WRT54g Info

This was a live chat with a LinkSys rep. Is this information right, or
no? If no, or yes, it would be helpful to me to know what's right or
wrong about it. Any tips anyone can give would also be very appreciated.

The log:

> ME: Connected external outside antenna.. How to disable diversified
> antenna and enable single left side (Or right side.) for use?
> L2S-Agent1: Go to the Access page of the router.
> ME: Ok
> L2S-Agent1: go to the advanced tab.
> ME: OK
> L2S-Agent1: Oh sorry, wireless g devices don't have antenna selection,
> it is only applicable on wireless b devices.
> ME: What do I do then?
> L2S-Agent1: we cant do anything sir, because that option is not
> applicable on that router. But i think there is no need for you to
> diversify the antenna.
> ME: I don't need to diversify the antenna. I need to shut it off.
> L2S-Agent1: Well there is no way to do that sir.
> ME: LinkSys told me I could do this and sent me to Jeff at
> Fab-Corp.com to help with the antenna selection for an outside
> antenna, which is already purchased and installed.
> ME: What you are telling me is in contrast to what LinkSys told me
> when I called to verify the WRT54g would work for this application.
> Now you're saying that it won't work at all?
> L2S-Agent1: It will work sir eventhough you do not turn off the other
> half of the antenna.
> ME: Is the signal split for the b band and the g band?
> L2S-Agent1: no.
> ME: So I should get full power out of just one side then?
> L2S-Agent1: yes.
> ME: Ok. I hope this is right. Thank you.

Funny you should post this - I have just gone through the same thing. I have two
WRT54Gs in two different locations. FAB sent me a copy of a command that appears
to have been originally posted on the Seattle Wireless web site.

To disable one antenna, type the following line iin your browser:

<http://<IP_address>/apply.cgi?submit_button=Wireless&change_action=&ac tion=Apply&wl_macmode1=disabled&wl_auth=0&wl_rate= 0&wl_rateset=default&wl_gmode_protection=auto&wl_f rameburst=off&wl_bcn=100&wl_rts=2347&wl_frag=2346& wl_dtim=3&wl_antdiv=0&wl_txant=0>

To enable

<http://<IP_address>/apply.cgi?submit_button=Wireless&change_action=&ac tion=Apply&wl_macmode1=disabled&wl_auth=0&wl_rate= 0&wl_rateset=default&wl_gmode_protection=auto&wl_f rameburst=off&wl_bcn=100&wl_rts=2347&wl_frag=2346& wl_dtim=3&wl_antdiv=1&wl_txant=0>


It's not clear to me, which of the two antennas this disables, and indeed, I
could not see any difference in performance when I ran the disable command at
one location with a 7dBi omni on one side and the rubber duckie on the other.

At my second location, I have an external 9dBi omni on the right side (as you
face the LEDs) and the rubber duckie on the left. Despite warnings from several
sources that this may not work, it seems to be doing just fine.

The people at AerialX sent me this note:

>99% of all diversity in Access points are only used to reduce multipath
>interference on receive only. Therefore you only have to figure out which
>antenna is the primary that transmits. You can easily figure this out by
>removing one of the antennas on the AP and examining the received signal
>strength on one of your clients. Once you figure that out, you can then
>install one higher gain antenna on that port, or install two greater
>antennas on both ports (with the same gain and relatively close to one
>another) for diversity with higher gain antennas.

I don't think the WRT54G works this way, but am open to being educated!


Excalibur <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>This was a live chat with a LinkSys rep. Is this information right, or
>no? If no, or yes, it would be helpful to me to know what's right or
>wrong about it. Any tips anyone can give would also be very appreciated.
>
>The log:
>
>> ME: Connected external outside antenna.. How to disable diversified
>> antenna and enable single left side (Or right side.) for use?
>> L2S-Agent1: Go to the Access page of the router.
>> ME: Ok
>> L2S-Agent1: go to the advanced tab.
>> ME: OK
>> L2S-Agent1: Oh sorry, wireless g devices don't have antenna selection,
>> it is only applicable on wireless b devices.
>> ME: What do I do then?
>> L2S-Agent1: we cant do anything sir, because that option is not
>> applicable on that router. But i think there is no need for you to
>> diversify the antenna.
>> ME: I don't need to diversify the antenna. I need to shut it off.
>> L2S-Agent1: Well there is no way to do that sir.
>> ME: LinkSys told me I could do this and sent me to Jeff at
>> Fab-Corp.com to help with the antenna selection for an outside
>> antenna, which is already purchased and installed.
>> ME: What you are telling me is in contrast to what LinkSys told me
>> when I called to verify the WRT54g would work for this application.
>> Now you're saying that it won't work at all?
>> L2S-Agent1: It will work sir eventhough you do not turn off the other
>> half of the antenna.
>> ME: Is the signal split for the b band and the g band?
>> L2S-Agent1: no.
>> ME: So I should get full power out of just one side then?
>> L2S-Agent1: yes.
>> ME: Ok. I hope this is right. Thank you.

