I have been an observer on the site for quite some time, and need to ask for some advice now... I have very little background in RF, so I'd appreciate advice from the group. I am trying to extend my indoor range vertically (4 floors, from attic to basement) in an old house with plaster walls and metal lath. The WLAN I now have generally does OK from the AP/Router in the attic down to the main floor, but there's no measurable signal in the basement.
For a while, I had been looking around for a repeater, but gave up on the expensive commercial versions. And the D-Link works only with D-Link clients as I understand it (I have everything but!). The Router in the attic is an SMC Barricade, and I've thought about adding an external antenna - but I haven't found any leads on 1) how to do this, and 2) whether it would solve my problem. I plan to connect the computer and printer in the basement via a Linksys WET11, and it seems that it's possible to add an external antenna to this bridge. So, a couple of RF questions (excuse my lack of knowledge): 1) will high gain antennas help extend my indoor range? 2) should they be added to the AP in the attic, the bridge in the basement, or to both? 3) I've looked at HyperLink's website, but I don't have enough background to decide on antennas. There are omni and directional antennas. My sense is that the spread on a directional is probably quite minimal indoors, so it's better to go this way but I would appreciate advice! 4) If my Barricade cannot support an external antenna, what recommendations would members have (Samsung seems to be the least expensive choice at http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/samsung/samsung.php Thanks in advance! - Frank -- general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/> [un]subscribe: http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
