Supercharging Your Linksys Wireless Access Point 168
kwishot writes "Xam over at www.wi2600.org has documented a relatively simple way to 'turn up the juice' on your Linksys WAP11 Wireless Access Point." Caveats: the outlined method requires a Windows box, recent firmware, and (some) bravery, but no going inside the box or special hardware.
Ignorant Legality Question (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ignorant Legality Question (Score:3, Informative)
Generally, the FCC only cares that you are within specified guidelines. I believe (and someone will correct me if I'm wrong here) that the 2.4GHz spectrum is limited in radiated power to 1mW. You can play all kinds of tricks with that by using highly directional antennae, and thus concentrating your 1mW power into one small cone. Or, you can spread the love around and try and radiate the 1mW spherically from a point source (hard to do).
Most of the 802.11b devices don't radiate nearly as much as 1mW. This keeps them well below the FCC specs, and thus out of harm's way. Cranking your radiated power up to the full 1mW is perfectly fine. The caveat, of course, is that now you're sharing your traffic with much more of the planet.
Correction: (Score:5, Informative)
I goofed. The maximum radiated power is set at 1W. Not 1mW. Here's the FCC rules that apply, for those interested:
Re:Ignorant Legality Question (Score:2)
Cable is out. (Score:4, Insightful)
But we are still waiting. Wireless is becoming the new thing, but communities need to respond. But buying these home [and business] wireless products hopefully this will fuel the boom.
Now that my cable service is dropping me when using any P2P service and even newgroups [ahem] I've considered buying a bigger cable/pipe which I can do what I'd like with. Something with more freedom and the abilty to share the access with home I want.
Now, my neighbors on both sides have internet access. One is my granparents whom use a $20 56K service and the others also use broadband [DSL].
I'm completely capable of running mail services, hell even a proxy server. I can do all these things with redhat or debain out of the box. No matter what their needs are I can set up the system.
Hopefully the wireless situation will become one where one could sell access to services. Whether they be a town, city or user group... let's hope wireless plays a big role in delivering a part of the 'last mile' solution.
Although if wireless becomes too much of a 'hobby' then large scale networks may not be seen. Hope we see a balance.
Re:Cable is out. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Cable is out. (Score:1)
Re:Cable is out. (Score:2)
The problem is, I've been on the 'net for a while and it's become second hand. I don't abuse it, or even have an addiction.
But I do realize the strength the internet has, compared to when I first got on. I can go watch "To Kill a Mockingbird" on the web. I can do so many things.
There is great power there and I want to be able to use it. I want to be able to host a web page and share the usage. These lines do exist.
No theft. I want highspeed! My point is, with wireless - a certain group of people could get access. I could share it with my neighbors who are close. No line of sight problems either. We can 'hide' the transmitters in the back of the yard.
We are also lucky enough to have T1 lines in our area [within the mile].
Simply, I want to have on demand access or even no frills access.
SNMP? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:SNMP? (Score:2, Informative)
http://net-snmp.sourceforge.net/
Re:SNMP? (Score:1)
Re:SNMP? (Score:2)
Looking at the MIB, it looks like the application is likely putting the radio in "test mode" to set the output power. So the question becomes, does the new mega-power setting stay once the SNMP manager is killed or the AP power cycled?
The real trick (Score:5, Funny)
The real trick is to get your neighbor to turn up his power so you don't have to buy your own...
Re:The real trick (Score:4, Funny)
Not much of a trick. Just give your next-door neighbor a WAP for Xmas and cancel your own broadband.
Wireless Phone interference (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:1)
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:5, Interesting)
A better hack might be to change the channel on your access point to something on the other end of the spectrum since you phone may not be taking up the entire band (unless it's a DSS phone). Or you might try moving your phone's base station and access point to opposite ends of the house.
PS: Whoever modded this as a troll: what were you thinking?
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:2)
(Anyone wanna buy a Gigaset?
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:2)
I must be lucky I guess.
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:3)
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:1)
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:1)
------------
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:2, Informative)
----
Q. Would another vendor's frequency hopping (FH) equipment sitting next to our direct sequence (DS) equipment have any negative effect?
A. Yes. By its very nature, an FH product hops across the entire band. It will therefore spend time encountering interference from our product and causing interference to our product. There is no way to control where an FH unit will hop. Blocking out the portion of the spectrum that the equipment uses would be a possible solution, but in the United States the FCC does not permit FH devices to limit their hop--they must hop across the whole band.