I thank the Networking Gods for making 'nice people who bother to take
the time'... (Or NPWBTTTT <G>)

I'll try it immediately! You made my day and thank you!

Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:

>Funny you should post this - I have just gone through the same thing. I have two
>WRT54Gs in two different locations. FAB sent me a copy of a command that appears
>to have been originally posted on the Seattle Wireless web site.
>
>To disable one antenna, type the following line iin your browser:
>
><http://<IP_address>/apply.cgi?submit_button=Wireless&change_action=&ac tion=Apply&wl_macmode1=disabled&wl_auth=0&wl_rate= 0&wl_rateset=default&wl_gmode_protection=auto&wl_f rameburst=off&wl_bcn=100&wl_rts=2347&wl_frag=2346& wl_dtim=3&wl_antdiv=0&wl_txant=0>
>
>To enable
>
><http://<IP_address>/apply.cgi?submit_button=Wireless&change_action=&ac tion=Apply&wl_macmode1=disabled&wl_auth=0&wl_rate= 0&wl_rateset=default&wl_gmode_protection=auto&wl_f rameburst=off&wl_bcn=100&wl_rts=2347&wl_frag=2346& wl_dtim=3&wl_antdiv=1&wl_txant=0>
>
>
>It's not clear to me, which of the two antennas this disables, and indeed, I
>could not see any difference in performance when I ran the disable command at
>one location with a 7dBi omni on one side and the rubber duckie on the other.
>
>At my second location, I have an external 9dBi omni on the right side (as you
>face the LEDs) and the rubber duckie on the left. Despite warnings from several
>sources that this may not work, it seems to be doing just fine.
>
>The people at AerialX sent me this note:
>
>
>
>>99% of all diversity in Access points are only used to reduce multipath
>>interference on receive only. Therefore you only have to figure out which
>>antenna is the primary that transmits. You can easily figure this out by
>>removing one of the antennas on the AP and examining the received signal
>>strength on one of your clients. Once you figure that out, you can then
>>install one higher gain antenna on that port, or install two greater
>>antennas on both ports (with the same gain and relatively close to one
>>another) for diversity with higher gain antennas.
>>
>>
>
>I don't think the WRT54G works this way, but am open to being educated!
>
>
>Excalibur <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>
>
>>This was a live chat with a LinkSys rep. Is this information right, or
>>no? If no, or yes, it would be helpful to me to know what's right or
>>wrong about it. Any tips anyone can give would also be very appreciated.
>>
>>The log:
>>
>>
>>
>>>ME: Connected external outside antenna.. How to disable diversified
>>>antenna and enable single left side (Or right side.) for use?
>>>L2S-Agent1: Go to the Access page of the router.
>>>ME: Ok
>>>L2S-Agent1: go to the advanced tab.
>>>ME: OK
>>>L2S-Agent1: Oh sorry, wireless g devices don't have antenna selection,
>>>it is only applicable on wireless b devices.
>>>ME: What do I do then?
>>>L2S-Agent1: we cant do anything sir, because that option is not
>>>applicable on that router. But i think there is no need for you to
>>>diversify the antenna.
>>>ME: I don't need to diversify the antenna. I need to shut it off.
>>>L2S-Agent1: Well there is no way to do that sir.
>>>ME: LinkSys told me I could do this and sent me to Jeff at
>>>Fab-Corp.com to help with the antenna selection for an outside
>>>antenna, which is already purchased and installed.
>>>ME: What you are telling me is in contrast to what LinkSys told me
>>>when I called to verify the WRT54g would work for this application.
>>>Now you're saying that it won't work at all?
>>>L2S-Agent1: It will work sir eventhough you do not turn off the other
>>>half of the antenna.
>>>ME: Is the signal split for the b band and the g band?
>>>L2S-Agent1: no.
>>>ME: So I should get full power out of just one side then?
>>>L2S-Agent1: yes.
>>>ME: Ok. I hope this is right. Thank you.
>>>
>>>
>
>
>

Excalibur <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>You made my day and thank you!

