Thanks, David, for your explanations about
the gear and the terminology.

Encouraged by having been able to assemble
a computer if slowly, I am going to try to build
a cantenna and am presently negotiating to buy
a used PCI adapter missing its screw-on antenna.

I have a related question. Experimenting with
the wireless connection through a Linksys WUSB11,
I discovered that if I clicked on a link BEFORE
a Web page fully loaded up and forgot to click
on the Stop-Loading-This-Page button, the connection
would fail. The connection can be reestablished
through the Repair utility once or twice. More than
2 or 3 times, Repair locks up requiring a reboot.

When connected through my POTS dialup access,
this sort of thing does not happen. Is there an explanation
for this?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this weighty
matter.

Michael Eisenstadt

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Gillett" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 3:23 PM
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] wifi questions


>  Both PCI and USB 2.0 support higher data rates to the computer than
> you'll
> get over the wireless, so I think the only advantage you *might* see with
> a
> PCI NIC (WNIC?) would have to do with availability of power to the unit.
> Unlikely to make a whole lot of difference.
>
>  A higher-gain antenna on a cable that you can reposition is probably your
> best solution.
>
>  By the way, there is a lot of specialized terminology in wireless, and an
> "Access Point" is a very specific sort of device, a bridge/switch with a
> wired network port on on side and an infratructure-mode radio on the
> other --
> a "base station" that plugs into a wired network and allows wireless
> clients to connect to it.  (It's very like a wireless router without the
> routing capabilities.)  A wireless client NIC is a different beast.
>
> David Gillett
>
>
> On 15 Oct 2005 at 7:59, Michael Eisenstadt wrote:
>
>> The Linksys WUSB11b which I have has a USB
>> cable between it and the computer. And changing
>> its position helps strengthen the incoming signal.
>> I guess what I was looking for was advice about
>> specific hardware. I have tried to find comparative
>> reviews of different brand access points without
>> much luck. The only ones I came up with were
>> some customers' reviews on the Newegg Web site.
>>
>> For example, I am trying to find out whether
>> PCI card access points are better or worse
>> than external access points (like my Linksys)
>> using USB cables. D-Link has an external
>> access point antenna (DWL-M60AT) with a
>> 10 foot ULA-316 fixed cable which attaches
>> to an internal PCI card access point after the
>> latter's antenna is removed. For sale at Newegg
>> but I can't find any reviews except from Newegg
>> buyers of the item.
>>
>> There are Web pages describing homemade
>> antennas which I would consider trying to
>> build if I could find objective recommendations
>> in their favor other than the enthousiasm of their
>> designers.
>>
>> Michael Eisenstadt
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "David Gillett" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 1:26 AM
>> Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] wifi questions
>>
>>
>> >  Unfortunately, every manufacturer's utility is free to decide for
>> > itself
>> > what a "bar" means at any given moment....
>> >
>> >  The first and easiest thing to try is to insert a USB cable between
>> > the
>> > adapter and the computer.  This will make it easy to experiment with
>> > different orientations and locations of the adapter.  (My Netgear
>> > WG111v2
>> > came with such a cable, and velcro to secure the adapter in a good
>> > position
>> > once found....)
>> >
>> >  Possible sources of interference between you and the hotspot include:
>> >
>> > - 2.4 GHz cordless phones and microwave ovens
>> >
>> > - other nearby wireless hotpots, possibly not so public
>> >
>> > - people and objects in/near the line of sight between your antenna and
>> > the
>> > hotspot's
>> >
>> > - reflected/refracted fragments of the signal
>> >
>> >  You *may* be able to remove the native antenna and attach a separate
>> > "high
>> > gain" antenna instead.  These usually manage to increase signal
>> > strength
>> > by
>> > restricting it to a specific direction or zone, so you will likely need
>> > to
>> > know what direction the hotspot antenna is in.  This may manage to
>> > overcome
>> > whatever interference is causing your current problems.
>> >
>> > David Gillett
>> >
>> >
>> > On 12 Oct 2005 at 15:01, Michael Eisenstadt wrote:
>> >
>> >> I live near a public wifi hotspot which my older Linksys
>> >> WUSB11 one eared antenna detects. I get up to 4 bars
>> >> of signal strength in the Win XP Pro utility, but the
>> >> connection randomly fails, sometimes when I click on
>> >> a link and sometimes when I download something and
>> >> sometimes not. Sometimes the connection is stable for
>> >> hours, other times it fails every few seconds.
>> >>
>> >> I am writing to ask for your suggestions about
>> >> possibly replacing the hardware and/or somehow
>> >> tweaking the signal strength with some (homebuilt?)
>> >> device.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks in advance for your help.
>> >>
>> >> Michael Eisenstadt

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