's no question that I could get by with a single access point now. I see 67% signal strength when the adapter is associated with the access point at the other end of the house -- 70 feet away, through four or five walls. In fact, I had a terrible time getting Windows XP to associate with my secured network; it kept associating the adapter with my neighbors unsecured network. (I've promised myself that I'll tell them about this if they ever kill the dandelions in their yard.)

    This really isn't surprising when you consider that the PCMCIA adapter has to cram its antenna into the small portion of the card that sticks out of the laptop, while the integrated adapter gets to use an antenna that runs throughout the laptop.
  • That he needs three WAPs to cover it. I have my ONE WAP on one end of my house (the computer room) it covers all of my 2000 sq ft house, plus all of my neighbors house on that side (Ok, I don't know about the other neighbor, haven't been in his house), down the street.

    It could be the reason that it takes 3 Airports is suboptimal use, rather than just buying a single Linksys WAP and not having any problems.

    An interesting view from the Airport knowledge article that was pointed too was they all had to be

  • a good antenna is key (Score:5, Informative)

    by puzzled ( 12525 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:35PM (#6155849) Journal
    The 'duck' antennas that come on Linksys APs are 2.2dBi - they pretty much radiate in a flattened bubble shape.

    If you replace the 2.2 dBi duck with an external 8.2dB omnidirectional antenna you'll have something roughly twice as tall that will put four times as much energy where you need it ... think of its pattern as more of a fluffy pancake shape rather than the slightly flattened ball pattern you get with a low gain duck.

    I live in an old house with solid wood doors. My desktop provides an adhoc network for my laptop in my room. If either my bedroom door or the office door is open it works with a duck, if they're both closed I get no signal. I had a 17dB panel and the appropriate cable - using this put 32x the energy where I needed it and I get solid connections with both doors closed.

    I previously lived in a newer split level. The AP was at one end of the house in the basement, my room was all the way at the other end on the second floor. A 30mw Linksys with a duck was just useless, but adding a 12dB Cushcraft 90 degree sector gave excellent service all over the house.

  • Use a Directional Antenna (Score:3, Informative)

    by EvilTwinSkippy ( 112490 ) <{yoda} {at} {etoyoc.com}> on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:39PM (#6155890) Homepage Journal
    The Linksys Access points (an undoubtedly many others) have external antennal mounts. The factory antennas are designed to give you a fairly even sphere of coverage.

    Now, antennas of various design can give you different shapes. If you are trying to fill an area that is all roughly on the same elevation, use a Higher gain (aroung 8-10db) omnidirectional antenna. If you are setting an access point up in one corner of the property, buy a directional antenna to fill in only the areas you are trying to cover.

    In this way you are effectively boosting the output of the equipment without introducing extra noise, or bringing the FCC to your door.

    The hard part is interfacing the access point to the external antennas. The back of my linksys's have a reverse-TNC connector. Most aftermarket antennas use the ham-radio style N-type connectors. After a bit of scouring I found an outfit that actually sells the pigtail I needed.

    The antennas were from an outfit in Canada called "Superpass". They have a great website with the radiation patterns, but their market is someone buying a messload at a time. I forget where I got the pigtail, but I could probably find it again if asked.

  • Yes, he's dummy (Score:3, Informative)

    by gallir ( 171727 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @06:55PM (#6156093) Homepage
    With a 200mW Senao, Linux and your own antenna [bulmalug.net] (just in case you don't want to spend more money) you can cover your entire house, even if you have 400 square meters (a quarter a of beisbol stadium, in American standard :) and five walls in between.

    Cheap APs have 100 mW or less, and very bad antennas (less de 1 dBi). Nevertheless, a 100 mW card plus a short 2 dBi omni antenna is enough to cover a medium-to-big flat, assuming that the stations' antennas are still internal.

    By the way, the Apple Base Station Antena is crap, it only gives good coverage if you have all the stations' antennas at the same level/height, otherwise better to turn the base station on its side or hang it in the wall.

  • See Tom's Hardware [tomshardware.com] for an article on D-Link's Repeating WAP.
  • Adding an external antenna to your notebook's WiFi card helps too. This one [hyperlinktech.com] works well for me and it's not too obtrusive. The antennas on my APs were good enough for my purposes so I left them alone.

    BTW, if anyone has an ORiNOCO WiFi card and is wonder why it works great under Linux but craps out periodically on WinXP SP1, this Microsoft patch [microsoft.com] is likely the culprit. If you stop the Wireless Zero Configuration service after you boot up it'll work around the problem, but it's best to not install the patch
  • They spent, what? $600.00? You could have done this all with a d-link 614+ router for $79.99 and two DWL-900AP+ Access Points (set in Wireless Repeater mode) for $79.99 each. Sure, I wouldn't be 802.11g, but with the d-links you can still get 22mbps (faster then your cable/dsl line by a lot) and you only paid $240.00 to set yours up.

    Of course, D-Link makes just about the only inexpensive router that will work as a Wireless Repeater. I expect other companies to follow suit though.
  • Most important, it's the only home consumer base that flaunts its support for the Wireless Distribution System, which knits multiple access points together to act as a single network.

    Not true. D-Link sells a wireless access point that can act as a repeater [dlink.com]. I think other vendors do, too. And their access points are web configurable.

    There's only one major caveat on the AirPort: You'll need a Mac to configure it.

    Not true either. There are third party utilities for configuring the AirPort from other
  • It would seem like you could probably get a lot more distance off of Wi-Fi stuff if you just cut away some of the plastic casing covering the antennas.

    I've noticed that a lot of the usb style wireless adapters are basically something the size of an egg stuck in a plastic container the size of a kleenex box. All that plastic can't be good for the reception.
  • Crudely, the higher the better.

    If you buy an AP with an external antenna connector you can buy or build antennas with a wide range of transmission patterns.

    If you really want to get geeky, putting conductive objects near the antenna can do useful things (or make things worse). Your friendly neighborhood ham radio operator might be willing to talk your ear off on the subject.
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