Is there a way to increase wireless speed?

[mackoolaid]

I just changed over to a cable modem. The speed to my desktop at home is alot faster. Is there anyway to increase the speed to my wireless connection? Thanks.

[6502]

What router or access point?

Running which 802.11 standard? With what encryption?

How far away is the iBook from the router or access point? Is there anything in-between (walls, plumbing, mirrors, microwave ovens)?

Have you checked your iBook's Network pref's to make sure that your DNS settings are correct?

[ThreeDee]

For a fast DNS, try OpenDNS.

Also try Apple Broadband Optimizer. Although it says "not for wireless", many people have tried it anyway and it has speeded up the connection for them. Others report that nothing happened.

[styrafome]

Make sure you don't have too much wireless interference or obstacles.

[mackoolaid]

Quote: Originally Posted by 6502 What router or access point? The router is a linksys. Running which 802.11 standard? With what encryption? I think its 802.11 g. WPA. How far away is the iBook from the router or access point? Is there anything in-between (walls, plumbing, mirrors, microwave ovens)? Up a flight of stairs. Have you checked your iBook's Network pref's to make sure that your DNS settings are correct?

I have no idea what you mean.

Thanks for your reply.

[CAlvarez]

Well, hidden in those questions are the answers to your desire for more speed. There are a lot of things that can slow down wireless.

First thing to do, test the speed with the notebook very close to the router, about 5-10 feet, in the same room. How is it then?

[6502]

> First thing to do, test the speed with the notebook very close to the router,
> about 5-10 feet, in the same room. How is it then?

Exactly. If there's still a conspicuous slowdown 5 feet away from the router then it's probably misconfigured Network settings in your System Preferences.

The wireless signal is just a radio signal. Basically, anything that can interfere with radio reception can mess with your network speed.

> Up a flight of stairs.

A little wood or drywall shouldn't mess with the signal too much, so I wouldn't expect just a stairway to be too bad... is the router in a basement... where a cement foundation might be a factor? Also, metal like from copper plumbing or ducts in the walls and glass -- which could simply be a bedroom mirror -- can substantially impact reception. Line-of-sight distance is a factor as well. And the direction that the antennas are pointing....

> The router is a linksys.

It has 2 antennas? Point the antennas in the general direction of the place where you typically use the laptop. Spread the antennas out slightly rather than crossing them.

Open the Internet Connect program from the Airport menu in your menubar and you can see a good representation of your signal strength. If you wander around the house a bit while watching the signal level meter, you can get a good idea about what's interfering and slowing you down.

[CAlvarez]

Quote: so I wouldn't expect just a stairway to be too bad

Except that the antennas constrain the signal to be stronger in a horizontal direction. I believe that stock antennas are all 3dbi horizontal gain, which translates into a vertical loss. In my home office I have my AP above my desk, and actually have connection drops if I don't point one antenna sideways. I've seen some longer antennas that appear to be around 5dbi, and of course you can buy the add-ons at 7-15dbi gain (which always means horizontal gain, vertical loss).

Quote: Point the antennas in the general direction of the place where you typically use the laptop. Spread the antennas out slightly rather than crossing them.

I don't know where you heard that, but it's absolutely wrong. The SIDE of the antennas should face the users. The ends of the antennas are the point of least radiation. The spread of the antennas is not relevant, though their polarization may matter. However in a mobile environment you really can't optimize polarization so it's best to just keep them parallel, or do as I did, one at 90 degrees to the other. That is sub-optimal for many situations, but required for some. In general a dual diversity antenna array should have them parallel. Optimal polarization would have the angles of the sender and receiver exactly the same; almost impossible with a notebook.

[CAlvarez]

Here's a visual rendering of what the spread pattern of a horizontally-biased (vertically-oriented) antenna would look like:

http://www.privateline.com/Cellbasic..._Pattern_1.jpg

[6502]

> The SIDE of the antennas should face the users.

No. Not so.

I've played with literally hundreds of the damned things and I know from experience that the antennas are *generally* best pointed in a slight "V" towards the laptop.

If you don't do it that way, that's fine with me. And if you want to talk about theories, go ahead. But theories don't always describe real-world events. Theory suggests a fairly large null towards the center of the array, but practice demonstrates that there's enough spread to cover that area pretty well.

mackoolaid, among other factors, the way you orient your router's antennas can impact your reception. You should play with them a bit to see what works best for you. Maybe you'll end up with the antennas pointed in parallel away from your laptop. Maybe you'll spread 'em a bit and point them up the stairs. Maybe you'll find an altogether different way to adjust them that works well. Any way that it works out, it's likely that some intelligent fiddling will improve your signal strength.

[chabig]

The least radiation comes off the pointy end of the antenna. That's simply a fact. Never point a dipole antenna in the direction you wish to radiate. The field does indeed come out the side of the antenna.

On the Linksys routers with two antennas, you should probably point the antennas toward the ceiling for best results. It's OK to angle them toward each other or apart so they are perpendicular. Either way, it's the same.

Now, this could just be misunderstanding, because I really don't know what you mean when you say the antenna should be pointed in a V.

Chris

[chabig]

Here are some tools you can use to check signal strength while you play with the antennas:

iStumbler
MacStumbler

Chris

[6502]

> The least radiation comes off the pointy end of the antenna. That's simply a
> fact. Never point a dipole antenna in the direction you wish to radiate. The
> field does indeed come out the side of the antenna.

People seem to be imagining that I said to point the antennas directly at the laptop.

I never said any such thing.

The antennas should be pointed in that general direction and spread slightly in a "V" shape for the best reception.

Linksys router antennas are jointed or double-jointed. They do not conform to the proposed model.

Experimental data is more valuable than theory in this case.

[CAlvarez]

Well, I suppose every radio engineer could be wrong, and physics have been changed on wireless routers. But yeah, try every position and go with what works for you.

[6502]

> Well, I suppose every radio engineer could be wrong, and physics have been changed...

:::sigh:::

Why is it that when people with strong technical backgrounds are put in positions of authority and subsequently have their opinions contradicted by experiential data, they always fall back on that one?

I submit that memorizing an ideal classroom experiment does not qualify you as an expert in all things similar. You have the basic premise correct, but your ultimate assertion depends on a model that presupposes a single straight antenna in an ideal environment. Not an oddly-constructed array in a house.

You're a smart person. Your unthinking adherence to a strict laboratory model is not befitting.

Physics is unchanged.

[CAlvarez]

Perhaps you missed my second sentence. Or chose to ignore it. However my experiences, which number in the hundreds since I do everything from Wi-fi to metro area microwave, seem to follow the accepted rules of physics; I didn't just repeat something from a book. YMMV