[ubuntu-uk] The Latest Wireless

[Alan Pope]

On Thu, Apr 12, 2007 at 08:22:26PM +0100, TheVeech wrote:
> For indoors, the aerial (at the back of the house) is pointed in the
> direction of the centre of the house, and it works pretty well inside.
> It just means I'll have to reposition it for outdoors.
> 

Pointed in the direction of? You mean the end of the aerial points towards 
where you expect to get best coverage? This may be sub-optimal.

As I understand it the signal pattern from most domestic antennas on access 
points is toroidal - a doughnut spanning outwards from the antenna itself. 
To get the best coverage you should have the antenna either upright or 
horizontal, depending on the orientation of the antenna at the other end.

> > Move the access point nearer the middle of the building?
> 
> For winter, I'll do this but for now I'll point it outside.  This
> weather's something else!
> 

The other thing to think about is the channel you are using.

Make sure your neighbours aren't using the same channel or any channel two 
up or down from the one you're on. if they are, move the channel you're 
using to minimise interference.

Cheers,
Al.