Q. My WLAN system is seeing interference from a cordless phone. What can I do?
A. Most cordless phones are FH devices, with the potential problems inherent to such products. See the answer above for more information.
If the phone is a DS device and lands on exactly the same channel being used by the Cisco Aironet equipment, and if the phone is close to the equipment and you are using both simultaneously, then you will have problems. Try any or all of the following suggestions:
Change the location of the Access Point and/or the base of the cordless phone.
Switch to channel 1 on the Access Point. If that doesn't work, try channel 11.
Use a remote antenna on the client card if it is a PCI- or ISA-based card and you have that option.
Operate the phone with the antenna lowered, if that is an option.
If all else fails, use a 900-MHz phone instead of a 2.4-GHz phone.
----
If you'd like to read the whole faq check it out at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/102/wlan/radio-f
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:2)
It'd be nice if there had been an industry-wide bootup spec for looking to see if 2.4Ghz channels were in use and picking other channels if they were, or just make everything on 2.4ghz do FH SS.
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:1)
Re:Wireless Phone interference (Score:3, Informative)
I have the same phone (three of them), and working 802.11 (with a Cisco 340, until it died, and then an Airport 'cause my office is close to the apple store...and it looks cool so my wife will let me put it in more "public" parts of hte house).
Try changing the channel you broadcast on, and try the "reduce interference" setting on your iBook. Also if you don't have really good signal before using the phones try moving things around a bit.
Since it boosts the base station, and not your laptop's output, it may not help (you might be able to see it, but it may not see you), also the boost looks kinda small.
I don't think you need to try the hack from a wireless machine, just something with IP access to your WAP base station. Plus while the instructions for the hack are for using a PC tool, it is all done using SNMP, so you can grab some of the SNMP tools for Mac OSX and translate the instructions yourself. It might not buy you much range, but it would be a learning experience...
Re:Wireless Phone interference - A simple Fix... (Score:1)
This only works with 2.5Ghz DSS phones and DSS (802.11b) equipment, you can forget it with a Freq Hopping (FH) phone or networking equipment like proxim sympony/rangelan...they will always conflict.
Re:Wireless Phone interference - A simple Fix... (Score:1)
>and the panasonic you just turn on and watch >your signal strenghth on a station, when it goes >up when phone is on or off and phone is not >staticy...you are golden
should have said:
and the panasonic you just change channels using the channel button and watch your signal strenghth on a station, when it goes up when phone is on or off and phone is not staticy...you are golden
Better range increase.. (Score:5, Informative)
Switching from the linksys card to an Orinoco more than tripled my range! It also made me realize that the linksys router signal _was_ hitting the street (I thought it wasn't reaching my couch with the old card), and enlightened me to "War driving". If your having range problems in your house, it is more likely your card.
Re:Better range increase.. (Score:1)
I replaced it with an Avaya (Lucent,Orinoco,Etc) and I now have incredible range without the massive antennas.
Re:Better range increase.. (Score:1)
Re:Better range increase.. (Score:1)
Up 3 stories in the house the OS X unit gets 80%-90% signal consistantly. The Win98 machine gets about a quarter starting on the second floor.
Re:Better range increase.. (Score:2)
Naaahh, dood. You just gotta get a cell phone antenna booster [mobile-audio.net] and stick one of em on your wireless card. "As seen on TV"!!!
Insightful (Score:2)
Re:Better range increase.. (Score:2)
What was your first clue?
Good for overcoming line losses (Score:5, Informative)
For those that would like to put an 802.11b antenna on their roof without worrying about weatherproofing their access point, this may be just the thing.
Re:Good for overcoming line losses (Score:1)
Where this has real benefit is for bridging applications. I tried doing a 6 mile link with two WAP11's and 24dBi dishes, but it wouldn't work. The increased power on both ends might have been just enough.
Still, it's a great hack (if it doesn't have unintended problems like overheating)!
This is an elementary SNMP set (Score:3, Informative)
No need of the windows executable
Re:This is an elementary SNMP set (Score:1, Interesting)
suggestion?
if you want to set this via the CLI from a unix just run
snmpset 192.168.1.250 private enterprises.410.1.1.8.8.0 s "some14charstring"
the "some14charstring" is the important part
-sv
Re:This is an elementary SNMP set (Score:1, Interesting)
It really makes me wonder... (Score:3, Funny)
"So you tried to up the radio signal of your WAP11 by hacking it to boost the radio signal, and now it won't work? (Hey Bob, we got another one!) What, oh that was nothing sir. Sir, I'm sorry to say your warranty is void. But we do have a sale on the upgraded model right now..."
