Wireless: a new approach for me

[n01100110]

Hey all, I acquired a Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router and a wireless card today...Seeing as though I moved my room upstairs and my dad doesn't feel like running 100 ft of rj45 up there, i decided to go wireless..I got everything up and running, went upstairs installed the drivers for my wireless card boom done..Then it tells me there is no signal..Easy solution, i accidentally forgot to open the door from the actual room where the connection is being broadcasted..The signal gets a little better, but it gets rated as 'very poor', and runs at like 2mbps which made me mad...Question 1: should i buy a better signal carrier ?
I've been doing my homework as far as wireless security goes, but i don't understand wep as well as i should. It asks me to generate a passphrase, i do so and it gives me four keys..And when wep is enabled, on my other machine i try to get in and it asks me for a key..from which of these keys do i use to let myself in the network ? Please excuse me, I am just entering the wireless realm, and am willing to do plenty of homework to comprehend its securities and insecurities.. thank you

[mrg81]

Hi,

even I am new to this field, but you might want to try :

if it asked to generate a parphrase the check which is the key that it is using for transmitting?
and then enter that key in the network key that your client is asking for.

hope this helps.

[oxygen]

I believe on linksys router you have an option to genetate 4 keys or only one key. If you generate 4 keys, the access point will be able to authenticate ( if using shared key) and encrypt with any of the 4 keys... So it up to you which one you wanna enter in the client config.. But Access points generally transmit only the first key...
4 keys are more useful in bigger n/w say if you have 100 clients, with 4 keys you can segment the network in to four, that way if one of the key is compromised you will not have to change keys in all the clients , just the ones that were on the segment.....just some extra security.....

As far as I think, you don;t need to enable 4 keys in a home n/w were theres only 3-4 comps and its not that hard to change the keys on clients if compromised.....

About you having bad signal, that you need to find out what all obstructions you got in the signal path.... say for eg: cordless phones(wireless-G and cordless phones use same ISM band 2.4ghz), or metal surfaces etc....

hope this helps......

[hot_guy]

it depends a lot on the signal power of the transmitter.
most of the radio waves make it through the concrete walls etc, provided they have enough transmitted power. This determines the range of our connection.

there r two ways to improve ur signal strenght.

1. get a more powerful transmitter. u can also try placing ur router at a higher level above the ground, this sometimes helps.

2. use another antennae that increases the directivity/gain of the tranmitter. this is a bit tricky :( as it involves selection of the right kind of antenna.


i guess placing the router at a higher level an clearing any obstacles on the path will certainly help.
:)

[moxnix]

n01100110, like you I just bought a D-Link wireless router. Unlike you, mine is set up and running great. I get 100% signal all over the house. I am set up on the upstairs 2 floor room that is my computer room and the signal is great downstairs.
I am using wep and 64 bit encryption, with a 10 character hexadecimal code, and of course changed the SSID and admin password immeadiately.
The only suggestion I have for you is to check your antenna. If the distance you wish to cover is vertical, putting the antenna in a horizontal position will work better than a vertical one. Unless your building is of steel and concrete, the signal should not have any problems traveling approx. 1000 feet.

[jinxy]

Hi n01100110,

Just backing up moxnix advice good stuff there.With radio waves it's a matter of antenna position (assuming everything ells is ok) you may have to experiment a little with the position of you router to get the best signal. Even small changes in position can make a big difference.

I don't no how your walls are constructed but here some new buildings use a metal frame type of stud wall. Frame is bolted together like mecano and the dry lining is clipped on to it. Makes the builders life easier but plays hell with signs. It acts like a faraday cage.

Jinxy

[n01100110]

Everything is a ok now...I ditched the usb network adapter and picked up a pci adapter, moved my setup a little closer to the ap, and everything is fine..thx all

[The3ntropy]

moxnix > 1,000 feet through the building ? With what, a 40dB gain antenna ? I think you made a typo there, you must have meant 100 feet through the house and or building.

As for the d-link 2.4Ghz routers, ( http://www.dlink.com/products/resource.asp?pid=304&rid=1012 ) they advertise an indoor range of 300 ft and an outdoor range of 1,300 ft ( which must be an an open field elevated off of the ground with perfect weather and no other devices within 50 miles )

[n01100110]

Dammit, now the connection is getting all sloppy again...From up here, it can read my wireless network from downstairs no problem, but it sais it's connected, but it fails to hand out an ip address for some reason..I don't know why the connection is this inconsistent...I even bought range extenders for christ's sake.