You're welcome!

There are a number of hacked firmware versions around that provide a web
interface to control the diversity settings and the transmit power on
the WRT54G. Dig around in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WRT54G and ftp://ftp.sveasoft.com/pub/ for
details.

The WRT54G has support for all this from the internal linux command line
but the web UI is missing from the standard firmware.

--
Julian Bond Email&MSM: julian.bond at voidstar.com
Webmaster: http://www.ecademy.com/
Personal WebLog: http://www.voidstar.com/
M: +44 (0)77 5907 2173 T: +44 (0)192 0412 433

I'm going to inject some non-scientific results just in case someone
finds this thread at least somewhat useful...

Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:

>Funny you should post this - I have just gone through the same thing. I have two
>WRT54Gs in two different locations. FAB sent me a copy of a command that appears
>to have been originally posted on the Seattle Wireless web site.
>
>To disable one antenna, type the following line iin your browser:
>
><http://<IP_address>/apply.cgi?submit_button=Wireless&change_action=&ac tion=Apply&wl_macmode1=disabled&wl_auth=0&wl_rate= 0&wl_rateset=default&wl_gmode_protection=auto&wl_f rameburst=off&wl_bcn=100&wl_rts=2347&wl_frag=2346& wl_dtim=3&wl_antdiv=0&wl_txant=0>
>
>To enable
>
><http://<IP_address>/apply.cgi?submit_button=Wireless&change_action=&ac tion=Apply&wl_macmode1=disabled&wl_auth=0&wl_rate= 0&wl_rateset=default&wl_gmode_protection=auto&wl_f rameburst=off&wl_bcn=100&wl_rts=2347&wl_frag=2346& wl_dtim=3&wl_antdiv=1&wl_txant=0>
>
>
Ok, I replaced the IP_address and brackets with 192.168.1.1 and removed
the outer / inner 'greater than' and 'less than' signs out of the
equations. The router answered back with new changes saved, as expected.
So I had real hope!

>It's not clear to me, which of the two antennas this disables, and indeed, I
>could not see any difference in performance when I ran the disable command at
>one location with a 7dBi omni on one side and the rubber duckie on the other.
>
>At my second location, I have an external 9dBi omni on the right side (as you
>face the LEDs) and the rubber duckie on the left. Despite warnings from several
>sources that this may not work, it seems to be doing just fine.
>
>The people at AerialX sent me this note:
>
>
>
>>99% of all diversity in Access points are only used to reduce multipath
>>interference on receive only. Therefore you only have to figure out which
>>antenna is the primary that transmits. You can easily figure this out by
>>removing one of the antennas on the AP and examining the received signal
>>strength on one of your clients. Once you figure that out, you can then
>>install one higher gain antenna on that port, or install two greater
>>antennas on both ports (with the same gain and relatively close to one
>>another) for diversity with higher gain antennas.
>>
>>
>
>I don't think the WRT54G works this way, but am open to being educated!
>
>
First we left the LinkSys WRT54g router with its stock antenna settings.
Then my daughter and I checked signal strength with first the left and
right stock antenna only, while leaving the other stock antenna off. The
router appeared to have a bias to the right antenna. (From the front and
looking at the lights same as you.) So we switched and tested with the
other stock antenna, again without changing the router's antenna
settings. Same deal. We flat got a better signal having the antenna on
the right side. Then we tried it with moving the antenna from the up
position, to the down position, straight across, etc. Always with the
same results. The right side would go from good with 2 to 4 bars on both
of LinkSys' meters. The left side showed a fairly dramatic decrease in
signal strength, with mostly 1 or 2 bars and a poor rating using
LinkSys' meters. So ok, there's that.

Then we typed in the disable command structure listed above and for all
intensive purposes, got the same exact results as above... NO
difference. Both antennas were transmitting and receiving and with the
same bias toward the right antenna.

Next we hooked up the outside omni-directional 10 dbi antenna and ran
through the tests once again. We came up with the same results. Not just
the same results with the antennae though, but the same exact results
with the external / outside, $175 dollar omni-directional antenna, using
all Fab-Corp's recommended hardware, pigtail, etc. In other words, same
signal strength even. We did try moving the client antenna as well. So
I'm guessing someone smarter than me, (Not hard to do.), will probably
say it will do no good, if you don't replace the LinkSys WMP55AG client
antenna with a better one as well. However, I was thinking it should
have improved at least the receive end of the client machine at least a
little.