Re:It really makes me wonder... (Score:1)
etcetera etcetera...
I think these people just love doing what I love doing... taking things apart, putting them back together, and hopefully, not ending up with spare parts at the end.
Re:It really makes me wonder... (Score:1)
*Actually, you still might buy the SMC, but because it has the seriel port and the print server built in.
I've had it with this school, Skinner! Low test scores, class after class of ugly, ugly children...
-- S.I. Chalmers
Re:It really makes me wonder... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It really makes me wonder... (Score:1)
Re:It really makes me wonder... (Score:1)
Rather Clever, Really... (Score:4, Insightful)
Essentially what I'm saying is, you turn up the power on this thing, you don't wanna wear it as a hat. Not that you wanted to do it before, but now you *really* don't want to.
Remember, Linksys is not turning down the power just to spite the geeks out there. I imagine it could easily be a safety issue. Either that, or they had to do it to meet the FCC interference standards. If that's the case, you could have problems with devices that operate in that section of spectrum - I seem to remember something about wireless phone (NOT cellular, *wireless*, as in a base unit, then a detachable handset) working there.
Also, just as a totally useless aside, looking at my handy-dandy (three or so years old) frequency chart I have here, I find it interesting that that portion of spectrum used to be for amateur radio operators. Co-located, perhaps, or did they just take it away from the amateurs altogether?
Re:Rather Clever, Really... (Score:1, Informative)
The jury is still out on prolonged exposure, but I wouldn't want to be near one running even 1 watt for a long period of time.
Re:Rather Clever, Really... (Score:2, Funny)
I can see it now. Admin puts a tweaked WAP11 on his desk and his coffee starts boiling in the cup.
Re:Rather Clever, Really... (Score:2)
In practice, the FCC would probably view that as intentional interference, which is a no-no even if you are licensed for a band. Of course, when sounds like a clear frequency on one of those bands is no doubt well occupied by many signals you can't hear, since they are all so low power. So one could always claim that they were on an open frequency, from what they could hear.
Anyway, so yeah, we can, no we usually don't.
Besides, it would be impossible to even monitor the 902-928 without breaking Newt's law against listening to phone calls.
Re:Rather Clever, Really... (Score:1)
It is still an amateur allocation. I believe part 15 devices (such as wap and cordless phones) are a tertiary allocation.
That band is used by amateurs. As a matter of fact, there was a recent incident involving an apartment building wired for 802.11 that was interfering with some amatuer use of the band. Another reasonb why you don't want to increase your output power without reason. All of this stuff can work together just fine as long as people realize that if 10mW does the job, you don't need to be running 1W of output power.
Excerpt from the ARRL Letter, Volume 20 Number 7 [arrl.org]
FCC QUERIES WIRELESS 'NET PROVIDER ABOUT INTERFERENCE TO HAMS
The FCC has asked a wireless Internet system provider what it intends to do
to eliminate interference to Amateur Radio operations in the Dallas, Texas
area. The FCC wrote Darwin Networks Inc on February 8, 2001, regarding
complaints of harmful interference to Amateur TV on 2.4 GHz that's said to
be a result of the company's deployment of Part 15 devices in an apartment
complex.
Are there similar registers for the pcmcia cards? (Score:2)
pcmcia cards, such at the Wavelan/lucent/orinoco
cards, or the prism II based cards? Open source
drivers would make turning up the heat on these
things easier and might help make some links more
stable.
Re:Are there similar registers for the pcmcia card (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Are there similar registers for the pcmcia card (Score:1)
Leads me to believe there is some software setting in the device driver.
Re:Are there similar registers for the pcmcia card (Score:2)
how can I tweak the FreeBSD wi driver to have an
ioctl to allow me to set them for orinoco cards.
I have a wireless link that is based on FreeBSD boxes and a few extra db is all I need to overcome
the leaves in the summer, and snow storms in the
winter.
Since I control both ends, I can boost the power
symetrically and still be within the FCC guidelines for radiated power (I'm about 10dBi
under the limit if I read the power meter I have
correctly). Yes, I've taken the gain of my
antennas into account. No, I can't buy larger
antennas because 24dBi is the largest that will
mount on my roof.
