WAP11 PCMCIA Window Mod?

Moose · 03-11-2003

Yes I am bored and have taken apart one of my WAP11's. I am going to put it into a frosted (iMac style) Maxtor firewire case and add some more LED's to give it a glowing look. I wanted to know if the pcmcia cards metal cover acts specifically as shielding or if it is for unhindered insertion of the card? The reason I ask is there is another small red LED inside the card that you can see if you look down inside the metal casing, it is about dead center on the card on the top side. I want to cut a window here. Thanks for any info on this.

Also is from the posts on the WAP11 voltage hack I can't determine what the overall feeling is on it. It gives you a stronger signal but at the cost of a less focused signal. All my WAP's are 1.1's and wanted to know if I should stick with what I have to try playing with them.

Mr.White · 03-11-2003

Bling bling WAP mods.........right on.

Post some pics when you're done, you seek leetle monkey.

agentgrn · 03-11-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Moose
Also is from the posts on the WAP11 voltage hack I can't determine what the overall feeling is on it. It gives you a stronger signal but at the cost of a less focused signal. All my WAP's are 1.1's and wanted to know if I should stick with what I have to try playing with them.

Are you referring to the hack which uses a generic firmware to tweak the antenna output? If so, then some findings done by others suggest that the signal is indeed stronger, but so is the noise generated by the AP.

I wish I had the link for the page which showed this. But pretty much, a guy armed with an oscilloscope was able to show a malformation in the signal when it was kicked up a notch via software.

I imagine the same thing could be accomplished if the singal output was modified via hardware as well.

Moose · 03-12-2003

I did see those oscilloscope images you are referring to and they are what have scared me out of doing the hack. But I just wanted to know from someone's first hand experience what the benefits and downfalls are in practical use. ie "get better range but at generally lower speeds". Something that seems likely to me but I would like to hear what actual post hack performance is.

Reguarding my window mod I am halfway through, been at it for a few hours with the dremel, yes I am still bored enough to keep working on it at 5am. I think so far the hardest thing was just prying off the metal covering. All the popping and cracking of the bending metal was scaring the crap out of me that I had broke it, but it still powers up

Moose · 03-12-2003

Been messing around with the dremel all night and now I'm done. Pretty hokey but I am happy with it. The antenna spacing is 1/4 inch too wide but I doubt it will make a huge performance difference. It can still be mounted flat or on the wall.

Here you can see how I had to criss-cross the antenna wires.

In the back the original face plate from the firewire enclosure woudn't work so I made a new one with a CD jewel case. Also here you can see my crappy skills with the soldering iron, the only solder I had was a size to big.

The blue LED I added isn't done justice in this pic. I am trying to find a digi camera with the required apature settings to get it right as it glows a nice violet across all the internal patterns of the plastic, reminds me of a jelly fish... a square jellyfish...

The plexiglass was fit trial-and-error with a dremel and is held in just by it's tight fit without any glue. It is perfectly flush with the plastic.

This is the card before I bent off the covering to let the little red LED out to play. I forgot to see if this card fits in my laptop.

I am thinking of gettiing "WAP11" etched into the lower section of the plexiglass. Will probably have to wait until I get bored again and have another night to kill.

Any comments or questions are welcome. Stumble on...

chuck2 · 03-12-2003

very nice job!!! I like!

agentgrn · 03-12-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Moose
I did see those oscilloscope images you are referring to and they are what have scared me out of doing the hack. But I just wanted to know from someone's first hand experience what the benefits and downfalls are in practical use. ie "get better range but at generally lower speeds". Something that seems likely to me but I would like to hear what actual post hack performance is.

I ran the software hack on the WAP11s that I've got and never really noticed any negative effects. I did get a little bit more extended range and stuff from it, but it wasn't really that noticable.

Since there isn't a hack available for the WAP11 v2.2, I'm considering the amp that Linksys sells now...but it's kinda low on my priority list at the moment.

03-11-2003	#1 (permalink)
Moose Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 7	WAP11 Window Mod - Completed w/ PICS Yes I am bored and have taken apart one of my WAP11's. I am going to put it into a frosted (iMac style) Maxtor firewire case and add some more LED's to give it a glowing look. I wanted to know if the pcmcia cards metal cover acts specifically as shielding or if it is for unhindered insertion of the card? The reason I ask is there is another small red LED inside the card that you can see if you look down inside the metal casing, it is about dead center on the card on the top side. I want to cut a window here. Thanks for any info on this. Also is from the posts on the WAP11 voltage hack I can't determine what the overall feeling is on it. It gives you a stronger signal but at the cost of a less focused signal. All my WAP's are 1.1's and wanted to know if I should stick with what I have to try playing with them. Last edited by Moose : 03-12-2003 at 01:25 PM.

03-11-2003	#2 (permalink)
Mr.White OH such tacos will I give Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,049	Bling bling WAP mods.........right on. Post some pics when you're done, you seek leetle monkey. __________________ A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. "Hear that?" you say. "That's dynamite, baby." -Jack Handey

03-12-2003	#5 (permalink)
Moose Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 7	Completed Been messing around with the dremel all night and now I'm done. Pretty hokey but I am happy with it. The antenna spacing is 1/4 inch too wide but I doubt it will make a huge performance difference. It can still be mounted flat or on the wall. Here you can see how I had to criss-cross the antenna wires. In the back the original face plate from the firewire enclosure woudn't work so I made a new one with a CD jewel case. Also here you can see my crappy skills with the soldering iron, the only solder I had was a size to big. The blue LED I added isn't done justice in this pic. I am trying to find a digi camera with the required apature settings to get it right as it glows a nice violet across all the internal patterns of the plastic, reminds me of a jelly fish... a square jellyfish... The plexiglass was fit trial-and-error with a dremel and is held in just by it's tight fit without any glue. It is perfectly flush with the plastic. This is the card before I bent off the covering to let the little red LED out to play. I forgot to see if this card fits in my laptop. I am thinking of gettiing "WAP11" etched into the lower section of the plexiglass. Will probably have to wait until I get bored again and have another night to kill. Any comments or questions are welcome. Stumble on... Last edited by Moose : 03-12-2003 at 06:43 PM.

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03-12-2003	#4 (permalink)
Moose Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 7	I did see those oscilloscope images you are referring to and they are what have scared me out of doing the hack. But I just wanted to know from someone's first hand experience what the benefits and downfalls are in practical use. ie "get better range but at generally lower speeds". Something that seems likely to me but I would like to hear what actual post hack performance is. Reguarding my window mod I am halfway through, been at it for a few hours with the dremel, yes I am still bored enough to keep working on it at 5am. I think so far the hardest thing was just prying off the metal covering. All the popping and cracking of the bending metal was scaring the crap out of me that I had broke it, but it still powers up

03-12-2003	#6 (permalink)
chuck2 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 103	very nice job!!! I like!