Chapter 1 - Introduction

Wireless Performance

This section provides a few ideas to help you improve the performance of your WLAN.

Site Topography

For optimal performance, locate wireless mobile clients and the ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD" away from transformers, heavy-duty motors, fluorescent lights, microwave ovens, refrigerators, and other industrial equipment. Signal loss can occur when metal or concrete walls or floors block transmission. Locate the ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD" in open areas or add more devices (APs) as needed to improve coverage.

Microwave ovens operate in the same frequency band as the ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD". Therefore, if you use a microwave oven within range of your device, you may notice network performance degradation. However, your microwave oven and ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD" will continue to function.

Range

Every environment is unique with different obstacles, barriers, materials, and so on. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the exact range of your WLAN without testing in the specific environment. However, you can follow some of the guidelines described in this section to estimate the range of your network.

Radio signals may be reflected by some obstacles or absorbed by others depending on their construction. For example, with two 802.11b radios, you may achieve clear reception over a distance of up to 1000 feet in open spaces, with the two devices being in line of sight (meaning they have no obstacles in a straight line between them). However, the same two units may only achieve up to 300 feet of range when used indoors.

By default, the ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD" automatically adjusts the data rate to maintain a usable signal connection. Therefore, a client that is close to the ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD" may operate at higher speeds while a client that is on the fringe of coverage may operate at lower speeds. You can configure the data rates used by the ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD" to improve the performance. However, if you limit the range of data rates available to the ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD", you may reduce the effective wireless range of the WLAN coverage.

1 - Introduction

ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD" User’s Manual

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