So I'm left with getting an amp, or having the
cards put out more power. I'd like to avoid an
amp...
bad engineering practice (Score:5, Informative)
A higher gain antenna on the access point would help with both transmit and receive, and this is another option, however, I think that this might be illegal in the US.
Also, it is useful to recall that microwave ovens operate on 2400 MHz because this is the most efficient frequency for heating water. One watt is enough to cause some RF heating and potentially be hazardous to you health. Don't look at the business end of that yagi!
Re:bad engineering practice (Score:2)
Not necessarily true. If most of the traffic is coming from the AP (a typical case since the AP is usually connected to the servers using a wired network), increasing the power on the AP may allow it to use a higher rate (802.11b has rates between 1 and 11 Mbps). The client card could still use a lower rate for the acknowledgements.
This wouldn't necessary increase your range, but it can certainly increase your throughput.
Re:bad engineering practice (Score:1)
The antenna is in roughtly the same space the stock rubber ducky was, but vastly improved my ability to surf while walking down the street.
Re:bad engineering practice (Score:1)
Again this is a neat hack. If you do need the range and it isn't going to interfere with anyone elses use of this band then by all means. But if it does interfere and/or you don't need the range, don't do it. If there is a HAM operator in your area, sooner or later you will be found, cause they use part of that band as well.
not to mention if your range is extended that then the 14 year old down the street can then hack your network from the privacy of their house instead of having to sit outside yours. have fun.
Re:bad engineering practice (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:bad engineering practice (Score:1)
Re:bad engineering practice (Score:2)
Also, it is useful to recall that microwave ovens operate on 2400 MHz because this is the most efficient frequency for heating water. One watt is enough to cause some RF heating and potentially be hazardous to you health. Don't look at the business end of that yagi!
While I don't condone pointing a highly-directional antenna through you to test, 1W is nowhere near the power of even the smallest microwave ovens. I believe my old beastor is a 750W microwave, and the little'uns are 100-150W.
Aside: Having 1W at the output of the RF amp is not the same as what's coming out of that yagi; highly directional antennas focus that 1W into something (potentially) much, much higher. Is that 1W ERP or 1W at the amp? Remember that LED-communications system on /. a week or so ago? by using fresnel lenses the effective optical power was 10kW from a 650mW LED! Directional antennas can do some pretty serious amplification!
Re:bad engineering practice (Score:2)
100mW is still well below the threshold of RF heating. I'd be surprised if even standing in
the beem of the 24dBi dish antennas would be harmful. I know several people that have done so with no ill effects.
But I guess that experience is no substitute for good theory
Other 802.11b improvements (Score:4, Interesting)
Adding WaveLAN Extender - This article [macintouch.com] discusses adding various antennae to base stations to improve their range.
Extending TheAirPort's Range - This article [macintouch.com] discusses some more radical procedures, including some neat stuff with Directional Antennae which allow 802.11b to work as far away as a 57 Kilometers. They also discuss various antennae to add to laptops in order to improve their range.
Fun with Wap11 (Score:4, Interesting)
First, I never did upgrade the firmware to 1.4g5 or 1.4g7, I am running 1.4H3. I guess I should upgrade, but that would require me to actually get the AP next to my PC for the USB connection. The upgrade seems to work OK without the latest rev as long as you can connect via snmp. I think I must have the 1.0 hardware since I got this thing Jan 2001.
Second, I think you can also turn off the SSID on your WAP using these utilities. I have not tried this but perhaps it could help if you are paranoid...
Finally, The main reason I worked on trying to fugure this out is because my wireless network was running very slow. I finally figured out the reason was the wpc11 linksys pcmcia card that I have. If you have one of these cards make sure to DISABLE the PowerSaveMode in your network configuration (in Windows). Your network will now run significantly faster (500K/sec instead of 50K/Sec in my case). Also when exploring in windows use mapped drives instead of unc names. This seems to also help.
Hope that helps, BRian
Re:Fun with Wap11 (Score:2)
Well, at least that's all the problem you had. I put the 1.4f firmware into my WAP11 when I bought it, and the SSID would keep dropping out after a few hours, and come back after power-cycling the unit. Finally, when I demanded a RMA, they send me some newer firmware which fixed the problem.
