You might want to try a panel or sector antenna as they have more
coverage as far as beam width. Hyperlink has some good panels for $30-$50,
I had one that was about $35 had 13db and worked well. Like I said a good
amp works wonders as well.
What was the wireless card you're using with the laptop? Maybe that's
the weak link. I currently have a Powerbook with built in Airport Extreme
card(Broadcom chip like in many Linksys & Dlink G cards) & the range &
sensitivity is not as impressive as what I would get with an older ibook
with original Airport card(Hermes chip, same as Orinoco or Lucent card).
Both of those cards have about 30mw but the Orinoco cards are well known for
their reception/sensitivity & are a favorite for Wardriving or site surveys.
I like the performance of the Linksys WRT series when they've been
upgraded w/some of the open source Linux firmwares out there. The feature
set is amazing on some distro's & though stock they run at 28mw They can be
"cranked" to 251mw, though going to 50-120 seems more sensible. They can be
had for a song lately too, $30 after rebates. Lots of interesting potential
in these units some versions can be modified to add flash memory for file
storage or web hosting. I've had good luck with mine which is running
DD-WRT prefinal 5 currently was using Talisman but my "subscription" lapsed
& didn't feel like giving Mr. Ewing $20 again. If you're really Linux savvy
OpenWRT & Freifunk firmwares have lot of promise.
On 7/8/05 7:03 PM, "Kris Linquist" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> The antenna is inside the building? Is there metal involved in the
>> construction?
>>
>> I have the exact same hardware mounted on the top edge of a brick building
>> with perhaps a ten foot RG-6 cable. I can pick up the signal on a Lucent
>> PCMCIA
>> in a handheld within the building and certainly outside.
>
>
> Yes, the antenna is in the attic. I suppose there is metal in the
> construction. It's a 2.5 story townhouse built by KB Homes about 13 years
> ago. I suppose my next step would be to put the setup outside my window
> temporarily just to test range.
>
>
>> And this access point is sitting on a desk inside the building's first floor?
>
>
> No, it's also in the attic running power over ethernet. There is a 4 foot
> cable between the access point and the antenna.
>
>
> Also replying to crispin:
>
>> What's the mw output of a Cisco 350, 100mw like the PMCIA cards? If so
>> that's healthy. You might want to tell us how you have the AP connected to
>> the antenna, how much cable run, what kind, you might want to check that. I
>> have a 500mw(steps of 100me & 200mw also) amp that I get great results with.
>> Maybe you're not using the best antenna for the job, speaking of you're kind
>> of vague in your mail re: what result or perforformance you're going for.
>
>
>
> Yes, the 350 is 100mw. See above, 4' standard cable... RP-TNC to N.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Kris
>
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