Poor connection due to walls?

I have an old house with thick walls.(4) Is there anyway to solve the
problem short of hard wiring? I have tried two systems and neither work very
well.

[POSTED TO alt.internet.wireless - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <%ajag.4070$(E-Mail Removed)> on Tue, 16 May 2006 12:02:03
GMT, "W. Wells" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I have an old house with thick walls.(4) Is there anyway to solve the
>problem short of hard wiring? I have tried two systems and neither work very
>well.

If you get at least some (poor) signal, then a better antenna on the wireless
host (router or access point) may do the trick.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR ALT.INTERNET.WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/FAQ_for_alt.internet.wireless>

W. Wells <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have an old house with thick walls.(4) Is there anyway to solve the
> problem short of hard wiring? I have tried two systems and neither work
> very well.

First move should be some free reflectors. If you have some signal now,
these might be all you need.
http://www.freeantennas.com EZ-12, Windsurfer reflector.
printed on photo paper for thick stock, with aluminum foil glued to the
sail, provides a substantial boost in signal.
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg


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

"W. Wells" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%ajag.4070$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have an old house with thick walls.(4) Is there anyway to solve the
>problem short of hard wiring? I have tried two systems and neither work
>very well.
>
You must be new to the group - the same subject is covered almost weekly.
Have a read of some of the posts.

Your right Rob. I'm new.
"Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:H1sag.1766$z%.(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "W. Wells" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:%ajag.4070$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I have an old house with thick walls.(4) Is there anyway to solve the
>>problem short of hard wiring? I have tried two systems and neither work
>>very well.
>>
> You must be new to the group - the same subject is covered almost weekly.
> Have a read of some of the posts.
>
>

"W. Wells" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>I have an old house with thick walls.

Depends on your walls (concrete, metal lath?), but multiple APs or
hard wiring is proabably going to give you the best result.

"W. Wells" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>I have an old house with thick walls.(4) Is there anyway to solve the
>problem short of hard wiring? I have tried two systems and neither work very
>well.

Soft wiring?

Power line networking. Wireless bridge on either side of the wall(s).
See HomePlug.

Phone line networking. Use the phone lines to connect between
wireless access points. See HomePNA.

Ethernet over CATV coax cable. URL when I untrash my bookmarks file.


--
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

In article <Klsag.1965$(E-Mail Removed)>, "W. Wells" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Your right Rob. I'm new.
>"Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:H1sag.1766$z%.(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> "W. Wells" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:%ajag.4070$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>I have an old house with thick walls.(4) Is there anyway to solve the
>>>problem short of hard wiring? I have tried two systems and neither work
>>>very well.
>>>
>> You must be new to the group - the same subject is covered almost weekly.
>> Have a read of some of the posts.

Basically as others will tell you, 2.4 GHz signals don't pass through
walls. What happens is the signal bounces around and or finds a 'hole' in
the wall. Thicker the wall the less likely of finding enough of a hole to
make the trip.
Consider one of the devices that allows networking on your power lines
already wire in the house or the phone wiring.

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.

(E-Mail Removed) (Rico) hath wroth:

>Basically as others will tell you, 2.4 GHz signals don't pass through
>walls. What happens is the signal bounces around and or finds a 'hole' in
>the wall. Thicker the wall the less likely of finding enough of a hole to
>make the trip.
>Consider one of the devices that allows networking on your power lines
>already wire in the house or the phone wiring.

Generally true for most common construction techniques. Wireless
really does bounce around and find a suitable hole, usually a doorway.
However, it can only bounce a limited number of times before multipath
and path length extension become a problem.

Drivel: One of my fun projects many years ago was trying to figure
out how many walls and floors could be penetrated by 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi in
an office building. One wall was easy. Two walls were a bit of a
challenge. Three walls resulted in a rather weak and unusable signal.
But as we added more and more walls and floors, the signal continued
to be present at almost the same level. We eventually found about 8
walls had almost exactly the same weak and unusable signal level as 3
walls. It didn't just fade away or disappear as one would expect.
What was happening was the signal was going out the window, was
reflected off a nearby building, and re-entered via another window.

Different signals have different attenuations. RF will go through
most common materials with varying attenuations. As a rule of thumb,
6dB loss is 1/2 of the range. 12dB loss is 1/4th the range. This
means if you put a plywood wall between the AP and the client, a 6dB
loss through the plywood will results in 1/2 the range that would be
obtained without the plywood obstruction. My guess(tm) is anything
over about 12dB attenuation is going to be unreliable or flaky.

I did a survey of various web sites and books claiming to have
measured or calculated the attenuation of various materials. See:
| http://www.thirdbreak.org/pipermail/...ne/000804.html
Note the wide variation in opinions and measurements. I don't agree
with all the numbers.

Dumb story: Descriptions also vary. One client asked me to improve
their office indoor coverage. They described the office as having
very light weight partitions, with very little metal in them. I
expected to find a radio or interference problem. Instead, I found
row after row of metal file cabinets and blueprint storage cabinets
propped up against both sides of the office partitions. I apparently
forgot to ask about office furniture. I gave up immediately and just
two more access points on opposite sides of the offending partitions.

--
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

"W. Wells" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%ajag.4070$(E-Mail Removed)...
|I have an old house with thick walls.(4) Is there anyway to solve the
| problem short of hard wiring? I have tried two systems and neither work
very
| well.

Have you tried moving your modem/accesspoint to another possibly
more central location? All of your computers can connect wirelessly?
If your connection is ADSL, a phone need not be plugged in. If cable
modem, you may need a splitter and make sure the 'high output' tap
of your outside splitter drives the modem/accesspoint.

My neighbor gained connectivity thruout the house and yard by
putting his modem/accesspoint in the attic

lee