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#251899 - 17/03/2005 01:07 Wireless AP placement?
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
I've been having problems with my laptop loosing connection with my AP. The distance between the two is less than 20' with a clear line of sight. The thing is, it and the cable modem are setting on the floor near the wall. Its a concrete floor.

Is this a less than optimum placment, setting on the floor?

For what its worth it's a linksys wrt54gs running Satori 4.0 firmware. The laptop has an intel pro/wireless 2200bg setup.
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Glenn

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#251900 - 17/03/2005 01:30 Re: Wireless AP placement? [Re: gbeer]
matthew_k
pooh-bah

Registered: 12/02/2002
Posts: 2298
Loc: Berkeley, California
If they're really 20 feet apart, I'd suspect interference before I suspected antena placement problems. Are you using a 2.4ghz cordless phone? The microwave? Are your neighbors? Changing the channel might help, and switching to 802.11a will really help.

Matthew

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#251901 - 17/03/2005 01:43 Re: Wireless AP placement? [Re: gbeer]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14496
Loc: Canada
Try moving the AP 3" closer or further away from the wall, just in case it's a victim of Raleigh fading from wall reflections.

Cheers

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#251902 - 17/03/2005 01:53 Re: Wireless AP placement? [Re: matthew_k]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
I haven't been able to find a phone in use coincedent with the laptop's fuzzing out. There is a neighbour with a Belkin54g that I sometimes see listed, but it's a really low signal. I've switched channels away from him. I'm now on 11. Could it be that his ap is bouncing around the spectrum and only sometimes causing interference?

I suspect the Belkin is running out of the box settings, without any security. Mine's about as tightly locked down as I know to make it. (wep and mac filtering both on)
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Glenn

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#251903 - 17/03/2005 19:06 Re: Wireless AP placement? [Re: gbeer]
frog51
pooh-bah

Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
In addition to Mark's advice, try lowering the output power. It can help at close range.
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Rory
MkIIa, blue lit buttons, memory upgrade, 1Tb in Subaru Forester STi
MkII, 240Gb in Mark Lord dock
MkII, 80Gb SSD in dock

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#251904 - 18/03/2005 00:38 Re: Wireless AP placement? [Re: frog51]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
Well It's off the floor now, about 4ft up and a foot from the wall. Things seem to be better. It's definatly related to the times I see the Belkin appear in the wireless networks paine.

O.T. comment. I realize saying strange and Windows in the same sentence is redundant, but I find it strange that Windows announces when it reaquires a wireless connection but not when it looses one.
_________________________
Glenn

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