6 Ways to Optimize your WiFi Setup
May 5, 2009 9:19 pmWith the increasing use of portable WiFi enabled devices like notebooks and mobile phones, it is more important than ever to optimize your WiFi setup to get the most benefit. Here are some simple ways to maximize performance and increase security of your WiFi setup.
Equipment
There has been a huge improvement in speeds and performance offered by WiFi equipment since devices first started appearing in the mid 90’s. When shopping for devices it would be a good idea to note the specifications of your current equipment and make sure your Access Point (AP) choice support them. The most common types of hardware supports 802.11g (54Mbps) which is also backward compatible to 802.11b (11Mbps)
Placement
When choosing a location for your WiFi AP, make sure you keep it away from obstructions, especially metal objects such as fridges and filing cabinets or other potential signal obstacles. Generally your AP should be up as high as possible which enables a clearer line of sight to your WiFi clients.
Interference
These days with the common use of transmitting devices such as cordless telephones, video senders and wireless game controllers, there is the potential for interference which causes your WiFi setup to perform poorly in both range and speed. 802.11b and 802.11g both use the 2.4Ghz frequency so cordless phones or other devices using this same frequency have the potential to impact your WiFi setup a lot. You can usually set your AP to a different channel which may reduce disruption.
Antenna
Your AP will generally come with a small antenna which performs adequately for small offices or homes. You can usually unscrew this antenna and replace it with a better one which will provide greater coverage. Alternative antennas are available to screw on directly to replace the supplied unit or with a short length of coax so you can position the antenna at a better, usually higher location. Generally these antennas will provide 360 degree coverage but directional units are also available which would suit installations that may be a far corner and concentrate coverage in one direction. For locations where coverage is needed outside a building, for example a school ground or outdoor cafe, an external outdoor antenna can be mounted in a suitable location and connected to the AP using a short a length of coax.
Power
Some AP’s have a power setting allowing you to increase or decrease output power. This is useful if you would like to prevent your WiFi coverage spilling out outside your home or office too much or give your coverage a bit of a boost. This doesn’t increase your AP’s ability to recieve your WiFi clients, which is what a better antenna can do.
Security
It is a good idea to lock down your WiFi network to prevent unauthorized access and people snooping inside your network. WEP was the original method of securing WiFi networks but has proven to be less secure than was hoped. Since then WPA was introduced and is present on almost all WiFi AP’s and other devices currently being sold. WPA is a more secure alternative to the original WEP method but may not be supported on all your devices.
Nice day for a ride
August 6, 2008 1:21 pm
Lovely day on the Peninsula to take a mountain bike ride.
Filming at the zoo
July 29, 2008 11:03 am
Dipity.com Timeline
May 12, 2008 12:43 pmOver at Dipity.com you can have all you feeds from sites such as Twitter, Flickr or any RSS feed represented on a time line. I thought it was a nice visual way to display all this data.
Beechworth “Over the Edge 2008″Conference – Second Day
April 30, 2008 12:35 amPhotos of us winding down after a day of learning. We had some excellent insights from Marc Lindsay, Pete Williams and Dan Raine
Experimenting with QIK on a Nokia N82 phone streaming video live.
Beechworth “Over the Edge 2008″ Conference – First Day
April 28, 2008 10:24 pm
Today was the first of 3 days here at Beechworth and what we were taught was absolutely awesome. Ed and Rob spoke today and it was truly inspiring and full of great insights. Can’t wait to hear Dan’s presentation tomorrow.
‘Over The Edge’ 2008 Seminar – Beechworth
April 27, 2008 11:29 pm
I’m at the ‘Over The Edge’ 2008 Seminar at Beechworth. The conference
starts tomorrow and goes for 3 days. Should be a very worthwhile event
indeed. We all went out for dinner tonight at the Hibernian hotel.
Tags: Beechworth, Ed Dale
What is all the buzz about Twitter
April 25, 2008 9:07 pmI sometimes get asked to explain what Twitter is and why I use it, so I thought I’d link to this video which explains it very well.
What is WiFi
October 30, 2007 12:24 pmI have been asked “what is WiFi” by several people after I tell them what I do so I thought I would put my standard answer into a post for others who may be thinking the same thing.
Wikipedia also has an entry on the what is WiFi question.
WiFi is basically a term for the set of guidelines which allow interoperability among various wireless networking products from different manufacturers. This set of standards has allowed the use of wireless networks to explode in recent years.
Back in the mid 90’s before the official 802.11 standard was ratified, a friend of mine introduced me to some 900 Mhz DSSS (direct sequence spread spectrum) radios. These radios provided a wireless serial link between computers. They cost around $AU400 a pair back then but they were extremely useful devices 
Infowave wireless modem
Out of the box, these units allowed a connection of a few hundred feet or so, but once modified to accept external directional antenna’s we achieved links over 7km. To me this was a very exciting achievement and led to many adventures linking low cost wireless devices using many different antenna combinations.
Of course once the WiFi standard was adopted, prices plummeted. I still remember paying $US600 each for my first few pre-802.11 PCMCIA wireless devices which I had to import directly from the US. These devices didn’t come with an external antenna connector so once they arrived, they were quickly dissected and modified.
The longest link I have personally installed was 38km, over Port Philip Bay. We were using the old trusty Linksys WAP11’s (same functionally as Dlink DWL-900AP) flashed with Dlink firmware and Hills 25dB parabolic grid antennas. The link was a little sketchy with a lot of duplicate packets (I assume from the reflections off the water) but it worked!
Linksys WAP11
Hills 25dB grid antenna
These days the equipment is much better and devices can be found with very good receive sensitivity. This is very important in establishing links greater than a few km’s.
So in a nutshell, WiFi devices are very cheap now with some having very good receive sensitivity. Good antenna’s can also be found at similarly low prices, so what are you waiting for?
Here is a list if what you will need to set up your own long range WiFi link.
- wireless device with external antenna connector (RP-SMA)
- pigtail adapter (RP-SMA to N type)
- low loss antenna cable (N type to N type)
- directional antenna (N type)
Please let me know how you go.
WiFi Antenna Cable
September 21, 2007 10:56 amWhen your setting up a wireless network for maximum range, the wifi antenna cable becomes very important. This is because most of the time your access point or other wireless device will be located inside the building but the antenna must be mounted outside where it is providing maximum coverage and free from obstructions.
A good way is to set up your equipment up as close to where your antenna will be mounted as possible. In some cases it is preferable to mount the device in a weatherproof enclosure with the antenna or in the ceiling space just below the antenna. This configuration is optimal as it minimizes cable losses.
Where your cable length can be kept at reasonable length (around 10m/30ft or less for LMR-400), it may be easier to run a low loss coaxial cable. These cables generally have an ‘N connector at each end. You will just need to make sure of the gender of the N connector on your antenna and the N connector on your pigtail to select a suitable cable. Most wireless devices have a very small connector and a pigtail is required to convert from this connector to an N type.
pigtail adapter to connect your wireless device to the N connector on your antenna cable
Low loss antenna cable with N type connectors
It is important to keep the antenna cable as short as possible even when using very high grade cable. As you can see from the chart below, the 2.4GHz frequency degrades a lot more than lower frequencies along the cable length.
