[TriLUG] linksys wrtg54g range problems

[Rob Lockhart]

On 11/20/2004 08:41 PM, Ralph Blach wrote:

> I have a linksys wrtg54g wireless access point and it seem to have 
> range wireless range problems.  Is this normal
> for the linksys wireless access points.  The two cards I have are 
> wireless b cards, do  I definately dont need
> G but better range would be nice.
> Any sugestions?
>
First off, I would ask if you had any 2.4GHz mobile phones in the house; 
if so, junk them for the 900MHz or 5.8GHz models.  I have had the best 
success placing my (only) 2.4GHz phone in the same room as the WLAN 
router (WRT54G) and I didn't have any problems unless I was within a few 
feet of the wireless client.

Another question would be whether your neighbors are stepping into your 
frequency.  I believe the only non-overlapping frequencies are 1, 6, and 
11.  Most people use 1, if memory serves.  It's CDMA but all users are 
not using the same frequency so some interference in overlapped 
frequencies does occur.  I acually had this problem for a while before 
doing a search of access points; my neighbor and I were using the same 
frequency.

G doesn't help with range... G only helps for short range to increase 
the data rate.  At the longer ranges, G modulation reverts back to 
B-mode (albeit still encrypted with WPA, etc).  802.11a apparently has 
less range, too, due to higher attenuation of signal by your home at the 
higher frequencies.  You could try buying a cheap (less than $50) 
directional antenna.  I'm not going to mention any of the home-brew 
antenna designs because I'm quite sure the VSWR is utter crap (in short: 
too much feedback from mismatched cable-antenna impedance back into the 
transmitter could overload the receiver, unless you can measure the VSWR 
with a network analyzer).

Hope that helps,
  -Rob