WAP54G signal strength and speed problem if more than 5 feet away

Two of my Intel Centrino laptops with WinXP on them can't keep a steady
connection if AP is more than about 5 feet away. My Intel 3.06Gz
hyperthreaded laptop, however, doesn't seem to suffer other than the
speed goes from excellent to very good.

Could Centrino chipset have anything to do with weak reception?
Or could it be the AP?
Are there any rules of thumb for AP placement for best coverage?

The laptops and the AP are pretty much new (I've had the AP for several
months now).

I would really appreciate any help with this one.

Thank you.
-SAB

On 9 Aug 2005 14:02:13 -0700, "sab" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Two of my Intel Centrino laptops with WinXP on them can't keep a steady
>connection if AP is more than about 5 feet away.

That's wrong. Any particular model laptop and wireless card in the
laptop? It's kinda difficult to offer suggestions with no clue as to
what your tinkering with. All Centrino laptops and wireless cards are
not identical.

>My Intel 3.06Gz
>hyperthreaded laptop, however, doesn't seem to suffer other than the
>speed goes from excellent to very good.

That would be a fair indication that your WAP54G access point or
wireless router is working.

>Could Centrino chipset have anything to do with weak reception?

The chips are usually fine. However, the drivers have a big effect on
Centrino operation. Dive into the Intel web pile and excavate the
latest drivers for your unspecified Centrino laptop wireless card. It
is also possible to misconfigure the wireless settings. There were
also some nasty compatibility issues between Netgear (and other)
access points and Centrino chipsets. There were firmware updates for
the access points and wireless routers that fixed this about 2 years
ago. I don't think the WAP54G was affected but you might wanna check
for the lastest firmware.

I suggest you drag the Centrino laptops to a different access point or
wireless hot spot (coffee shop) to verify that they are the problem.

>Or could it be the AP?

No. If it works with the unspecified model 3GHz Intel laptop, it's
probably not your WAP54G.

>Are there any rules of thumb for AP placement for best coverage?

Yes. Unobstructed line of sight between the access point antenna and
your laptop is best. You can usually go through one or two walls
without too much difficulty. Three or more walls is a crap shoot.
Aluminum foil in the walls won't work at all. Don't bury the antenna
and you should get at least 100ft of range to a typical laptop.

>The laptops and the AP are pretty much new (I've had the AP for several
>months now).
>
>I would really appreciate any help with this one.
>
>Thank you.
>-SAB


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