PC Card and Range Extender Antenna

Hello group,

Right - here's the situation. I've just purchased an Alvarion DS-11b PC Card
for my laptop, which has an external antenna connector on it. Specs on this
card are available at:

The antenna I purchased is a 7.8dbi gain, 2400MHz VSWR 1:5:1 antenna.

I purchased this so that I could connect to my wireless network about 400
metres from my house (in direct line of sight). At the bottom of our garden
is a large out-house type building in which I wish to be able to gain access
to my home network which has broadband internet.

NOW then.... when I use the card on it's own without the antenna, Windows XP
reports that the signal strength is "Very Low"/"No Signal".

My question is, when one plugs in the high-gain antenna expecting it to
imrpove signal quality, why does the signal not get any better at all?

Any ideas group?

Please help!

Cheers,

Richard.

The higher the gain the antenna has the thinner the radition pattern is from
the antenna (top to bottom) a dipole has a dougnut shapped pattern and as
you go up in gain you end up with a flat disc, it's possible that if your AP
is upstairs in your house and you are downstairs (in the garden) with your
high gain antenna then you could be under the radiated signal (in simplistic
terms that is), why don't you use the 'pigtail connector that goes to your
new antenna and have a go at making a 'cantenna' just search the web for
this to find some designs, they work very well.

Dave.


"Rich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bo8ebh$nrd$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello group,
>
> Right - here's the situation. I've just purchased an Alvarion DS-11b PC
Card
> for my laptop, which has an external antenna connector on it. Specs on
this
> card are available at:
>
> The antenna I purchased is a 7.8dbi gain, 2400MHz VSWR 1:5:1 antenna.
>
> I purchased this so that I could connect to my wireless network about 400
> metres from my house (in direct line of sight). At the bottom of our
garden
> is a large out-house type building in which I wish to be able to gain
access
> to my home network which has broadband internet.
>
> NOW then.... when I use the card on it's own without the antenna, Windows
XP
> reports that the signal strength is "Very Low"/"No Signal".
>
> My question is, when one plugs in the high-gain antenna expecting it to
> imrpove signal quality, why does the signal not get any better at all?
>
> Any ideas group?
>
> Please help!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard.
>
>

Hi Dave,

OK, so what you're saying is that if I picture (in simplistic terms!) the
radiation pattern as a sphere, when I increase the antenna's gain I am
in-fact squashing the 'depth' of this sphere - in even more incredibly
simplistic terms!! - therefore pushing it towards 2D?

My AP is indeed upstairs, and I was downstairs. Although our house is a
standard size (three storey) this could be the mechanism at work.

Could this therefore be corrected by position the AP so that it's
omni-directional antennas are mounted horizontally?

Cheers,

Richard
P.S. Please forgive the ignorance!!!!

"Dave" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bo8oki$1bq5l7$(E-Mail Removed)...
> The higher the gain the antenna has the thinner the radition pattern is
from
> the antenna (top to bottom) a dipole has a dougnut shapped pattern and as
> you go up in gain you end up with a flat disc, it's possible that if your
AP
> is upstairs in your house and you are downstairs (in the garden) with your
> high gain antenna then you could be under the radiated signal (in
simplistic
> terms that is), why don't you use the 'pigtail connector that goes to your
> new antenna and have a go at making a 'cantenna' just search the web for
> this to find some designs, they work very well.
>
> Dave.
>
>
> "Rich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:bo8ebh$nrd$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hello group,
> >
> > Right - here's the situation. I've just purchased an Alvarion DS-11b PC
> Card
> > for my laptop, which has an external antenna connector on it. Specs on
> this
> > card are available at:
> >
> > The antenna I purchased is a 7.8dbi gain, 2400MHz VSWR 1:5:1 antenna.
> >
> > I purchased this so that I could connect to my wireless network about
400
> > metres from my house (in direct line of sight). At the bottom of our
> garden
> > is a large out-house type building in which I wish to be able to gain
> access
> > to my home network which has broadband internet.
> >
> > NOW then.... when I use the card on it's own without the antenna,
Windows
> XP
> > reports that the signal strength is "Very Low"/"No Signal".
> >
> > My question is, when one plugs in the high-gain antenna expecting it to
> > imrpove signal quality, why does the signal not get any better at all?
> >
> > Any ideas group?
> >
> > Please help!
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Richard.
> >
> >
>
>

Hi Rich,

Your description is spot on, when you tested your high gain omni antenna did
you try angling it so the (for want of a better word) side of the antenna
facing the house was tilted up a few degree's, the signal should have
improved a little at least if indeed the problem you have is due to the AP
being high up, also did you look for the cantenna information, this may well
be a better bet for what you want.

