[My comments inline below -Peter]
Trevor Boicey wrote:
>
> Steve Hammatt wrote:
>
>> Is my thinking in the right direction? Any suggestions for exactly
>> what antennas I'm in need of? It looks like my new Belkin Wireless
>> Router does not have removable antennas.......so I'll probably have
>> to switch out the unit for another router.....any suggestions here?
>
> I find antennas really fascinating and love to play with them and
> design them and such.
>
> However, for solving a problem like this, consider a commercially
> available repeater or booster.
>
> Most companies (D-link especially, and Linksys) sell repeaters and
> such that work really well with their own hardware and are cheap.
>
> Installation is nothing, set up your primary router, then put the
> repeater "somewhere in between" it and the area you need better
> coverage for. That's about it, configure it to repeat the correct
> network and go.
These can work quite well, if they can be located inside the circle of
good coverage.
> Depending on the situation though, you might just be able to move
> your primary router to a different place (maybe with a long cable) and
> solve the problem that way.
>
> I had a dead spot in my house that was solved by moving my router
> about 1 meter. Go figure. It won't work miracles, but you never know.
>
Certainly - working at 2.4GHz, you can get much sharper shadowing than
you would experience with your FM radio, for example. The higher the
frequency of the radio signal, the more like visible light it will behave.
> Long term, I'd like to move my router to the ground floor instead of
> the basement to get more coverage in the back yard, but because of my
> DMZ and stuff I'd have to run one cable there and one cable back and I
> haven't gotten around to it yet.
>
Certainly don't ignore the possibility of just adding another access
point, if you have wired network available. Configure the AP for the
same wireless parameters (but a different channel that doesn't overlap -
keep them 5 channels apart, like 1, 6, 11) and plug it into your wired
LAN. Instant roaming between AP's!
Alternatively, if you don't have wired LAN there (as I don't in my....
ahem... townhouse), consider HPNA 2.0. You could pick up a couple of the
various 2Wire HomePortal boxes you'll find on eBay, and can connect them
together between buildings, etc. HPNA will go 1000' on just about any
kind of pair of unloaded conductors (telephone wire is normal, but if
you have that much twinlead around...). Do you have a telephone line in
your garage/home office (a line that also is present in your main
house)? If so, you're all set!
Oh - and some of the HomePortal units have wireless and/or 4-port 10/100
switches built in, as well as the HPNA - and the wireless section is
actually a Lucent/Proxim based card (which has an antenna jack).
Let me know if you need to know more.
-Peter
Peter Murray (N3IXY)
Vienna, VA
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