Hello all
I've operated a wireless network at home for a couple of years now and never needed this group up until now, so please forgive me if I'm asking questions that are common knowledge (I have already checked out Google groups for possible answers, but with no success).
Anyway, the issue is this:
I was able to implement an SMC Barricade (SMC7004AWBR) with an unencrypted
802.11b WLAN from the top shelf in an upstairs room at the front of my house, and was able to get a strong enough signal in the back garden on a Dell laptop with a Belkin PC card (F5D6020u). Proof of concept achieved, I've not bothered using it in the garden since then.In the meantime I temporarily retired said laptop/PC card and implemented
128 bit security on the WLAN. I've also added in an Ethernet network drive, which is connected to the Barricade but sits on the shelf below it.Now that I've started using the WLAN in earnest again I've noticed that I'm getting a poorer link quality, and am having trouble maintaining a link in the room almost directly underneath the router. In fact, the Dell laptop/PC card combo signal strength indicator leaps around all over the place from "Excellent" to "Not Connected" even when it is in the same room as the router (a second laptop, an HP with built-in WLAN capability is ok).
Is encryption giving a poorer signal, or is the presence of another electronic device that is causing problems? Or is it both? Can my particular wireless router have its antenna upgraded to solve this problem? Is there anything else I can do? Physics isn't my strong point - I just want things to work!