Dave.


"Rich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bo939j$pe4$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Dave,
>
> OK, so what you're saying is that if I picture (in simplistic terms!) the
> radiation pattern as a sphere, when I increase the antenna's gain I am
> in-fact squashing the 'depth' of this sphere - in even more incredibly
> simplistic terms!! - therefore pushing it towards 2D?
>
> My AP is indeed upstairs, and I was downstairs. Although our house is a
> standard size (three storey) this could be the mechanism at work.
>
> Could this therefore be corrected by position the AP so that it's
> omni-directional antennas are mounted horizontally?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
> P.S. Please forgive the ignorance!!!!
>
> "Dave" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:bo8oki$1bq5l7$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > The higher the gain the antenna has the thinner the radition pattern is
> from
> > the antenna (top to bottom) a dipole has a dougnut shapped pattern and
as
> > you go up in gain you end up with a flat disc, it's possible that if
your
> AP
> > is upstairs in your house and you are downstairs (in the garden) with
your
> > high gain antenna then you could be under the radiated signal (in
> simplistic
> > terms that is), why don't you use the 'pigtail connector that goes to
your
> > new antenna and have a go at making a 'cantenna' just search the web for
> > this to find some designs, they work very well.
> >
> > Dave.
> >
> >
> > "Rich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:bo8ebh$nrd$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > Hello group,
> > >
> > > Right - here's the situation. I've just purchased an Alvarion DS-11b
PC
> > Card
> > > for my laptop, which has an external antenna connector on it. Specs on
> > this
> > > card are available at:
> > >
> > > The antenna I purchased is a 7.8dbi gain, 2400MHz VSWR 1:5:1 antenna.
> > >
> > > I purchased this so that I could connect to my wireless network about
> 400
> > > metres from my house (in direct line of sight). At the bottom of our
> > garden
> > > is a large out-house type building in which I wish to be able to gain
> > access
> > > to my home network which has broadband internet.
> > >
> > > NOW then.... when I use the card on it's own without the antenna,
> Windows
> > XP
> > > reports that the signal strength is "Very Low"/"No Signal".
> > >
> > > My question is, when one plugs in the high-gain antenna expecting it
to
> > > imrpove signal quality, why does the signal not get any better at all?
> > >
> > > Any ideas group?
> > >
> > > Please help!
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > Richard.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Hey Dave,

Initially it didn't occur to me to adjust the angle - all I saw was a
magnetic base mount and thought "huh, this must be right!".

I'll have a play around with the angles and see what happens, then I'll post
back with my findings.

Also I looked for the Cantenna plans, there seem to be many variations,
including the "Coffee Cantenna" and the "CookieCantenna" - but I think for
me a standard Cantenna may do the trick. Of course, there's the point that I
spent over £90 for all this stuff thinking it might work, and then I find a
cantenna plan for free, and materials totalling no more than about $10 which
could outperform my antenna altoghether .... Mmmmmm, how pleased am I?!

So it's not a question of moving to a Cantenna, so much as making the
antenna I bought work (and by the power of the Wi-Fi God it shall work!).

I'm sure the equipment works fine, in the correct installation scenario.
So --- I'll mess with the angles and see what results I get. If not good,
I'll be building a Cantenna (quite a dodgy prospect since anything
DIY-related invariably self-destructs when I DIY-it!), and this lot'll be
finding it's way onto eBay!!!

Cheers again,

Rich.

"Dave" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bo98su$1blunj$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Rich,
>
> Your description is spot on, when you tested your high gain omni antenna
did
> you try angling it so the (for want of a better word) side of the antenna
> facing the house was tilted up a few degree's, the signal should have
> improved a little at least if indeed the problem you have is due to the AP
> being high up, also did you look for the cantenna information, this may
well
> be a better bet for what you want.
>
> Dave.
>
>

Rich <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> My question is, when one plugs in the high-gain antenna expecting it to
> imrpove signal quality, why does the signal not get any better at all?

The doughnut is probably not pointed in the right direction, as noted in
the other posts in this thread. In addition to adding the external antenna
to the laptop, you can cheaply add reflectors to the WAP, and point them
as well as angle them. To view the optimum angles, what I did was to run
VNCserver on the laptop, and VNCviewer on the dekstop, which was right near
the WAP. Then I brought up the signal strength meter that came with the
laptop adapter to monitor the signal while I repositioned the WAP and
fiddled with the reflectors.

http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/S...0-strength.htm
http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/Ez-10/
http://www.realvnc.com

--
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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5