I'll share a discovery I made the hard way. Metal glazed windows, like the ones in commercial buildings, are absolute murder to a WiFi signal. I think it's the layer that gives them that coloured reflective look. I guess the intention is to cut down on UV and IR transmission but it also kills WiFi.
I tried setting up a small campus network between two buildings not 100 feet apart. I used upgraded (not the best, but upgraded) antennae but those windows just stopped the signal cold. I had the same experience at another customer when I was using their network to test AP hopping with the Hitachi WiFi SIP phone. It moved around alright within the building but as soon as I stepped outside, nothing. The signal dropped right off. I guess mounting an outdoor antenna is the solution. Dave On 4/15/06, Andrew Kohlsmith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Saturday 15 April 2006 13:51, Jim Van Meggelen wrote: > > One of the options, of course, is to go wireless. Thing is, there's more > to > > wireless than just a lack of cables. > > Not much anymore... Unless you start talking about some of the things > below... > > I know enough to be dangerous as far as radio goes (signal clarity, > antenna > theory, beam shape, fresnel zones, path/cable/connector loss, etc.), but > then > again getting basic wireless set up isn't much of a problem. The legal > stuff > (channels, EIRP, etc.) isn't too tough either, as is the basic setup, > antenna > selection and stuff. > > Relating this to VOIP is where I fall short. Minimizing latency is one > thing, > but I'm thinking more of handoff from one access point to another in a > cluster (i.e. in that metal building scenario you'd mentioned). > > As far as cheap gear goes, I wouldn't cheap out on the APs. You don't > need > Cisco/Avaya/Whatever gear with the VOIP prioritization; WRT54GLs will be > far > more effective than any commercial closed-source gear. I'd bet my > least-cost > routing on it. > > Mind you, I think we all think that way or we wouldn't be using Asterisk. > > -A. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- David Donovan Consultant Fulcrum Solutions
