[Gllug] [OT] Extended coverage wireless routers

[Chris Bell]

On Sun 08 Apr, Leo Hickey wrote:
> 
> Thanks for your responses, they're very helpful.
> 
> Caroline Ford wrote:
> > Pre-n is MIMO which uses multiple antennae afaik
> 
> Yes, but MIMO can be used as a separate technology because they have it 
> on some non-pre-n routers as well. What I still haven't worked out is if 
> MIMO is any benefit for the overall connection quality if you have MIMO 
> on the router and your client is a plain old 11g connection, but as you 
> say, I suspect not.
> 
> Christopher Hunter wrote:
> > Subtract 3.2 dB from the rated
> > figures to get dBd which is gain over a dipole - they don't look too
> > good then.  
> > 
> > Most of those antennas advertised there are either end fed dipoles or
> > crude colinears.  Neither will work too well in reality.
> 
> I can see manufacturers advertising useless specs to make their stuff 
> sound better, but why would they sell wifi range-extender antennae that 
> would not work well if there is a better design that is simple to produce?
> 
> I'll try different channels etc, but I'm fairly sure there is actually 
> something wrong with my router the signal is so bad. If I was to get a 
> new one it looks like I should go for 11g + antenna if necessary. Are 
> any of the ~£40 ones ok? All I need is one with a good signal and a 
> straightforward but effective firewall - that's all. Can anyone 
> recommend one model over others?
> 
> thanks
> 
> 
   Aerial pre-amplifiers can only make a difference if the standard receiver
input is not low noise, but most are probably very close to the theoretical
optimum. Multi-element Yagi aerials are available, and are known to give
higher signal level, and better directivity and signal to noise ratio. It
may not be sensible to install a directional aerial on both the base station
and clients, but just one can improve a difficult link. The general
rule-of-thumb is to double the hardware to double the wanted signal and
signal-to-noise ratio.

-- 
Chris Bell

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