Wireless not operating at optimal? [Archive]

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BlackMat

01-15-2009, 01:17 AM

I have an alfa 500mw usb adaptor. When I run iwconfig in terminal it prints out the following stats:

wlan1
Mode: monitor
Bit rate: 11 mb/s
tx-Power=5dBm
Fragment thr=off
Link Quality: 15/100
Signal Level= -243dBm
Noise level= -171dBm

The above stats look alot lower than the advertised ratings. Shouldnt tx-Power be something like 27dBm? I know I can change the rate and I want to increase the tx power but fear I might damage the hardware. Any advice?

gromeo

01-15-2009, 03:09 AM

you can buy a better antenna. You can't reach higher dbm with the small alfa antenna you have.

imported_=Tron=

01-15-2009, 03:26 AM

you can buy a better antenna. You can't reach higher dbm with the small alfa antenna you have.Well yes he can, by increasing the TX power, but as he stated himself this has the possibility of damaging the device in the long run.

BlackMat

01-15-2009, 10:41 AM

Thanks - Any recommenations on good antennas?

Citruspers

01-19-2009, 02:53 PM

5-8 dBi Omni antenna for urban environments (10 dBi if the skyline is low), Directional antenna if you want even better connections and don't mind having to aim the thing.

The reason for the dBi's is that generally: the higher the dBi, the lower the beam diversity (the height the signal travels). this could be 23 degrees for a 10 dBi, or 40 for a 5 dBi.