parabolic refelctors for noobs

hi

i have been reading the above post for what seems like a day,

im new to this and would like to improve my home wireless setup.

my 54mps LINKSYS 2.4G router is in my office in the loft, but the signal is
poor at the groundfloor / downstairs in the family room, 11-15mps

i also have a laptop with a wireless pmcica card that will pick up 24mps on
the same groundfloor but its almost directly under the router {all be it 3
floors up}

will one of these home made antennas inprove this

thanks


E

"EZEKIEL" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>i have been reading the above post for what seems like a day,

What post? There's nothing above my monitor.

>im new to this and would like to improve my home wireless setup.

You've come to the right place.

>my 54mps LINKSYS 2.4G router is in my office in the loft,

Is there some reason you don't find it necessary to disclose the model
number of your Linksys wireless router? Also include the hardwave
version number on the label.

>but the signal is
>poor at the groundfloor / downstairs in the family room, 11-15mps

Signal strength is not measured in mps. That's the connection speed.
Your radios start out at 54Mbits/sec and then slow down until they
find a speed where the error rate is deemed adequate. The slowdown
can be due to lack of signal, but also from interference. If you're
down to 12 Mbit/sec connection speed, you still will get about
6Mbits/sec thruput, which should be adequate for most DSL and some
cable modem connections.

>i also have a laptop with a wireless pmcica card

Maker and model number of laptop and wireless card?

>that will pick up 24mps on
>the same groundfloor but its almost directly under the router {all be it 3
>floors up}

I'm rather suprised that it works at all vertically through 3 floors.
Try pointing one of your antennas horizontally and see if the signal
improves down below. With the antennas pointing vertically, the
antenna pattern is mostly in the horizontal plane.

>will one of these home made antennas inprove this

It's difficult to tell. Going through three floors is not easy. If
the floors are made from wood, you have a chance. However, if there's
foil backed insulation, concrete, or chicken wire in the floor, it
won't work. Building an antenna system that works both in the
vertical and horizontal plane is not easy. You might get some
improvement with a directional antenna on the "downstairs" computer
that's pointed upwards. That's easy on a desktop but not so easy on a
laptop. I suggest you run CAT5 cable down to the lower floor for a
wired connection, or add a 2nd wireless access point "downstairs"
rather than deal with the RF issues.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

EZEKIEL <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> my 54mps LINKSYS 2.4G router is in my office in the loft, but the signal is
> poor at the groundfloor / downstairs in the family room, 11-15mps

If you have a poor signal, the free reflectors should improve the signal.

> i also have a laptop with a wireless pmcica card that will pick up 24mps on
> the same groundfloor but its almost directly under the router {all be it 3
> floors up}

If you are trying to go from the access point up to one client, and down to
another client, that's a lot harder job. The various antennas and
reflectors don't increase the power, they reform it.

A typical stick antenna on a Linksys router is going to have a radiation
pattern that looks like a donut slipped onto the antenna. The best signal
is at a 90 degree angle to the stick.

You might be able to get better signal up and down by laying the antenna
out parallel to the floor, and fussing with the orientation.

On the other hand, the signal bounces around so much that you might be
better off pointing toward a doorway to a staircase, so the signal can
bounce through the stairwell, instead of penetrating a floor.

I've heard of someone mounting their access point in a central heating air
handler duct and getting surprisingly good coverage throughout the house.

You might make a couple of the www.freeantennas.com EZ-12 reflectors. I
have enough signal off the sides of mine to get coverage where it isn't
pointed, and vastly improved signal where it is pointed. The result, quite
conveniently, is coverage throughout my L-shaped house, and maybe none
toward the neighbor.


If you don't have anything in the "other" direction, an EZ-12 reflector or
two might be just what you need. With the reflectors, it is more obvious
where you are trying to aim the signal, but you should still not ignore
stairways and windows. Maybe move the router nearer to the stairwell.

http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg

--
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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5