Airport antennae in the display...but is this really better?
Well, we successfully set up our wireless network, I am currently sitting in a comfy chair about 50 feet away from the router, I have 1 click on my menu bar display and 4 out of 15, in internet connect.
through talking to my brother, and some friends about wireless networking, I learned that antennae(for 802.11 stuff), in some cases, perform better on their sides.
now, this seems a little contrary to common sense, but sure enough, when the antennae were on their sides I can get 100% in my room(where the router is) a feet not usually accomplished when they are up.
Now taking this a little further, I am sitting here in a chair with my display at a 90 degree angle, when I tilt the computer forward so that the antennae are flat. never fails to raise my signal.
so I'm questioning if putting the antennae in the display was a good idea, another example would be my alubook vs my brothers iBook, or my friends tiBook, both their computers have the airport in the base of the computer, and is horizontal, and they(more often than I do) get full reception, or they usually get a better reception when we're in the same room.
what's the deal? is there something I don't know here? or is this just an oversight on apple's part.
I was really looking forward to having good airport reception with my book, but I guess that's not the case
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also, does anyone know of a good 802.11g signal booster? or will an 802.11b signal booster work?
through talking to my brother, and some friends about wireless networking, I learned that antennae(for 802.11 stuff), in some cases, perform better on their sides.
now, this seems a little contrary to common sense, but sure enough, when the antennae were on their sides I can get 100% in my room(where the router is) a feet not usually accomplished when they are up.
Now taking this a little further, I am sitting here in a chair with my display at a 90 degree angle, when I tilt the computer forward so that the antennae are flat. never fails to raise my signal.
so I'm questioning if putting the antennae in the display was a good idea, another example would be my alubook vs my brothers iBook, or my friends tiBook, both their computers have the airport in the base of the computer, and is horizontal, and they(more often than I do) get full reception, or they usually get a better reception when we're in the same room.
what's the deal? is there something I don't know here? or is this just an oversight on apple's part.
I was really looking forward to having good airport reception with my book, but I guess that's not the case
\also, does anyone know of a good 802.11g signal booster? or will an 802.11b signal booster work?
Comments
Apparently it was determined that the display causes less interference than if it were mounted elsewhere.
Originally posted by KingOfSomewhereHot
but putting it in the display gets it farther from the HD, the CPU, the graphics card, the CD ... all of witch create EM fields which could interfere with reception when in very close proximity to the antenna.
Apparently it was determined that the display causes less interference than if it were mounted elsewhere.
Farther from the person too. We have lots of absorbant layers and surface area.
Originally posted by SpcMs
Mayb u should lay your Airport Base on his side
We do, well, the antennae for our linksys router are on their side, and we definitely get better reception that way.
Originally posted by Wrong Robot
We do, well, the antennae for our linksys router are on their side, and we definitely get better reception that way.
I read this, went downstairs, turned them on their side and when I cam back up to my room it was exactly the same. Think about direct line, perhaps just doing that gives it a more direct line. I mean even a slight angle could mean the radio waves having to go through a lot more then just the regular thickness of the wall.
why can't we have an antenna in the display AND the base? wouldn't that give us more mobility?
Originally posted by Paul
the iBook has the antennas in the display as well...
why can't we have an antenna in the display AND the base? wouldn't that give us more mobility?
You'd probably not notice much of a difference while Apple pays more than its worth. Each Mac already has two separate antennae to cut down on multipath. Merely adding more antennae mcould actually be detrimental...you have to supply the same 30-50 mW of juice to the extra antenna. The extra wiring adds more potential for higher SNR...blah blah blah.
So put one antenna in the screen and the other near the latch... that should increase the range a bunch... right?
Now taking this a little further, I am sitting here in a chair with my display at a 90 degree angle, when I tilt the computer forward so that the antennae are flat. never fails to raise my signal.
Antennae work best when the transmitter and receiver are in the same orientation. It's been a while since I've taken my base station apart, but I seem to remember that it has a horizontal orientation. I'm not sure what access point you're using, but try varying its orientation and see if you see changes in the Powerbook's reception.