Is there anything better than Atheros mini pci wifi?

I currently have an Atheros AR5212A minipci wifi card installed in my
T23 laptop. I ran my own coax cables to two Linksys 7dbi antennas
on the back of the LCD. Works OK but sometimes I have to get closer
to my router, aquire the signal then go back to my desk where the
signal "holds" better. If I loose my connection, I have to repeat
that.

I also have a VERY old Pentium MMX 150mhz PC running a Linksys
WUSB11 external wifi radio. The two systems' antenna are pretty close
and the router (WRT54G v4 running DD-WRT) reports about 9 db better
signal from the laptop.

The problem is that while the laptop has better performance, I have to
aquire the signal in a better location before it'll work at my desk.
It's
kinda like a squelch type issue.

So, are there better minipci cards out there? I googled a bit and it
seems
like the Atheros based cards are the best but is there a mod to tweak
the squelch just a hair?

OS on both systems is W2kSP4

Thanks for your help!

Ken

KG0WX <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>I currently have an Atheros AR5212A minipci wifi card installed in my
>T23 laptop. I ran my own coax cables to two Linksys 7dbi antennas
>on the back of the LCD. Works OK but sometimes I have to get closer
>to my router, aquire the signal then go back to my desk where the
>signal "holds" better. If I loose my connection, I have to repeat
>that.

You should NOT have to do that. My guess(tm) is that your Linksys
client software is scanning around for a better connection and not
locking onto your router. The scanning is by SSID. Does your router
have a unique SSID? Does your Linksys client software have a
"preferred" SSID? Any possibility of local interference from other
WLAN networks that are causing the disconnects? If so, try a
different channel (1, 6, or 11).

I also question using two 7dBi antennas. These have plenty of gain in
the horizontal plane, but not much going up and down. If your
wireless access point is not on the horizontal plane with the laptop,
the added gain is not being used because it's outside of the antenna
pattern.

>I also have a VERY old Pentium MMX 150mhz PC running a Linksys
>WUSB11 external wifi radio. The two systems' antenna are pretty close
>and the router (WRT54G v4 running DD-WRT) reports about 9 db better
>signal from the laptop.

DD-WRT v23 SP2 ?? or one of the experimental versions? Just curious.

The reported signal levels are not very accurate for absolute levels.
You can use the signal strength to determine if changes in location or
antenna are doing anything useful, but comparing two completely
different devices will not work. However, the differences reported by
DD-WRT are valid. 9dB is a huge amount of difference in signal
levels. However, you're also comparing an 802.11b connection with an
802.11g connection. That's good for a few dB of difference.

>The problem is that while the laptop has better performance, I have to
>aquire the signal in a better location before it'll work at my desk.

Well, an improvement in antennas will work better than an allegedly
better card. You could go to one of the higher power Atheros based
MiniPCI cards from Ubiquiti:
<http://www.ubnt.com>
but that won't do anything if there's a receive problem. You'll get
lots of transmit range, but the receive range will be the same. Don't
bother.

What might be useful is changing the antenna configuration at the
access point. Perhaps a simple reflector will help:
<http://www.freeantennas.com>

>It's
>kinda like a squelch type issue.

Well, you can create such abrupt transitions if you set the wireless
speed from the usual default of "auto" to some specific speed. Is
that what you've done?

>So, are there better minipci cards out there? I googled a bit and it
>seems
>like the Atheros based cards are the best but is there a mod to tweak
>the squelch just a hair?

Atheros is good for no better reason than they cooperate with the open
source driver authors while the other vendors vary from ambivalent to
belligerant. However, methinks you might be chasing the wrong
problem. You should be able to initiate a connection at the same
location that you can normally use that connection. If not, something
is wrong and should be found before juggling hardware. It's likely to
be a problem with whatever you're using.

>OS on both systems is W2kSP4
>
>Thanks for your help!
>
>Ken
--
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

On May 6, 11:06 am, Jeff Liebermann <j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us>
wrote:
> KG0WX <k...@hotmail.com> hath wroth:
>
> >I currently have an Atheros AR5212A minipci wifi card installed in my
> >T23 laptop. I ran my own coax cables to two Linksys 7dbi antennas
> >on the back of the LCD. Works OK but sometimes I have to get closer
> >to my router, aquire the signal then go back to my desk where the
> >signal "holds" better. If I loose my connection, I have to repeat
> >that.
>
> You should NOT have to do that. My guess(tm) is that your Linksys
> client software is scanning around for a better connection and not
> locking onto your router. The scanning is by SSID. Does your router
> have a unique SSID? Does your Linksys client software have a
> "preferred" SSID? Any possibility of local interference from other
> WLAN networks that are causing the disconnects? If so, try a
> different channel (1, 6, or 11).

Yes, no, probably not & done that

>
> I also question using two 7dBi antennas. These have plenty of gain in
> the horizontal plane, but not much going up and down. If your
> wireless access point is not on the horizontal plane with the laptop,
> the added gain is not being used because it's outside of the antenna
> pattern.

> DD-WRT v23 SP2 ?? or one of the experimental versions? Just curious.

