amateur question about wlan

Dominic Bonfiglio dominicbonfiglio-Mmb7MZpHnFY at public.gmane.org
Sat Sep 15 21:43:42 UTC 2007


Dominic Bonfiglio wrote:
> hello,
>
> i am running an atheros madwifi driver on an ibm t42p with a kde 10.2
> os. i've noticed that, compared to other pcs, my system has a difficult
> time connecting (or staying connected) to wireless networks. for
> example, i currently live in a house with a wlan system (and wpa
> security). from my room, the signal strength averages between 35 and 45.
> i can connect but lose the signal regularly. in an average hour, i have
> to reconnect 4 times. is this normal? is it just  a matter of the signal
> strength being too low? or does it have something to do with the atheros
> driver or linux in general? could it also be my hardware?
>
> thanks for your input in advance,
>
> dominic


John McGregor wrote:
> Some home routers have the ability to broadcast in "Mixed Mode" which
> means that they transmit in 'B' and 'G' simultaneously. I've found that
> linux based computers can have problems establishing / maintaining a
> connection with routers using the "Mixed Mode" setting. Check the router
> and make sure that it's set to use only 'B' or 'G'. Also while you are
> configuring the router set it to use another channel a couple of steps
> up or down from the default (usually #6). This will help eliminate
> interference from other wireless networks local to you.
> You could also be having problems if there is a wireless phone nearby
> that is using the 2.4 GHz band.
>
> In future it will help us out a lot if you also give us the specs, make,
> and model of the computer, the linux distro you are using and its
> version (eg MEPIS 6.5, Kubuntu 7.04)
>
> John
>
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>   
thanks. though i provided my specs in the first line of my email. i will try out john's suggestions soon. before i do, however, another question: generally, how low can a signal's strength be and still be reliable? 

thanks,
dominic 



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