sly

hi, i have just bought an axim(400mhz) and i am about to order a wifi cf card and an access point.
what is the range of the wifi connection?
i live across the road from a pub beer garden and want to surf the net etc while having a pint .

its about 70 meters from the house.
cheers.

thejoker

It depends on what type of Access Point (AP) you have set up at home.

The Linksys WAP11 has a range of up to 1150 feet (outdoors). Just check the features on the APs or CF cards.

ikehiker

You are probably near the edge depending on where in your house the AP is and the kind of construction (brick vs wood frame, metal siding vs. vinyl). The simple thing is to try it. You may need to shift your access point and redirect the antenna(s) if it has external ones. The easiest way would be to have someone at your home. Other wise, you'll need to keep running back and forth.

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-Ike-

ikehiker

Sorry, I just realized you don't have the equipment, yet. Check out this site for a comparison of the transmit power on possible cards for the Axim and look at the AP/router specs for whichever equipment you are interested in. Realize, of course that they report 'maximum range' and it's unlikely you'll get the optimum in a real life situation.

__________________
-Ike-

drop

SmallNetBuilder's NeedToKnow articles are one of the best intro tutorial to WiFi. The Wireless Networking NTK - Introduction has this bit about Wireless Networking ;) :

"But before we start, here are our three rules of Wireless Networking:

It never goes as fast as they say it does
It never goes as far as they say it does
It never sets up as easily as they say it does
Still interested? Good! Because the Three Rules aren't intended to discourage you, but more to prepare you for a successful and satisfying wireless networking adventure. Let's dig into each of the Rules and see what's behind them."

One of the articles deal with Wireless LAN Performance Improvement.

I would strongly recommend anyone who is thinking about going WiFi read the articles on SmallNetBuilder.

sly

the house is brick.i also have an omnidirectional fm arial on the roof of the house which sits about 30 foot or so high.can i in someway connect the arial to the access point for better range?

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snathanb

You can if it has an external antenna connector.

snathanb

I just reread that... you can't connect that arial to your wap, but you can make an antenna very cheaply to extend the range of Wifi.. but your WAP must have an external antenna connector.