Wireless network Questions

[Stringy]

Recently added a wireless access point to my small network and of course I have Questions...
First I bought a Wireless G [802.11g] access point and PCI adapter from Linksys...

I know G operates on the same frequency as B [802.11b] but can I use antenni already out on the market to strengthen my network signal...

Before I went venturing into wireless networks I bought a great Sony telephone, happens to be a 2.4Ghz phone...
Does anyone really know if a better antenna will help when the phone is in use... Right now the connection drops off completely, if I could get it so that it works even at a slow rate that would be ideal...

Oh and related to the 1st Question, which antenna would anyone recomend?!?


thanks
Craig

[agallag]

Strange that it would drop out when the phone is in use. It should be able to share. I have a netgear MR814, and a 2.4GHz Vtech cordless phone, and they work fine together (maybe 802.11g is more sensitive than b? I dunno). Try changing the channel on the Linksys (at least 11 to choose from). How far are you from the base station when the dropouts occur? I haven't tested picking up the phone when far away from the base.

You should be able to use any antenna designed for 802.11b, since the antenna is designed around the frequency, not the data rate. I don't know which are good, because my standard antenna does the job for me.

[Stringy]

Yes it drops, Linksys notes the issue on their website...
the reason is, from what I've gathered, is that the PHone transmitts on ALL the 2.4Ghz channels at once for better quality, this unfortunatly leaves nothing left for the wireless to communicate on...
Plus the Sony phone is a Spread Spectrum phone, and is pretty loaded with features...

G and B are pretty much the same, and I have the unit set to auto, so if it could get a signal I think it would, not sure..

Well the PC is stationary, its about 20 feet away and one floor down...

What is your signal quality on your network?!?
the Linksys has a bar setup with 10 or so bars, I now have about 5 or 6 bars of signal strength... linksys gives that a "Good" rating

this is all new to me and I have learned alot the hard way...
like that 802.11a doesn't transmitt very far and as you get further away its kinda peaky, and drops alot... hence why I moved to G...


thanks again...
anyone else??

[Wombat]

You bought a Sony telephone - that doesn't mean it's great, unfortunately. It's probably spewing noise all over the place.

Interference between wireless setups and 2.4GHz phones is very common.

Antenna: Yeah, a 11b antenna might work, but 11g relies on OFDM, and other things that b didn't use. So, those antenna may introduce noise that kills g's features. http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~acmc/OFDMTu...c/OFDMTut.html

Try moving the phone's base station.

[Stringy]

Oh I had no illusion that the phone was spewing noise all over the place.... but that only makes it difficult to run wireless with it, the phone is a great phone....
Thanks for the link, but unfortunately I'm not at that level...
the antenna's I've found have many means at producing their higher gain, not sure which method is good for G...

square one...


thanks again

[agallag]

My signal strength is full if I go up one flight of stairs, and goes down to 4 out of 5 bars (according to XP) if I go up a second flight of stairs. Even if I'm using my phone at the same time (it's also digital spread spectrum, but one channel at a time). My laptop (thinkpad A22m) has dual antennas built into the sides of the screen though, so that may be an advantage.

[MultimediaMan]

Your problem is the phone, as other have mentioned here alreay...the further you get from the AP, the worse your problem will become. Either that, or get a 900 mHz Phone.

[SteveC]

That's phone's not a proper DECT phone then - they should hop between channels on the fly choosing the best one all the time - only one should be used at once though, not all!

I have no problems at home with an 802.11b Netgear Access Point, Belkin USB wireless adapter, and a Netgear PCMCIA wireless card, plus 2 DECT phones (a Philips and an NTL). Even with wireless keyboard and mouse and mobile phones it all works great

Only problems I've ever seen are that my mouse will sometimes play up when I'm using the mobile (GSM) phone.

[Gurm]

Which Sony model is this? I have a Sony 2.4Ghz, it's not the best phone in the world. It's ugly (blue antenna and buttons, ick) and has a tendency to turn off when you tuck it between shoulder and ear. The signal quality is... so-so. I'm hoping I won't have this problem, because Julie gave me a green light to go wireless (she got sick of wires running everywhere, and I think she's secretly hoping that when I get a job I'll buy her a laptop).

- Gurm

[Stringy]

Grum, it sounds like you have the same phone, or atleast series of phone ;o)
the model of mine is SPP-A2480

Moving things around is difficult because the house is turn of the century and moving wiring around isn't pleasant, hence the wireless ;o)
I thought an external antenna would help get the antenna away from all the noise at the back of the PC, there is a drop ceiling in the room with the wireless PC and I was thiking of sticking the Antenna in that space...

Hmmm...
I was figuring that the low signal strength was the reason the phone was able to knock off the wireless, and that an antenna would bring my signal strength up a tad...



Thanks again

[Gurm]

I've got an SPP-A2770, dunno if that means mine is the one that only uses one channel, or if it's just a regional difference.

I'm thinking of going with an 802.11a/b dual-band access point/router...

Then an 802.11a card in the desktop PC's... and a dual-band card in the laptop.

That way the laptop will work with public hotspots (and further from the hub) but can fall back to 802.11a if the phone messes with things... and the PC's just won't be affected at all.

- Gurm

[Stringy]

I had 11a by netgear and it didn't seem to have good range or signal quality, maybe it's just where I had it and interference I had...
the signal strength wasn't very good, and the quality of the signal was poor, I was trying to go through a floor and drop ceiling, it just didn't work well...

now that I've had these problems with the G, which I knew were possible with my phone, maybe I should have worked harder with the 11a, I just couldn't get the signal strength up to acceptable levels

Dual mode is probably a good idea though...
good luck...

Craig

[Stringy]

Figured I'd update this thread since I fixed the main problem..

I moved the channel to 11 and this lets the wireless be unaffected by my wireless 2.4Ghz phone...

I found out that you can use any 2.4Ghz antenna with 11g as long as it connects to the device.

Also for those with a Linksys product the Signal booster [WSB24] will work with a 11g network and work Very well, I've seen atleast 4 individuals try it and have great success..
One of which runs SmallNetBuilder... He hasn't posted this on his website, probably because the booster isn't cert. for 11g, but made a Msg Board post over on THG...

Thanks a bunch for those that responded
Craig