In the meantime I found a good deal on a v1 AirPort ($200 at Fry's that weekend) so now I have them set up on opposite ends of the house for maximum coverage. Add a DHCP server which knows both my laptop's Ethernet and AirPort MAC addresses, and OS X, which automatically switches over when I plug/unplug the Ethernet, and I've got some sweet networking.
By the way, the hardware in this unit is OEM stuff from Atmel that is also in access points sold by NetGear, AddTron, and others. But LinkSys's version is the best because it has the removable antennas, and they have newer versions of the software available for download. (The v1.3 shipping with all of these brands, even Linksys, is supposed to have some SNMP security problems.)
Second, I think you can also turn off the SSID on your WAP using these utilities. I have not tried this but perhaps it could help if you are paranoid.
I'm just the opposite. I put my e-mail address as the SSID, since this is my home network. Except that Apple's software doesn't like the "@" character in an SSID. I don't have too much to be paranoid about, what with all the WEP-free DHCP-serving access points in my neighborhood being much jucier targets for drive-by spamming.
Turn up the heat too.... (Score:1)
Uh, Why are you paying for an AP anyway? (Score:2)
Get an Intersil Prism2 card and use the Prism 2 AP module to turn your Linux box into an AP.
Re:Uh, Why are you paying for an AP anyway? (Score:2)
I bought 2 sohoware AP's for $75.00 each at best buy. they're on clearance and work great!
downside of the soho ware line. you cant encrypt as it's 24bit only (big deal, I dont encrypt at all, I use my firewall to hand out authentication) and requires a soho card and windows to configure the accesspoint (no config needed tho. open box, turn it on.)
Re:Uh, Why are you paying for an AP anyway? (Score:1)
Re:Uh, Why are you paying for an AP anyway? (Score:1)
Re:Uh, Why are you paying for an AP anyway? (Score:2)
Well, a card is cheaper, but a card, and an adapter and a computer isn't. The access points
are in the $100 range, and the card takes up at least $75 of that. It takes a lot of scrounging to put together a machine with ethernet for $25.
And the access points are a lot more convenient to reset.
And the Linux AP code still has some issues, so
it needs kicking more often than the access points
do (at least that's what people that have used
both tellme, I don't run the Linux AP code).
And an access point takes up less power than the
$25 486 DX + ethernet card + monitor (well, if you
are lucky, you can run serial) that you were able
to scrounge.
MIB hackery (Score:5, Interesting)
enterprises.atmel.atmelmib.atmelSys.TestModeSettin gsGRP.TestModeRadioConfiguration.0 = Hex: CA CA CA CA CA CA C9 C9 C9 C9 C9 C9 C9 C9
Although not in the same configuration as the article describes, this may be due to the fact that I've never upgraded the firmware on the access point I snmpwalk'd this from. Perhaps I should get busy on that....
Any of you people out there with an upgraded firmware, you should try snmpset under Linux or your UNIX of choice and see what kind of results you get... extra points for verifying the change with the Windows stuff in the article.
Numerically, snmptranslate says that the correct field is .1.3.6.1.4.1.410.1.1.8.8.0, assuming I'm using it right (I called it with the commandline snmptranslate -m +ATMEL-MIB -IR enterprises.atmel.atmelmib.atmelSys.TestModeSettin gsGRP.TestModeRadioConfiguration.0.)
Re:MIB hackery (Score:5, Informative)
Nice job Danish. For noobs who just want to juice their WAP11 (192.168.100.250 is the IP addy of the Access Point):
apt-get install snmpsnmpset 192.168.100.250 public
Re:MIB hackery (Score:1)
Power (Score:1)
3dB will result in a signal that is 2 times as strong. So, yes, it is quite a bit more.
When refering to decibels, every 3dB means 2X the power. Just thought I would point that out.
Other APs (Score:1)
802.11b 2.4GHz Pollution (Score:1)
--
The Sphere Guerilla Net [photonsphere.com]
antenna gain is usually better then higher power (Score:1)
You'd be MUCH better off.... (Score:1)
Don't try to mount the antenna remotely; the loss in the transmission line would overrid the gain.
Instead, run ethernet and power to the highest point in your house and put your linksys there.
This method is safe, legal, and it WORKS.
experiences with the WAP11 & linksys card (Score:1)
many thanks to timothy and slashdot for the posting!!
the linksys upgrade to 1.4h3 also worked like a
charm, and fixed all sorts of problems I was
experiencing trying to config the thing.
