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Wireless...


Tom Strange
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so Zix... do you have that "range expander" that I linked to? or a different one? I'm guessing staying within the Linksys family will be my best bet since they're "Centrino certified" and that's the same brand as the other stuff I've got... the link says "coming soon", but if you've got one, I'll go a lookin'...

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since it was only $39, I bought a Hawking Hi-Gain antenna (supposed to increase the signal from 2db to 6db)... haven't connected it yet, but now I'm thinking...

in the kitchen/den I've got no problem with signal (the cordless phone based in there is 900 mghz)... in the bedroom, where the signal comes and goes the cordless phone based in there is 2.4 gighz... hmmm... oh well, I'll hook it up anyway, I can always return it if it turns out to be the phone... or get a new phone...

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Tom, this is a tangent, but also look into taking your laptop around with you wherever you go. I've found that tons of places offer free wireless LAN access. Even the hotel I am staying at offers it, plus the Starbucks within range, and the Panera bread up the street, etc. I'd use them more if I didn't have a piece of crap Sony laptop that has a battery that only lasts 5 minutes.

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Tom: Those 2.4 GHz phones are nasty on WiFi networks. Try changing the channel on your router away from 6. Or, try changing the channel on your phone.

There are also 5 GHz phones now, but some of them still use some 2.4 GHz signaling, so you have to read up on your models.

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well... I connected the antenna, it dropped my speed from 11.0 mbps to 5.5! Unacceptable

Went into the bedroom where the wife's laptop was, and it was working fine... until she answered the phone! voila!

Took the antenna back and got one of those 5.8 gig phones... we'll see...

Zix, I changed to channel 10 (on your suggestion I think) a week or two ago...

MasterP, I had an old (3 year old) Sony Vaio that never lasted more than 30 minutes on battery power... now we have two Z1VAs... they seem to be better all the way around, Centrino chip, DDRam, etc...

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quote:
Originally posted by Tom Strange:

MasterP, I had an old (3 year old) Sony Vaio that never lasted more than 30 minutes on battery power... now we have two Z1VAs... they seem to be better all the way around, Centrino chip, DDRam, etc...


We may have the same laptop then. The only laptop I've ever seen that does worse is my Pentium 90 IBM Thinkpad, since it has had the same battery for many years now.

Anyway, I'm planning on getting a PowerMac for my next PC, once the next job comes (or if this one gets extended yet again.) I really don't use it much for work so I don't need the Win32 only programs for it. With the vast amount of places that offer free wireless access, it's definitely worth it to try and get a laptop that can run on batteries and use 802.11b networks.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Tom- I have an old linksysB. In addition to wep and changing passwords, I have turned off dhcp and static routed my network. I use an non standard network IP, and I use a 255.255.255.248

mask- this allows only 6 valid IP addresses. If I have all my computers and print servers on. there is no available IP address to get on the network- great excuse for toys.

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