Daryle A. Tilroe wrote:
<double sigh> I did the math over a year ago before I even bought my first (wireless) squeezebox. While in theory your (our) numbers are correct in practice 802.11b never supports that sustained data rate. Sure, in a completely noise free environment and with very high signal strength it may fly, but in real life it rarely does. As I said if it works for you 100% of the time then great but that is not the rule.
Well, I'm just reporting my own experiences. Incidentally, I use a 3Com OfficeConnect AP/Gateway.
If you think that the practical bandwidth and consistency of 802.11b even approaches that of a 10Mb/s Cat5 switch port then you really need more real world network exposure. There is no comparison.
Sure there is. They're similar nominal speeds. But 11b degrades much more easily (low signal stength, noisy environment).
I am far from alone, having followed the list, and the only reason more don't have this problem is that few stream uncompressed audio.
Hmmm, I guess that depends on your perspective. I don't know many SB users, but those I do know seem to use theirs to stream PCM (decoded flac) to high-end audio systems.
As for your parody of my list well, where is a <rollyeyes> icon when I really need it?
Glad you liked that :)
If you have to have access points 'near' all your 'wireless' devices then it's not very wireless is it? Might as well run the Cat5 a few extra feet and plug in directly.
Erm, an 18"-thick wall says you're wrong :)
As for noisy, it is an average home with a microwave and cordless phone.
Ditto.
2.4GHz is a crowed band and noise and interference are a rule not the exception.
Perhaps I've just been lucky? I think a lot of the issues may be down to either the different chipstes used, or interoperability differences between diffent chipsets / AP firmware. For example, I bought a LinkSys WAG54G for my Mum (ADSL Modem, 4-port router, 11g AP). Seemed ideal. However, I could never get it to work properly with my Tosh laptop - intermittent dropouts at random intervals that needed the AP power-cycling to resolve. I've since replaced it with a Netgear ADSL Modem/router and a Linksys WRT54G AP/Router (running Sveasoft firmware). I now have rock-solid wireless connections at about 20m through solid walls (it's an old house) with a cordless phone next to the AP and a microwave next to the laptop!
As for the antenna: this 'solution' came up very recently and, from the postings, I don't think it affected my wireless SB of well over a year ago; in any event I have not checked because that is my outside 'summer' system that is packed away in the basement right now. My stereo systems have wired only models.
Might be worth a look...
When I was fighting to get it reliable last year the signal strength was usually adequate (~70% IIRC) but use the phone or microwave and forget it (never mind your neighbours phones, microwaves, and wireless devices). The high bandwidth required coupled with the shallow buffer make uncompressed audio dropouts almost inevitable.
At home, my SS is 92% - I have no problem with phones or microwaves and stream almost exclusively raw PCM (from flac files) with no dropouts (well, not wireless-related, anyway).
R.
-- http://robinbowes.com
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