I'm going to be really pissed if someone's laptop in Nova Scotia just
got free internet suddenly! <G>

(Obviously I don't live in Nova Scotia and the local birds would
probably have to take a jet to get there as well.)

Excalibur <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Next we hooked up the outside omni-directional 10 dbi antenna and ran
>through the tests once again. We came up with the same results. Not just
>the same results with the antennae though, but the same exact results
>with the external / outside, $175 dollar omni-directional antenna, using
>all Fab-Corp's recommended hardware, pigtail, etc. In other words, same
>signal strength even. We did try moving the client antenna as well. So
>I'm guessing someone smarter than me, (Not hard to do.), will probably
>say it will do no good, if you don't replace the LinkSys WMP55AG client
>antenna with a better one as well. However, I was thinking it should
>have improved at least the receive end of the client machine at least a
>little.

I would have thought we both would have seen *some* improvement in performance
with a 7/9dB externa antenna compared with the standard rubber duckie, which is
1 or 2dB.

In fact, at my other site, where I put a 9dB external omni on and did not change
the diversity setting, I did see a significant improvement in range. Was able to
connect to a wireless internet camera at 500' with only a stock rubber duckie
antenna on it.

Now the funny thing is, my neighbor from across the street stopped by this
morning and returned a cargo rack he had borrowed. In passing, he asked if I had
installed a wireless router recently. When I replied yes, he said that his
Centrino laptop kept trying to disconnect from his router and connect to mine!

So maybe things have improved a bit....

Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:

>In fact, at my other site, where I put a 9dB external omni on and did not change
>the diversity setting, I did see a significant improvement in range. Was able to
>connect to a wireless internet camera at 500' with only a stock rubber duckie
>antenna on it.
>
>
Here's a question for you that just came to mind. Is it the LinkSys
WVC11B wireless camera and do you have just the B channel enabled, or
are you running running in multi-mode with G enabled? I was thinking of
adding a camera like that at this location, is it worth it in your opinion?

For our tests, we had the router / client in multi-mode, but in all
cases our client showed the G channel being the active one. I definitely
should have shut off G and B to run them independently for each test. Ugh!

>Now the funny thing is, my neighbor from across the street stopped by this
>morning and returned a cargo rack he had borrowed. In passing, he asked if I had
>installed a wireless router recently. When I replied yes, he said that his
>Centrino laptop kept trying to disconnect from his router and connect to mine!
>
>So maybe things have improved a bit....
>

I connected an additional client up to this G network today. I was able
to get some signal inside the client's pre-fab home, using an internal 9
dbi directional 'sort of half pointed' at the omni. This house is on a
hill about 1000' away and about 300' or so above the office (On a
terraced hill.) where the omni antenna is located. Not done yet, but I
did verify the LinkSys WSB24 *should* work like you said, (If you were
in a neutral zone somewhere legally outside the FCC's domain.) with a
LinkSys WRT54g router. Best link description for that kind of thing I
could find: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/Revie...odID-WSB24.php
(Trying at one's own risk, etc...)

Excalibur <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Here's a question for you that just came to mind. Is it the LinkSys
>WVC11B wireless camera and do you have just the B channel enabled, or
>are you running running in multi-mode with G enabled? I was thinking of
>adding a camera like that at this location, is it worth it in your opinion?

I have the router running in mixed mode as the camera is a "B" device. I haven't
done any performance tests, but it works very well.

I actually bought both a Linksys WVC11B camera and a Dlink DCS-1000W camera and
have both of them connected. There are some clear differences. Both cameras work
well for interior use, as long as there is sufficient lighting. The Dlink works
much better outside in high light, low contrast situations (think snow, desert
sand, etc). The Dlink also has a larger video picture. The Dlink also handles
low light better.

The Linksys is actually a bit easier to set up and use. Both cameras use Active
X controls or Java to display the video. The Linksys provides the Active X
control as a part of the camera web server. The first time you call up the
camera, it downloads the control directly from the camera. Since the LinkSys
only uses Active X, you must be running IE to view.

The Dlink can use either an Active X control or a Java script. The Java script
is resident in the camera, but the Active X control has to be hosted on some
external web server.

A slightly more expensive camera that I haven't tried yet is the Veo. It adds
sound as well as remote pan & tilt.

Excalibur <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Best link description for that kind of thing I
>could find: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/Revie...odID-WSB24.php
>(Trying at one's own risk, etc...)

Thanks for the link!