It's an 18 watt CFL (contains mercury). I don't think that's what's doing it, because the lamp is off, the bulb is now out and sitting next to me, and the signal still stays strong. Perhaps it's the springs on the lamp. This thing has 4 long 6-7 inch springs to keep it from sagging. On the topic of RFIDs, you don't suppose a Wal-Mart or similar RFID would have any significant effect on wireless range, do you? Well, maybe the bulb is what's doing it. I just turned it on and the signal jumped up.
On Dec 5, 12:43 pm, Ryan Waldon <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sat, Dec 5, 2009 at 1:01 PM, Austin Leeds > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > Well, I was pleasantly surprised at a turn of events that happened > > recently. > > I have terrible reception on my AirPort card from the top floor of > > our house down to the main floor (where my AirPort Extreme-G base > > station [with dialup] is). All around our house are high-speed > > wireless networks, but they're either locked or too faint to reach. > > One is reachable from our backyard, but I look really stupid trying to > > get to it with my laptop. > > Much to my surprise, I found I was able to reach that particular > > access point from my bedroom yesterday. I wasn't quite sure what had > > happened until today. > > I have a trick of boosting my range by putting my left hand on the > > left side of the Pismo (near the AirPort card). My first thought was > > that I was sitting in just the right place on my bed, with my hand in > > just the right place on the Pismo—so I didn't move a muscle as I > > browsed (except in my right hand). > > Soon, though, I found that there was more give to it that I had > > originally thought. As it turns out, my big jointed desk lamp was > > acting like an antenna for me, echoing the connection. As I move it in > > different directions, the strength of the signal will increase or > > decrease, depending on how far I move the lamp from the Pismo. The > > reason I discovered this was that I had kept my lamp in the same > > position until Friday afternoon, when I moved it around a bit. > > I've heard of other range boosts (involving Pringles cans, kitchen > > strainers, and USB wireless adapters), but this is the first time I've > > experienced (or heard of) a built-in wireless boost with an AirPort > > card. > > Has anybody else had anything like this happen? > > > -- > > What kind of bulb is in that lamp? Perhaps it's acting like a passive > repeater, sort of like an RFID? > > --ryan -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Books, a group for those using G3 iBooks and PowerBooks (we run a separate list for G4 'Books). The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g-books Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/
