Hotspot preparation

Hello all,

I'm going to install a hotspot in about a week from now and have been
planning to extend the service to the community buildings nearby. It's a
netgear fwag114 based service and as there's not going to be any ADSL
service until then I can't test it yet.

I'm hoping to extend the range to about 200ft from my home in all directions
and I suspect I'll need an external antenna to do this. What eludes me is
information on how such an antenna might be connected.

There's no visible means to connect an antenna to the base unit. If there
was, I could expect to suffer a 7db signal loss thru a 10m cable to an omni
rooftop antenna with a 9db gain.

What's the usual method of attaching one of these external antenna? Does it
require that I buy an access point to 'drive' the antenna and to house it in
the loft to minimise the cable length?

TIA Jeff

Jeff Mowatt wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I'm going to install a hotspot in about a week from now and have been
> planning to extend the service to the community buildings nearby.
> It's a netgear fwag114 based service and as there's not going to be
> any ADSL service until then I can't test it yet.
>
> I'm hoping to extend the range to about 200ft from my home in all
> directions and I suspect I'll need an external antenna to do this. What
> eludes me is information on how such an antenna might be
> connected.
> There's no visible means to connect an antenna to the base unit. If
> there was, I could expect to suffer a 7db signal loss thru a 10m
> cable to an omni rooftop antenna with a 9db gain.
>
> What's the usual method of attaching one of these external antenna?
> Does it require that I buy an access point to 'drive' the antenna and
> to house it in the loft to minimise the cable length?
>
> TIA Jeff

Consider using a different wap/router.. I have had the worst luck with
netgear. The two I now use are the D-Link DI-624
(http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=6 ) has removeable/replaceable
external screw off antennas, and/or the linksys WRT54G
(http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=35&prid=601) with
the sveasoft upgrade to allow power increase from 28mw to 251 mw (increased
range and no external antenna needed)
(http://www.sveasoft.com/modules/phpBB2/index.php Stock power is 28mw, the
Svea firmware will let you boost that up to 251mw, costs a bit, but way less
than an external antenna)

"Peter Pan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Consider using a different wap/router.. I have had the worst luck with
> netgear. The two I now use are the D-Link DI-624
> (http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=6 ) has removeable/replaceable
> external screw off antennas, and/or the linksys WRT54G
> (http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=35&prid=601)
> with the sveasoft upgrade to allow power increase from 28mw to 251 mw
> (increased range and no external antenna needed)
> (http://www.sveasoft.com/modules/phpBB2/index.php Stock power is 28mw, the
> Svea firmware will let you boost that up to 251mw, costs a bit, but way
> less than an external antenna)
>
Thanks Peter,

Maybe it would be better but I'm stuck with this product as it's the
standard device for 'The Cloud'. Hopefully their support will help me
through.



Jeff

Jeff Mowatt wrote:

> Thanks Peter,
>
> Maybe it would be better but I'm stuck with this product as it's the
> standard device for 'The Cloud'. Hopefully their support will help me
> through.
>
>
>
> Jeff

Have you considered using a second wap in repeater mode? You can leave your
main stuff alone, but extend your range a bunch with a repeater.
(I do that for multi-floor, multi buildings, loading docks, large areas etc)
Turns out a wap is usually under $90, and is cheaper than cable and antennas
(you do usually need AC power though, or at least extend the low voltage DC
power cable, and if the device is outside, a weatherproof box )

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 12:35:06 -0800, "Peter Pan"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Consider using a different wap/router.. I have had the worst luck with
> netgear. The two I now use are the D-Link DI-624
> (http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=6 ) has removeable/replaceable
> external screw off antennas, and/or the linksys WRT54G
> (http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=35&prid=601) with
> the sveasoft upgrade to allow power increase from 28mw to 251 mw (increased
> range and no external antenna needed)
> (http://www.sveasoft.com/modules/phpBB2/index.php Stock power is 28mw, the
> Svea firmware will let you boost that up to 251mw, costs a bit, but way less
> than an external antenna)

Boosting just the AP's power is unlikely to bring much benefit - what use
is it having clients hear louder/further than the AP can hear the clients?

However having an improved antenna at just one end of the link will result
in an improvement in the signals in both directions with the desired
result because antennas are symmetrical and so performance is reciprocal.

Tony