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Getting the MOST out of your WiFi connection |
AZCI.net now provides Public WiFi service at Quail Run, Las
Colinas and Desert Gardens RV Resorts throughout Pinal County,
AZ. Our WiFi services have been constructed using state-of-the-art
transmitters, designed to provide a strong
signal to your laptop and super sensitive receivers to receive the signal back
from your Laptop computer's wireless network adapter. The
purpose of this article to help you understand the limitations of WiFi and how you can maximize the speed and performance of your
WiFi connection.
Laptop Signal Strength
A WiFi connection between your laptop computer and a
wireless access point requires that your PC's wireless network
adapter be able to receive the signal from our access points
and, most importantly, be able to send a usable signal back to
our access points. Our wireless access points are located
high above the RVs and Park Models in the RV Resort and have
200mw radio transmitters and super sensitive receivers with
medium gain antennas able to amplify the weakest return
signals from laptops. Most laptops are equipped with 50mw
radio transmitters and have low gain antennas built into their
lids.
Laptop Radio Strength
The important point to take away from this is that your laptop
is only 25% as strong as our wireless access points; thus
maximizing the return signal from your laptop to our access
point is the means for you to obtain optimum WiFi performance.
Laptop wireless network adapters are designed for indoor use at
an optimum range of 50-100 feet from a wireless router.
Placement of Access Points
When we construct a series of WiFi access points (which are
essentially ultra-powerful wireless routers), we place them at
intervals that assure that we are providing a usable signal to
all of the laptops in the RV Resort and that most laptops can
send an adequately strong return signal.
However, the presence of one or more of the following conditions
can reduce the signal sent as well as received.
Impediments to Signal Quality
If you are using your laptop within an RV or park
model, you should be aware of elements that can reduce your WiFi
capability. Metal
is the enemy of WiFi radio wave transmission; it
blocks
radio waves and thus reduces the signal quality. There
could be metal foil on the back of the insulation within the
walls of a fiberglas-sided
RV or wood product-sided park model. Metal clad park
models and travel trailers surely reduce the signal as do metal
sun shades
located over the park model living room window and metalized
coatings on RV Windows. If an
object that contains metal is located in the line of sight
between your location and the access point, again, the signal
will be blocked.
Signal to Noise Ratio
Radio receivers receive all signals on the frequency at
which the receiver is set: in the case of WiFi, 2.4Ghz.
For data transmission to occur, the WiFi signal must be at least
20dbm greater than the signal level of the noise or spurious
transmissions. If your signal is blocked, the signal to
noise ratio (SNR) diminishes and the signal level drops below
the 20dbm threshold; data transmission errors then occur sending
and receiving data to and from the laptop to the
access point and your laptop then either browses slowly or not
at all.
Illustrative Example
The chart below illustrates the point. In Case 1, the
noise level (red) is significantly lower than the signal level
(green). In Case 2. as more and more guests arrive at the RV
Resort and crank up their wireless laptops, the noise level
increases while the signal level remains the same, thus reducing
the SNR. In Case 3, If you then install a Range Expander
which amplifies the WiFi signal as well as the return signal
from your laptop to the Access point, your WiFi service vastly
improves.
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Get a WiFi Signal Range
Expander
Cisco
manufactures a Linksys Range Expander which is designed expressly to address all of
the issues described above. The Expander is placed in or near a window
that is closest to the access point. It receives the signal and
rebroadcasts it within the RV or park model, providing a strong clean signal
for the Laptop or alternatively, it connects to a computer's Ethernet port via a cable
provided with the Range Expander, thus, connecting a computer that does not have a built-on wireless
network adapter to the WiFi service. The most important capability of the
Range Expander is that it is equipped with a 200mw Radio that enables it to
amplify the return signal from your laptop to the access point.
Installing
a Range Expander is a Snap
Plug the Range Expander
into an electrical outlet and position it in or near a window closest to the
Access Point. Then, you simply press the "autoconfigure" button for 5
seconds, release it, and in about 15 seconds, the Range Expander is
configured and ready for use. Then open your laptop's wireless
connection manager, observe now a strong signal and connect to it.
Where to get a Range Expander
They are available at Best Buy or online. Google Linksys Range
Expander to find one. The Best Buy price is about $100 and at online
stores for $79.95 Refurbished models are available online from
Newegg, Amazon and others for as little as $26.95.
AZCI.net's Network
Our network, including the WiFi networks in the RV Resorts are
monitored 24x7 and performance within the networks is tested frequently. Our network is connected to the Internet by an OC-12 FIber Optic cable, capable of carrying 540mbps;
it is the largest fiber optic
cable in use by any ISP in the region. We have lots of bandwidth, more than
enough to provide rapid Internet service.
Internet Congestion
Just as highways can become congested during peak traffic hours, so
can the Internet or one or more of your favorite web sites. Each night and
on weekends, when hundreds of millions of Internet users are home from work
and surfing the web, the Internet is often slower than at off peak times.
Since AZCI.net has such a "fat pipe" connecting its network to
the Internet, our traffic joins the Internet directly in to interstate
carrier circuits, thus bypassing most of the local Arizona traffic and
assuring the fastest possible Internet service.
GA Friedman
AZCI.net, LLC
866-701-3278
Email:
support@azci.net
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