Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

raferx · Oct 29, 2002, 08:21 PM

Hey all,
Just bought the the Linksys wireless router ( to replace the Linksys 4 port router I have) and an AP card for my wife's iBook, just wondering about performance issues , location, etc. She will be about 6 feet away from the base station most of the time, but on the other side of a wall. Just wondering how this affects performance. Any thoughts?
kindly appreciated!

msuper69 · Oct 29, 2002, 09:42 PM

As long as the wall is made of normal construction materials, it should be ok.

raferx · Oct 29, 2002, 10:00 PM

The left side of the wall is 5 feet of concrete (support wall, and half "regular') the side she is on is made of concrete... does concrete really affect the signal that badly?

msuper69 · Oct 29, 2002, 10:26 PM

Originally posted by raferx:
The left side of the wall is 5 feet of concrete (support wall, and half "regular') the side she is on is made of concrete... does concrete really affect the signal that badly?

If it's 5 ft. thick that could affect the signal somewhat. It you're talking about regular concrete block, it won't have much effect.

Metal is what blocks the signal most effectively. So, if you don't live in an all metal home (they made some after WWII), you should be ok.

raferx · Oct 29, 2002, 11:26 PM

No, not thick, just in length. No metal hopefully, we're in an apartment building. I'm going to set it up now. Hope to back online in about 20 minutes.

ThisGuy · Oct 29, 2002, 11:32 PM

she should be fine. i have one set up in a building built in the 1920's with solid brick or plaster walls and i can go well over 100 feet away with no degradation in signal strength.

raferx · Oct 29, 2002, 11:35 PM

Originally posted by ThisGuy:
she should be fine. i have one set up in a building built in the 1920's with solid brick or plaster walls and i can go well over 100 feet away with no degradation in signal strength.

Great! I'm super excited about going wireless! here goes!

raferx · Oct 30, 2002, 12:01 AM

First part is done, my G4 is hooked up via LAN, now I'm going to install the Airport card in the iBook, and see how the wireless goes. Good thing Linksys only included a FRENCH install manual with this router! I guess I'll go to their site to configure a secure WEP set-up.

raferx · Oct 30, 2002, 12:37 AM

UNREAL! I love Apple man... that iBook is up and running wireless without a hitch! Speeds are nice and fast everywhere in the apartment. Beautiful! iI gotta still configure for WEP, but so far what a breeze. The iBook detected the Linksys network immediately, I love this technology! TiBook come to daddy! Thanks for all the feedback everyone!
One more question, I have the router set up at the back of my desk between my two Sony G420S's, will it affect the tubes at all? Or vice versa? Should I move it away from the monitors?
Thanks in advance.

ghporter · Oct 30, 2002, 12:02 PM

The shielding around the monitors' CRTs can alter the coverage pattern, but that shouldn't be a big problem. I have found that putting my Linksys access point on a high shelf has improved my range greatly. I can be at the other end of the house (using a PC laptop wih Linksys' original wireless PC card) and still get a great connection because of this situation.

raferx · Oct 30, 2002, 02:12 PM

Thanks for the input, the wall just behind my set-up is concrete, so I'll have to get some inserts before I drill a shelf above the desk.. about 18" above the monitors I guess?

ghporter · Oct 30, 2002, 05:12 PM

My shelf is about 5 feet off the floor. I think it works better there because it's higher than furniture and most other obstacles.

raferx · Oct 31, 2002, 01:42 AM

Thanks GH. I moved the second printer over to my wife's new desk, and put the router in it's place. It's about 4' off the ground, with nothing around it at all.
Reception is great!