Hey folks,
I'm looking for a little help w/ my wireless setup. I'm experiencing
frequent signal loss (roughly 2-4 mins of outage for every 20 mins of
use), and need to figure out what to try next.
I've got a Linksys WRT54G AP running in B-only mode, and my client is an
IBM X31 laptop w/ built-in Intel ("centrino") wireless. I currently live
on the top floor of a three-story brownstone in Brooklyn. My AP sits in
the very front room, and I'm trying to connect to it from as close as the
next room (no doors between us - only roughly 14 ft away). While I'm
successful about 80% of the time, there are frequent periods of complete
signal loss. I'm not talking about a diminished, lower bitrate signal --
it's as if the AP disappears. Of course, it doesn't. It's not as if
power is being cut to he AP, or it's resetting itself, or anything else
power related. It's more likely to happen when I transfer large amounts
of data. For example, I often use Remote Desktop to connect to my desktop
PC. If start scrolling around large images, it's much more likely that
I'll get a disconnect. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was due to
a neighbor's microwave or cordless phone -- it's less likely to happen at
night.
My questions are:
1. How do I know which end is having the problem? Is the laptop having a
hard time seeing the AP, or is it vice-versa? Are there tools which could
help me figure this out?
2. I've already bought a 6dB omni for the AP -- no help. Is the answer
to boost power on the AP to overcome the interfering signal?
3. Are there any settings within the WRT54G's admin tools which could
help here? Things like "CTS Protection Mode" and the like?
4. I've tried changing channels to 1,3,6,10,11... no difference. There
are at least a dozen others APs which my laptop can see -- perhaps these
are the cause of my problems? I've unplugged my 2.4GhZ DSS cordless -- no
change. What next?!?
Thanks for everone's input!
Jeff
--
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