Improving RangeMax's Wireless Range

RangeMax's advanced technology means tuning for range and throughput is less important. Optimization is similar to other wireless equipment, but has a different emphasis.

Wireless and Antenna Terms

Wireless products send and receive radio signals through antennas. Like a lightbulb, power affects how far an antenna radiates, but other factors limit radio signals. Just as a car headlight can't be seen as far away in the fog or rain, a radio signal can't be seen as far when blocked. RangeMax avoids some of these problems by bouncing beams around obstacles.

Your goals in optimizing antenna range and throughput are:

• Avoid obstacles.
• Avoid interference.
• Use the antenna in the directions it's strongest and most sensitive. For the WPN824 RangeMax router, this is in the horizontal plane (as it's lying flat). Also, this router is somewhat stronger towards the front.

RangeMax uses multiple antennas. It constantly surveys your environment for physical barriers and interference and adjusts to compensate. If you carry a laptop from the family room to the kitchen, the WPN824 RangeMax router senses the change and selects from over 100 antenna configurations to deliver the fastest, clearest connection. This means that you do not have to adjust antennas individually. RangeMax will benefit from being in the line of sight with other computers, but it does well with reflected signals, making it more versitile.

Until now, wireless antennas were often classified as "omni", which broadcasts in all directions, and "directional", which broadcasts strongly in one direction. A RangeMax router uses an agile antenna, improving on simpler types by combining some of both characteristics.

Another concept is interference, which is a signal that you don't want, at the same frequency as the one you're using. Interference comes from devices such as microwave ovens, cell phones, 2.4 GHz cordless phones, and copy machines. Physical objects may partly or completely absorb signals, reflect them, diffract them (at the edges) or let them pass right through. Metal and water (including the water in people!) tend to absorb or reflect signals. Air, wood, and glass tend to let them pass with weakening. When outside, obstructing plants and weather may also affect signals.

This table shows that common building materials allow radio waves to pass, losing less than half the signal. Metal and water, on the other hand, block signals entirely. Large areas such as metal doors or fishtanks will affect even advanced RangeMax techology to a degree.

Since humans cannot see radio waves, you'll rely on testing, and trial-and-error to get an idea of where an antenna is "shining" most brightly. Test your improvements, Testing Wireless Range explains the options.

Maximum wireless signal rate derived from IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. Actual data throughput will vary.
Network conditions and environmental factors, including volume of network traffic,building materials and construction, and network overhead, lower actual data throughput rate.

Doc: n101473.asp Nov.29, 2005