[moxnix]

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=257053#post739709) by The3ntropy
moxnix > 1,000 feet through the building ? With what, a 40dB gain antenna ? I think you made a typo there, you must have meant 100 feet through the house and or building.
/me bad. And your right, typo plus not thinking. I meant 100 yards or 300 feet, and was looking at the spects I got with the router that said 1300 feet and some how ended up putting down 1000 feet.
Since my antenna is so high, it might make 1000 feet to the west of me (only one wall to go through), but to the east I start getting a signal drop just outside the house ( 1 floor and approx 3 walls).
My antenna is also horizontal for better propigation downstairs, so that would make a difference on the horizontal distance avalible.
but it fails to hand out an ip address for some reason..I don't know why the connection is this inconsistent...I even bought range extenders for christ's sake. I don't think that is a signal problem, n01100110. You might try to use the repair function in you network connections.

[Edit] HTRegz just posted this in another thread, but it might help you.There's a great utility to do this and I suggest if you ever lose your connection you make use of it, actually even if you notice your connection is slower than it normally is.. this is useful to run. Its Option^Explicit's WinsockFix (available here). It basically performs a net sh reset logfile (can't remmeber the complete syntax atm). I have a 3mbps DSL line and for a while I was lucky to hit 100K, I ran the WinsockFix and I was back up to full speeds.... so it's really handy for anyone.
Thread (http://www.antionline.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=256831&perpage=10&pagenumber=2)

[The3ntropy]

moxnix > I was kind of hoping that you had an antenna that could push a signal 1,000 feet through walls, I could use one of those antennas. Best option I have found to do is use uni-directional pringles can antennas on host and client, main problem being the uni-directional part.

[moxnix]

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=257053#post739791) by The3ntropy
moxnix > I was kind of hoping that you had an antenna that could push a signal 1,000 feet through walls, I could use one of those antennas. Best option I have found to do is use uni-directional pringles can antennas on host and client, main problem being the uni-directional part.
Sorry, but I have seen antenas that are suppose to be able to do something similar......but they are quite spendy....like $2500 a copy or so. I was surfing around and came accross one site where they said they would wire and set up any facility for 100% coverage extending virtually anywhere you wanted......and to limit where you didn't want the signals to reach. Now I will bet you that their service is real spendy, and of course they weren't quoteing any prices.
Best option I have found to do is use uni-directional pringles can antennas I made a parabolic antenna one time using a metal salad bowl......it wasn't very good and splattered signal all over the place (not a true parabolic), but I did get a signal increase at the receiver (11 meters....lol)

[The3ntropy]

The two pringles cans that I have hooked up now both have about a 9dB gain on each. ( 8 times the listening and sending power for client and host ) The cans are just hooked up through a pcmcia orinoco gold card off my laptop and wap just like any antenna. Broadcast power is almost a mile with a visual line of sight but can't get much more than 500-700 feet through walls.

[jinxy]

Not alot you can do about that. Signals Antenuate full stop. Submarines still use shortwave because they travel through a dense medium ie water. To get the speed and clarity nessesary for wi fi ( shit i cant remember the spectrum) the technoledgy has had to go for higher frequencies, but they antenuate more easily.

[Gump]

A great resource for wireless info and advice is

http://www.nocat.net

For 3ntropy and Jinxy this may help with your antenna issues, or be fun to play with.

http://trevormarshall.com/biquad.htm

It is how to turn an old Primestar dish into a bi-quad directional dish. 27-31 dB gain with very little sidelobe radiation. Some claim to have used this antenna (or rather a pair of them) to use 802.11b over 60 miles. Still directional though, 3ntropy, you could try a colloinear array like those used by taxi dispatch and tow trucks. Haven't seen one for 2.5 GHz range but shouldn't be too hard to design. If I find one I'll edit/post here or PM you if your interested.

[steve.milner]

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=257053#post739839) by jinxy
Submarines still use shortwave because they travel through a dense medium ie water.

<off topic>

Balls!

Submairines use long wave because they are ground waves which means:

1) Half the wave is underground (or water) and half is above.
2) Ground waves follow the contour of the ground (or water) and will travel round the curvature of the planet.

Shortwave does not readily travel trough ground or water and are also straight line, useless once you go over the horizon, with respect to your transmitter.

</off topic>

Steve

[moxnix]

The3ntropy, here is a site that explains the making of a parabolic from an old primestar satelite dish. Still not unidirectional though. http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Primestar/Primestar.html
Also has some good information: http://www.hdcom.com/bundles.html