Poor Antenna Performance - Solution Needed.

kjemison · 08-10-2002

Hello again... I wanted some advice on a setup that I am trying to do. Let me lay out my particulars... 2 story home Linksys WAP11 upstairs at one end of house... opposite end and downstairs is a porch where I have a laptop with an Orinoco Gold card.. signal strength is low but functional on the laptop. I wanted to increase the signal quality. Previous suggestions were that I put an omni directional on the WAP 11. So, I purchased one from Fab-Corp (9 dbi - 20 inch) and some LMR 400 cable to connect the antenna to the WAP11. This proved to have no effect whatsoever... even after adjusting the antenna settings within the APs setup area. I actually have better reception from the WAP 11s factory antennas. This makes no sense to me. I am disappointed that Ispent close to $100.00 with no gain in performance. Does anyone have any ideas on how or what I may be doing wrong??

Thank you
Kell Jemison

rerunn · 08-10-2002

Have you turned off antenna diversity on your WAP11??

see this thread

godsmoke · 08-10-2002

hmm ... this sounds odd.

Have you tried connecting the antenna to your orinoco gold card?

Also, lets point out that the 9 db antennas (the higher dbis) have very low vertical coverage, so if it's on a second-story window, and only shooting out at 15 degrees, then it probably wont reach a porch right below it, try putting it outside the window, so it's horizontal, if that doesn't work, post back (well, even if it DOES work, post back) but tell me how that turns out.

kjemison · 08-10-2002

Yes... tried all different settings.

fordem · 08-10-2002

What I did was locate my AP close to the middle of the house -needed a run of CAT5 to do it, but nowhere near $100

kjemison · 08-10-2002

That was the 2nd thing I did.. I attached the antenna to the Orinoco gold card... my signal strength remained the same as when it is not attached. I will attempt to place the antenna outside in a moment.

godsmoke · 08-10-2002

Here was what I was trying to describe...

I had a little fun making a diagram

kjemison · 08-10-2002

I like the picture .. what program did you use?

godsmoke · 08-10-2002

I used OmniGraffle -- which is made by Omni Group, a team of MAC OS X developers. You can find them here: http://www.omnigroup.com

It's a cool little program. For REAL network diagraming I use Microsoft Visio 2002

08-10-2002	#1 (permalink)
kjemison Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: St. Pete, FL Posts: 7	Poor Antenna Performance - Solution Needed. Hello again... I wanted some advice on a setup that I am trying to do. Let me lay out my particulars... 2 story home Linksys WAP11 upstairs at one end of house... opposite end and downstairs is a porch where I have a laptop with an Orinoco Gold card.. signal strength is low but functional on the laptop. I wanted to increase the signal quality. Previous suggestions were that I put an omni directional on the WAP 11. So, I purchased one from Fab-Corp (9 dbi - 20 inch) and some LMR 400 cable to connect the antenna to the WAP11. This proved to have no effect whatsoever... even after adjusting the antenna settings within the APs setup area. I actually have better reception from the WAP 11s factory antennas. This makes no sense to me. I am disappointed that Ispent close to $100.00 with no gain in performance. Does anyone have any ideas on how or what I may be doing wrong?? Thank you Kell Jemison

08-10-2002	#2 (permalink)
rerunn rerunn run run Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: way up north Posts: 70	Ant Diversity Have you turned off antenna diversity on your WAP11?? see this thread

08-10-2002	#9 (permalink)
godsmoke Student / Sys Admn. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: NYC, USA Posts: 78	I used OmniGraffle -- which is made by Omni Group, a team of MAC OS X developers. You can find them here: http://www.omnigroup.com It's a cool little program. For REAL network diagraming I use Microsoft Visio 2002 __________________ -godsmoke

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08-10-2002	#3 (permalink)
godsmoke Student / Sys Admn. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: NYC, USA Posts: 78	hmm ... this sounds odd. Have you tried connecting the antenna to your orinoco gold card? Also, lets point out that the 9 db antennas (the higher dbis) have very low vertical coverage, so if it's on a second-story window, and only shooting out at 15 degrees, then it probably wont reach a porch right below it, try putting it outside the window, so it's horizontal, if that doesn't work, post back (well, even if it DOES work, post back) but tell me how that turns out.

08-10-2002	#4 (permalink)
kjemison Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: St. Pete, FL Posts: 7	Yes... tried all different settings.

08-10-2002	#5 (permalink)
fordem Tropical Stumbler Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 575	What I did was locate my AP close to the middle of the house -needed a run of CAT5 to do it, but nowhere near $100

08-10-2002	#6 (permalink)
kjemison Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: St. Pete, FL Posts: 7	That was the 2nd thing I did.. I attached the antenna to the Orinoco gold card... my signal strength remained the same as when it is not attached. I will attempt to place the antenna outside in a moment.

08-10-2002	#8 (permalink)
kjemison Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: St. Pete, FL Posts: 7	I like the picture .. what program did you use?