On 3 Jun 2006 at 7:29, Tony Lowe wrote: > Wouldn't that depend just as much on the antenna of the > access-point?
No, even if you pick up a weak signal, with the proper antenna, that same signal may be unuseable by your laptop, however a high gain antenna might be quite strong and quite useable. > Most of the ones made for SOHO use aren't putting out a very strong > signal unless they've been modified. The signal they are outputting is less important than the quality and gain of the receiving antenna. Plus hardware modification is not needed, many of the 3rd party firmware's allow you to control the power output of the AP's radio's. > True a lot of factors can affect the signal radius, but a weak signal > is pretty useless. Unless, of course, you are out wardriving, in > which case you'd zero in on the signal. Which you can do with a good directional antenna or a high gain omnidirectional antenna. With good directional antennas, I think the last record I heard for a straight shot was something like 26 miles or more. The same technology can be used to receive weak signals from far away. Heck that's what the bluetooth rifle is for. Bluetooth works on similar technology to wifi.... http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2005/03/08/how_to_bluesniper_pt1/ -- Harondel J. Sibble Sibble Computer Consulting Creating solutions for the small business and home computer user. [EMAIL PROTECTED] (use pgp keyid 0x3AD5C11D) http://www.pdscc.com (604) 739-3709 (voice/fax) (604) 686-2253 (pager) -- ---------------------------------------- To Change your email Address for this list, send the following message: CHANGE WIN-HOME your_old_address your_new_address to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Note carefully that both old and new addresses are required.
