A friend of mine just got DSL from SBC, and asked me to set it up for her. She received a self-install kit with a 2wire wireless modem 2701HG-B.
I wasn't properly prepared for that ;-( I thought I was going to attach a wireless router that I have left over, and a DLink DWL-122 USB adapter that I had in my pocket, and run through the manual steps to configure the DSL without loading the SBC junk on anyone's PC.
I didn't have the proper manual steps for the 2wire, but I think I do now, from DSLreports faq 13705. I thought I might go ahead and run the "assisted" setup while I was there, since it didn't seem too painful, but I wanted to do it on her computer not mine.
I put the DWL-122 dongle on her computer (far side of the room, of course), and couldn't connect. Couldn't even see the router. My Thinkpad, which seems to have outstanding range on it's built in AR5211 WiFi, showed 15% signal, and I could see the router, 20 feet away.
In fact, I was picking up identical signal strength from a real estate office a block away ;-(
My USB adapter might be toast... too long powered up inside a coffee can. I might have to give up and buy a new one. It has a little dent in the front that I don't remember. It is either melted plastic or an artistic divot that I didn't notice before.
Is the 2701HG-B really a weak performer, or did she get a bum one?
Is the "assisted" setup innocuous? Should I let it configure on my computer, or will I be forever sorry for some background software that it loads?