V23 sp 1

>
> The reported signal levels are not very accurate for absolute levels.
> You can use the signal strength to determine if changes in location or
> antenna are doing anything useful, but comparing two completely
> different devices will not work. However, the differences reported by
> DD-WRT are valid. 9dB is a huge amount of difference in signal
> levels. However, you're also comparing an 802.11b connection with an
> 802.11g connection. That's good for a few dB of difference.
>
> >The problem is that while the laptop has better performance, I have to
> >aquire the signal in a better location before it'll work at my desk.
>
> Well, an improvement in antennas will work better than an allegedly
> better card. You could go to one of the higher power Atheros based
> MiniPCI cards from Ubiquiti:
> <http://www.ubnt.com>
> but that won't do anything if there's a receive problem. You'll get
> lots of transmit range, but the receive range will be the same. Don't
> bother.
>
> What might be useful is changing the antenna configuration at the
> access point. Perhaps a simple reflector will help:
> <http://www.freeantennas.com>

Out of the question (SWMBO factor)

>
> >It's
> >kinda like a squelch type issue.
>
> Well, you can create such abrupt transitions if you set the wireless
> speed from the usual default of "auto" to some specific speed. Is
> that what you've done?

Nope, set to auto

>
> >So, are there better minipci cards out there? I googled a bit and it
> >seems
> >like the Atheros based cards are the best but is there a mod to tweak
> >the squelch just a hair?
>
> Atheros is good for no better reason than they cooperate with the open
> source driver authors while the other vendors vary from ambivalent to
> belligerant. However, methinks you might be chasing the wrong
> problem. You should be able to initiate a connection at the same
> location that you can normally use that connection. If not, something
> is wrong and should be found before juggling hardware. It's likely to
> be a problem with whatever you're using.
>
> >OS on both systems is W2kSP4
>
> >Thanks for your help!
>
> >Ken
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558


Thanks Jeff...

If not interference, then it seems like there is something about your
custom antenna/cable configuration that is working against you.

Besides the 7 dbi being overly narrow, I wonder about the cableing.

Also the antenna location. Is your screen or something acting as an
RF shield?

1) pull the antennas off of the screen and move them around from the
screen. Sides point to the AP/router, right? This is a fairly thin
disk that you are pointing.
2) take a critical look at your cabling and connectors. Is it
possible that they are poorly connected or crimped and there is
actually no antenna? What is the cable? I'm trying to imagine how you
could get serious loss with a presumed very short coax.


Steve
Steve

seaweedsteve <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> If not interference, then it seems like there is something about your
> custom antenna/cable configuration that is working against you.
>
> Besides the 7 dbi being overly narrow, I wonder about the cableing.
>
> Also the antenna location. Is your screen or something acting as an
> RF shield?

The T23s have "titanium-reinforced screen lids".

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T_Series

On Sun, 06 May 2007 09:06:37 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>KG0WX <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:
>
>>I currently have an Atheros AR5212A minipci wifi card installed in my
>>T23 laptop. I ran my own coax cables to two Linksys 7dbi antennas
>>on the back of the LCD. Works OK but sometimes I have to get closer
>>to my router, aquire the signal then go back to my desk where the
>>signal "holds" better. If I loose my connection, I have to repeat
>>that.
>
>You should NOT have to do that. My guess(tm) is that your Linksys
>client software is scanning around for a better connection and not
>locking onto your router. The scanning is by SSID. Does your router
>have a unique SSID? Does your Linksys client software have a
>"preferred" SSID? Any possibility of local interference from other
>WLAN networks that are causing the disconnects? If so, try a
>different channel (1, 6, or 11).

I agree that it _should_ not be necessary, but my experience is that it
sometimes _is_ necessary, that connection sometimes cannot be made
without better signal, whereupon it will continue to work (slowly) with
poor signal. SSID seems to have nothing to do with it. Perhaps the
client software is too intolerant of errors during the initial
connection process and/or trying to connect at too high a speed.
Perhaps the access point is failing to shift speed down during the
initial connection. I personally consider it a bug, albeit a relatively
minor one. One of these days I intend to see if locking down speed
would help.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

On Sun, 06 May 2007 09:06:37 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>KG0WX <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>>So, are there better minipci cards out there? I googled a bit and it
>>seems
>>like the Atheros based cards are the best but is there a mod to tweak
>>the squelch just a hair?
>
>Atheros is good for no better reason than they cooperate with the open
>source driver authors while the other vendors vary from ambivalent to
>belligerant. ...

My own experience is that Atheros cards are significantly better in
terms of range than other cards, even Intel.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

KG0WX wrote:

> I currently have an Atheros AR5212A minipci wifi card installed in my
> T23 laptop. I ran my own coax cables to two Linksys 7dbi antennas
> on the back of the LCD. Works OK but sometimes I have to get closer
> to my router, aquire the signal then go back to my desk where the
> signal "holds" better. If I loose my connection, I have to repeat
> that.
>
> I also have a VERY old Pentium MMX 150mhz PC running a Linksys
> WUSB11 external wifi radio. The two systems' antenna are pretty close
> and the router (WRT54G v4 running DD-WRT) reports about 9 db better
> signal from the laptop.
>
> The problem is that while the laptop has better performance, I have to
> aquire the signal in a better location before it'll work at my desk.
> It's
> kinda like a squelch type issue.
>
> So, are there better minipci cards out there? I googled a bit and it
> seems
> like the Atheros based cards are the best but is there a mod to tweak
> the squelch just a hair?
>
> OS on both systems is W2kSP4
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Ken
>
Hi,
Just durious, what disctance are you trying to cover? Vertical or
horixontal? I never had problem in my house covering from the basement
to loft upstairs; that's 3 and half levels of structure. Some with
Atheros, some with Broadcom chips.

On Tue, 08 May 2007 04:21:37 GMT, Tony Hwang <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<lVS%h.165133$DE1.26650@pd7urf2no>:

>... I never had problem in my house covering from the basement
>to loft upstairs; that's 3 and half levels of structure. Some with
>Atheros, some with Broadcom chips.

You're lucky. There's a huge variation in attenuation between different
types of building materials, and many common materials won't permit that
kind of coverage; e.g., lath and plaster, and foil-backed insulation,
which are very effective signal blockers.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>