signal strength all over the place

Hi All,

I've got a customer with the following setup:

1 Netgear Wireless Router
3 XP laptops with Netgear wireless PC cards
1 W98 desktop with a Netgear USB Wireless Adapter

Even when standing right next to the router with an XP laptop, the signal
strength bounces up and down from 0% up to 90% continuously. The desktop
seems to get a solid 65% and doesn't bounce. The router is in the basement
but moving it upstairs had the same results. What could be the problem?

Thanks,

Denise

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 00:23:01 GMT, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>I've got a customer with the following setup:
>
>1 Netgear Wireless Router
>3 XP laptops with Netgear wireless PC cards
>1 W98 desktop with a Netgear USB Wireless Adapter
>
>Even when standing right next to the router with an XP laptop, the signal
>strength bounces up and down from 0% up to 90% continuously. The desktop
>seems to get a solid 65% and doesn't bounce. The router is in the basement
>but moving it upstairs had the same results. What could be the problem?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Denise
>

I'm no RF guru, but I'm thinking interference. Your signal and the
interference signal drift in and out of sync with each other, so the
signals at your receive antenna alternately add together and cancel
each other out.

The desktop radio either has better "Q" on it's receive notch filters
or possibly it's shadowed from the interfering signal.

FWIW,
Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for answering...I was wondering if it was interference as well.
However, there wasn't anyone using a cordless phone or microwave in the
house at the time. They are fairly close to their neighbors, however,
perhaps they were getting interference from there...or are there other
sources of interference?
BTW, what is "Q"?

Thanks!

Denise


"Mike Patterson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message news(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 00:23:01 GMT, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >Hi All,
> >
> >I've got a customer with the following setup:
> >
> >1 Netgear Wireless Router
> >3 XP laptops with Netgear wireless PC cards
> >1 W98 desktop with a Netgear USB Wireless Adapter
> >
> >Even when standing right next to the router with an XP laptop, the signal
> >strength bounces up and down from 0% up to 90% continuously. The desktop
> >seems to get a solid 65% and doesn't bounce. The router is in the
basement
> >but moving it upstairs had the same results. What could be the problem?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Denise
> >
>
> I'm no RF guru, but I'm thinking interference. Your signal and the
> interference signal drift in and out of sync with each other, so the
> signals at your receive antenna alternately add together and cancel
> each other out.
>
> The desktop radio either has better "Q" on it's receive notch filters
> or possibly it's shadowed from the interfering signal.
>
> FWIW,
> Mike
>

This describes a notch filter :
http://www-k.ext.ti.com/SRVS/Data/ti...faqs/notch.htm

and this describes what the Q of such a filter is:
http://www-k.ext.ti.com/SRVS/Data/ti...ent/faqs/q.htm

HTH
Mike

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 14:14:50 GMT, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi Mike,
>
>Thanks for answering...I was wondering if it was interference as well.
>However, there wasn't anyone using a cordless phone or microwave in the
>house at the time. They are fairly close to their neighbors, however,
>perhaps they were getting interference from there...or are there other
>sources of interference?
>BTW, what is "Q"?
>
>Thanks!
>
>Denise
>
>
>"Mike Patterson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>message news(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 00:23:01 GMT, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Hi All,
>> >
>> >I've got a customer with the following setup:
>> >
>> >1 Netgear Wireless Router
>> >3 XP laptops with Netgear wireless PC cards
>> >1 W98 desktop with a Netgear USB Wireless Adapter
>> >
>> >Even when standing right next to the router with an XP laptop, the signal
>> >strength bounces up and down from 0% up to 90% continuously. The desktop
>> >seems to get a solid 65% and doesn't bounce. The router is in the
>basement
>> >but moving it upstairs had the same results. What could be the problem?
>> >
>> >Thanks,
>> >
>> >Denise
>> >
>>
>> I'm no RF guru, but I'm thinking interference. Your signal and the
>> interference signal drift in and out of sync with each other, so the
>> signals at your receive antenna alternately add together and cancel
>> each other out.
>>
>> The desktop radio either has better "Q" on it's receive notch filters
>> or possibly it's shadowed from the interfering signal.
>>
>> FWIW,
>> Mike
>>
>

Thanks for the info, Mike.


"Mike Patterson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message news(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> This describes a notch filter :
>
http://www-k.ext.ti.com/SRVS/Data/ti...faqs/notch.htm
>
> and this describes what the Q of such a filter is:
>
http://www-k.ext.ti.com/SRVS/Data/ti...ent/faqs/q.htm
>
> HTH
> Mike
>
> On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 14:14:50 GMT, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >Hi Mike,
> >
> >Thanks for answering...I was wondering if it was interference as well.
> >However, there wasn't anyone using a cordless phone or microwave in the
> >house at the time. They are fairly close to their neighbors, however,
> >perhaps they were getting interference from there...or are there other
> >sources of interference?
> >BTW, what is "Q"?
> >
> >Thanks!
> >
> >Denise
> >
> >
> >"Mike Patterson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> >message news(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 00:23:01 GMT, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> >Hi All,
> >> >
> >> >I've got a customer with the following setup:
> >> >
> >> >1 Netgear Wireless Router
> >> >3 XP laptops with Netgear wireless PC cards
> >> >1 W98 desktop with a Netgear USB Wireless Adapter
> >> >
> >> >Even when standing right next to the router with an XP laptop, the
signal
> >> >strength bounces up and down from 0% up to 90% continuously. The
desktop
> >> >seems to get a solid 65% and doesn't bounce. The router is in the
> >basement
> >> >but moving it upstairs had the same results. What could be the
problem?
> >> >
> >> >Thanks,
> >> >
> >> >Denise
> >> >
> >>
> >> I'm no RF guru, but I'm thinking interference. Your signal and the
> >> interference signal drift in and out of sync with each other, so the
> >> signals at your receive antenna alternately add together and cancel
> >> each other out.
> >>
> >> The desktop radio either has better "Q" on it's receive notch filters
> >> or possibly it's shadowed from the interfering signal.
> >>
> >> FWIW,
> >> Mike
> >>
> >
>

The signal bounces of various objects and varies a lot within very small
distances, moving the laptop just half an inch can make a difference. Also
it doesn't work well if very close to the wifi access point.
You need to experiment with locations and different channels in case of
interference.
USB adapters have the advantage of ease of positioning (within the range of
the cable).

Regards,
Martin

Problem might be with the way XP manages the connection. By default it
tries to seek out new access points that may have a better signal. It
tends to constantly drop the connection as it scans the other
channels.

Just one more case of Microsoft trying to control everything inside a
computer and doing a piss poor job.

"Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<FRpdb.141$(E-Mail Removed)> ...
> Hi All,
>
> I've got a customer with the following setup:
>
> 1 Netgear Wireless Router
> 3 XP laptops with Netgear wireless PC cards
> 1 W98 desktop with a Netgear USB Wireless Adapter
>
> Even when standing right next to the router with an XP laptop, the signal
> strength bounces up and down from 0% up to 90% continuously. The desktop
> seems to get a solid 65% and doesn't bounce. The router is in the basement
> but moving it upstairs had the same results. What could be the problem?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Denise