On Sat, Apr 24, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Richard C. Steffens <[email protected]> wrote: > This is another phase of the thread, 2nd Router Setup. > > At last week's clinic we figured out how to set up my WRT54G as a > wireless access point to use with a WET11 bridge. The subject of > security arose and after a short conversation we decided I should try > using the WRT54G in 802.11b mode for two reasons: 1, the WET11 only > works on 802.11b, and 2, the wireless signal range of 802.11b is shorter > than 802.11g. > > This morning I installed the WRT54G in the basement and started walking > around with my laptop checking out the range. I got all bars showing > green up in my office on the 2nd floor and directly above the WRT54G. I > went outside and started walking up the driveway. By the time I got to > the street the laptop was still showing 2 bars. I thought, "Well, it's > clearly loosing signal strength. Maybe if I put a shield of some sort > between the WRT54G and the outside wall of the basement, which is the > direction of the street, maybe that will block the signal in that > direction." So, I took an aluminum cookie sheet and set it between the > wall and the WRT54G. I went back up the driveway and saw that, while it > dropped to 2 bars by the time I got to the street, It took longer to do > so, i.e. my shield worked to improve the signal strength! > > So, now I have radio questions: > > Would a shield work? > > Does it have to be grounded in order to be effective? > > BTW, I'm less concerned about the other three directions away from the > house because it's twice as far or farther from the location of the > WRT54G to the nearest neighbor in all three directions as it is to the > street. > > > -- > Regards, > > Dick Steffens > > > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug >
Dick, You could go through the trouble of trying to shield the signal but I think it would be better to just make sure the 54G is using encryption (i.e WPA2) and you could turn off the SSID broadcast so that the AP won't be seen unless someone is using something like net stumbler or the like. And if you want to be even more paranoid, you could also set MAC filtering up in order to ensure that only the machines in your home are allowed to connect to the AP. Drew- _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
