NETGEAR WAG102NA manual Wireless Equipment Placement and Range Guidelines

ProSafe Dual Band Wireless Access Point WAG102 Reference Manual (802.11a/g)

Wireless Equipment Placement and Range Guidelines

The operating distance or range of your wireless connection can vary significantly based on the physical placement of the wireless access point. The latency, data throughput performance, and notebook power consumption of wireless adapters also vary depending on your configuration choices.

Note: Failure to follow these guidelines can result in significant performance degradation or inability to wirelessly connect to the WAG102. For complete performance specifications, see Appendix A, “Default Settings and Technical Specifications

For best results, place your wireless access point:

•Near the center of the area in which your PCs will operate.

•In an elevated location such as a high shelf where the wirelessly connected PCs have line-of- sight access (even if through walls).

•Away from sources of interference, such as PCs, microwaves, and 2.4 GHz cordless phones.

•Away from large metal surfaces.

Putting the antenna in a vertical position provides best side-to-side coverage. Putting the antenna in a horizontal position provides best up-and-down coverage.

If using multiple access points, it is better if adjacent access points use different radio frequency Channels to reduce interference. The recommended Channel spacing between adjacent access points is 5 Channels (for example, use Channels 1 and 6, or 6 and 11).

The time it takes to establish a wireless connection can vary depending on both your security settings and placement. Some types of security connections can take slightly longer to establish and can consume more battery power on a notebook computer.

2-2 Basic Installation and Configuration

v2.0, September 2006