(client was my one win2k box)
I too have experienced crappy reception with their
PCMCIA cards... not sure why.
lower power levels=better security, oerhaps? (Score:1, Interesting)
Just think...the AP that was suddenly accessible from the road is barely accessible from the front lawn. Maybe you use your AP within a pretty close range etc...lower power levels would be just fine.
The linksys also allows you very fine-grained control over supported data rates etc; experiment with, say, turning off everything except 11mbps and tweaking the power level down one notch up from where you start to see packet loss etc. Tada, maybe now your network that was visible from the street is only visible from the yard or front door. Granted, some antenna-kiddie(ooo, I coined a new term!) is still going to find the AP when he points a directional your way, but oh well...at least it'll maybe discourage the average moron who recides to go driving with his laptop.
Not to mention, if you're nervous about scrambled brain, having the AP at a lower power level might make you feel better, although the card is what is closest to you...
WARNING: I tried this hack... (Score:5, Funny)
802.11 and AMSAT (Score:2)
BEFW11S4: Any Solutions? (Score:2)
What about those of us that have the BEFW11S4, Linksys' Wireless+Router+4-port Switch device? I don't believe these guys have SNMP capability. There might be something in the firmware that could be tweaked. It would take some poking with a hex editor, I suppose... Anyone hacked on this little Linky?
Re:BEFW11S4: Any Solutions? (Score:1)
Re:BEFW11S4: Any Solutions? (Score:2)
I did some poking around. These APs can send SNMP traps but do not have an SNMP server.
Is this really all that impressive? (Score:1)
Think Symmetry (Score:1)
The formal term for the analysis of effective range between two stations is LINK BUDGET. This is influenced by the following:
a) Raw transmitter power
b) Receiver sensitivity
c) Feed losses (e.g. long coax runs)
d) Antenna "gain"
All of these must be factored in to determine the effect on range which may be obtained by altering ANY of them.
The key here is that since both the AP *AND* the client device must be "hearable" by each other, boosting transmitter power on one end and changing nothing else has limited (if any) benefit.
In practice, you may be able to get an appreciable improvement in usable range by boosting the AP's transmitter power, simply because if you're using the wireless link for web surfing, you are receiving (on your client device) much more often than you are transmitting. In actuality, your client device may be re-transmitting those HTTP "GET" messages a number of times before it is heard by the AP, but the effect is inconsequential when the bulk of the traffic is being received by the client device.
Turn it around and try making your laptop a web server and see how "symmetrical" the performance turns out to be...
Pls post FCC ID (Score:1)
I want to look up what transmit power the device is certified for. From that I can answer everyone's questions about whether the FCC cares about this particular hack.
Advice on WAP11 and BEFW11S4? (Score:1)
Man after a whole afternoon of screwing with a WAP11 and a BEFW11s4 (router with 802.11b and 4 port switch) trying to get the WAP to connect in client mode to a BEFW11S4 I never could get it and I don't know when linksys is gonna fix it.
Thankfully Slashdot came to the resuce with something fun for me to try, anybody out there had any luck making a BEFW11S4 more capable? They kinda suck compared to a WAP11 since the WAP11 can be an AP, Client, or Bridge. I've read about using TFTP to download WAP11 firmware onto a BEFW11S4 but I'm a little hesitant... Any advice?
This hack violates FCC certification (Score:1)
This device is certified for only 82 mW of output power. 100 mW is a violation.
So indeed, the FCC will be upset by the hack. In this case it is the license grantee who will get in trouble (global sun technology inc, jung li city, Taiwan) for building a device that users can take out of compliance.
View the FCC license [fcc.gov] for the device if you are interested.
Re:This hack violates FCC certification (Score:2)
Pumped Power Works BOTH Ways (Score:1)
Since the 802.11b radios are TRANSmitting devices - not just emitting or receiving - we can hope the parameter being mucked with controls the receiver's IF amplifier as well as the emitter amplifier.
In that case, the outbound pulses are stronger, AND the weak-kneed inbound pulses are given a kick in the pants before being passed along to the analog and digital processing stages. This increases the odds for analog signal detection and digital network layer traffic.
Keep in mind that cranking an amp also increases the heat generated inside a cramped pcmcia card, translating into either shorter life or the addition of heat sinks and fans. Those who are serious about longer range go with the two way amps from Hyperlink, et al.
d-link anyone? (Score:2)
So... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:useful.... (Score:1)
Re:useful.... (Score:1)
Anyway, Cool, So, CoyoteGuy, are you new?