is this range normal?

I have just purchased an SMC 2804WBR wireless router and SMC 2862W USB
wireless adaptor. What range should I expect? Currently, I am lucky to get
more than 15 metres which is inside an office building with only wooden
partition walls and in fact only one petition war between the computer
running the adapter and the access point. I also have a Fujitsu life book
notebook computer which is also fitted with wireless LAN and I am able to
get considerably better distance but certainly not more than 30 metres. Is
this normal? Is there some tweaking I should be doing on the router or
something like that?

-keevill- <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have just purchased an SMC 2804WBR wireless router and SMC 2862W USB
> wireless adaptor. What range should I expect? Currently, I am lucky to get
> more than 15 metres which is inside an office building with only wooden
> partition walls and in fact only one petition war between the computer
> running the adapter and the access point. I also have a Fujitsu life book
> notebook computer which is also fitted with wireless LAN and I am able to
> get considerably better distance but certainly not more than 30 metres. Is
> this normal? Is there some tweaking I should be doing on the router or
> something like that?

That sounds about right. Does the Fujitsu have a built in Wireless
adapter? If it does, the antenna is in the lid, and a lot larger than the
tiny antenna inside the Mini-USB adapter.
A range of 50 feet is the norm indoors.
Depending on the position of the router relative to the area where you want
the wireless to work, you might add some free reflectors, or external
antennas to the 2804WBR.
The wireless router should be located up high, not on a desktop.

Free Reflector designs. EZ-10 is really simple.
http://www.freeantennas.com

SMC 2862W-G Mini-USB
http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?event=v...EN_USA&pid=585

SMC 2804WBR
http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?event=v...EN_USA&pid=544

Antennas
http://www.pacwireless.com/index.shtml

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

> That sounds about right. Does the Fujitsu have a built in Wireless
> adapter? If it does, the antenna is in the lid, and a lot larger than the
> tiny antenna inside the Mini-USB adapter.
> A range of 50 feet is the norm indoors.
> Depending on the position of the router relative to the area where you
want
> the wireless to work, you might add some free reflectors, or external
> antennas to the 2804WBR.
> The wireless router should be located up high, not on a desktop.

Yes you are correct in your supposition that the notebook has inbuilt
wireless no doubt as you say , with the antenna in the lid. Presumably the
simplest way to increase the range is to buy some sort of a repeater. Do
you have any recommendations?

-keevill- <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Yes you are correct in your supposition that the notebook has inbuilt
> wireless no doubt as you say , with the antenna in the lid. Presumably the
> simplest way to increase the range is to buy some sort of a repeater. Do
> you have any recommendations?

I've never used a repeater. I would suggest a reflector and an external
antenna, in that order. On the freeantennas site, Mike even suggests that
you use a reflector before buying an antenna to get some indication of how
much an antenna might help, and compare the roughly 10dBi gain to the gain
of commercial antennas beforee buying the one you need.


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