On Sun, Apr 10, 2005 at 11:34:03AM +1000, Terry Collins wrote:
> Phil Scarratt wrote:
> >I had someone (off-list) suggest install a "matrix" of aerials (eg 4)
> >and run them all back to a header-amp with one output to the AP. Not
> >sure that would work, and may be overkill anyway.
> Perhaps someone can correct me, but I understood from my physics that
> four separate aerials all pumping out the same signal would cause
> interference with each other.
They would, but the resulting interference pattern would not necessarily
be a bad thing. Figuring out what that pattern would be in a complex
building with reflections, etc is just about impossible but remember that
even one single aerial in a funny-shaped reflective box (i.e. a building)
will also cause an interference pattern with its own reflection.
One problem with the "matrix of aerials" idea is that the coaxial cable
that runs between them has to be low loss at GHz frequencies which is NOT
cheap cable so running cat-5 out to 4 individual base stations is going
to save money if the distances are long. Also, if all 4 base stations
are running different channels, the clients get multiple chances to get
a connection (try each channel and see which is better). I think it's
possible for smart wireless cards to check several channels at once and
hop around (not that I know enough configuration details to be able
to set them up to do that).
- Tel ( http://bespoke.homelinux.net/ )
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