Lynksys really sucks. They should upgrad hardware for free

It seems that everyone is having connectivity problems. WAG 54 G is advertised as having up to 300 feet ie 100meters rang. I am less than 35 feet away and am having very similar probles to what are being reported here. widely fluctuating signal strength and trnsmission rates. They should upgrad hardware for free

Tom

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Tom
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reported

They

I have a WAP54G and its very solid, nobody seems to consider the fact that it could be the wireless adapter, it is the weakest point in the link with its itsy bitsy antenna. A good wireless card is worth spending the extra bucks on. I spend more money on my card than my wap54g. Not saying that some of linksys products arent marginal....but its only half the equasion.

Reply to
Airhead

*shrug*. You've just discovered a sad fact about wireless - the quoted 100m is in clear air, line-of-sight, no obstructions. Outdoors. Indoors, with obstructions, walls, ceilings, windows, trees etc, its much much less.

This isn't linksys' fault per se, its just how radio works. For example my own SMC can reach ~50ft through my house, but the signal after ~40ft is hopeless. My Actiontec can reach 150ft but its attached to the rear wall of my house, ie in open air.

You can generally improve matters by fitting an external aerial to your AP, or by relocating it. Get it as high as possible, and ensure that where you want signal has as few obstructions as possible in the way, especially thick things like chimney pieces.

Reply to
Mark McIntyre

May be... may be not! At 2.4 GHz you really can't be sure where it's going. It could, for example, be bouncing off the metal roof top. It could also be going out the wall, bouncing off the metal wall of the building next door, and coming back in through the wall.

The problem with these little devices is that 4 inches is a

*significant* distance to a 2.4 GHz signal. If the antenna is within perhaps 8 inches of any metal objects (for example the case of your computer!) the metal will distort the pattern of the antenna. At 2-4 inches it will *greatly* distort it. You can't compare two units unless you alternately set them in *exactly* the same place for testing.

Generally speaking all of these devices are using about the same power output and have about the same receivee sensitivity. Hence with problems such as you describe it is usually profitable to reorient the antenna. It may be that (if the signal is in fact bouncing off some parts of the building) tilting the antenna will help. Or just moving the computer to a different place, even just a few inches away.

The chances are fairly good that just about any two units will work within the same room, but once the distances exceed a few feet and things like loss through walls and reflections from other objects start becoming significant, there is simply no guarantee that a decent signal will exist. That is especially true when using minimal antennas such as those built into laptops, though even the typical little rubber ducky sold with most units is not that great. The answer of course is a separate, more efficient, antenna.

Typically the best place to start is with the unit serving as an AP. Buy a "pig tail" that converts from whatever connector type is on the unit to an "N Connector". Then buy a short length of low lost cable with N connectors on each end (male or female, depending on what is being connected to), and purchase some sort of higher gain antenna. Locate it in a more optimum place than where the AP physicall sits. (But avoid long lengths of cable, because even the best cable involves a certain amount of loss.)

Another trick that may or may not work is a "passive repeater"! If, for example, an AP on one floor works well to everything on that floor, but doesn't work well with a client on the floor above, a passive repeater might help. But two antennas and a short length of coax. Locate an antenna on each floor, with the coax connected the two. Generally that will not be useful in homes, because the type of contruction is such that the passive will have more loss than just radiating a signal from one floor to the next. But in many commercial buildings the material and construction used might be very lossy, and a passive might work well.

Of course... wireless equipment is rather inexpensive, and it might be less expensive to simply run CAT5 cable to the next floor and install another AP.

Reply to
Floyd L. Davidson

I have a USB adapter, and have had very little trouble with it on a whole - I get the rare dropped signal (due mainly to another network in the area that I know is also using Channel 6 - just too lazy to change mine), but it usually corrects itself in a few seconds or so.

And I am upstairs, with the actual router being downstairs. Also, since the downstairs computer is not in a good spot (and due to space limitations), the actual router is on the bottom shelf of a desk........pretty much, I have given my network every reason not to work - keeping it on a "busy" channel, having the router itself in a poor location, etc...and yet, I get great connections on both of my computers upstairs.

So I have been happy with my Linksys - I hope when I move, I can configure everything better in the new house and make the network even better.

Reply to
Tom K

My 3Com wireless ADSL router is in the top back room of the house and the kids PC is at the front downstairs. The signal is going through 4 brick walls including the original outside wall (we have and extension on the back)

The USB wireless adpater is an Ebuyer.com no-name and the signal never drops below about 90%

However, my 3Com USB wireless adapter (that came with the router) sits in the same room as the router and regularly drops the signal for no apparent reason. So much so that I have chucked it in the drawer and hooked up a cable to the router.

Harry

Reply to
Harry

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