Strong Access Point

Ronen

Hello all,

i've been told somthing today that kind of make sense... but i don't know if it's true or not.
my company wants to replace the 30$ AP with more stronger 100$ AP. but someone told me that it won't matter because of the recivng end (the MVP 8400/5200). he says that the panel will only recive data better but it won't be able to transmit better... is it true or are the higher priced, better length AP have also better recivers as well as better trasmition?

Hope i made any sense...

Thanks,
Ronen Katz

yuri

If an AP has high powered antennes, it should have a better WiFi coverage right?

ericmedley

Ronen wrote: »

Hello all,

i've been told somthing today that kind of make sense... but i don't know if it's true or not.
my company wants to replace the 30$ AP with more stronger 100$ AP. but someone told me that it won't matter because of the recivng end (the MVP 8400/5200). he says that the panel will only recive data better but it won't be able to transmit better... is it true or are the higher priced, better length AP have also better recivers as well as better trasmition?

Hope i made any sense...

Thanks,
Ronen Katz

The reason this theory holds wate is that most devices download more than they upload. So, better WAP to Device bandwidth would indeed = better percieved communication speed. Now, the question about a touch panel is different in that the touch panel's communication could be more equal upload vs. download. If you use a lot of dynamic images on a panel, then I would think it would download much more than it uploads.

The major communication from a TP to a master would typically be smaller hunks of info.

So, on balance, I'd predict the theory to be true.

Spire_Jeff

From the research I have done, the limiting factor will be the touch panel in your example. That being said, there is some room for improvement at the access point. There is some truth to the get what you pay for philosophy. If the access point uses better electronics and has better processing of RF signals, it can hear a weaker signal.

There is a company called Luxul that makes a powered antenna that really takes this to the next level. They use a directional antenna and a high end signal processor to amplify incoming and outgoing signals. It works very well on 8400s and fairly well on 5200s. In testing we did, going through 3 thick cinder block walls, we were able to take an 8400 across the street and it still had reliable functionality. The 5200 showed signal, but it did not function at that distance. It did however work just outside the office, but not as reliably as I would like. As soon as we removed that third outer wall, everything worked very well. Without the Luxul piece, we could not get the same reliable communication until we moved close to the first cinder block wall and eliminated the second wall. The testing was done with a NetGear WG102.

That being said, you have to think about wireless networking as a chain. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You might be able to cover a decent size house (5000sq ft) with one access point using the Luxul piece, but that doesn't mean you should. Access points have a limit to how many clients they can support simultaneously (not that most resi installs will hit this). There is also an issue of bandwidth. The access point only has so much bandwidth and the more clients there are on the access point, the less bandwidth each will have. So, if you have 5 touch panels, 4 laptops, 2 AppleTVs, 1 wireless NAS device, one Wii, 2 wireless printers and 2 iPhones, you should probably consider using more than 1 access point

Jeff

vining

The output power of APs are lmited to the FCC regulations which govern them and most APs are manufactured to or near this limit. Hi-gain antennaes which are typical directional focus or concentrate their output power in a specific direction so in most application these don't work well for a broad coverage area. With added output amps and super sensitive receivers you could possibly gain some benfit but just cuz the AP can transmit a further distance doesn't mean the TP can match it and transmit that distance back to to the AP so the super sensitive reciever at the AP is needed.

Like jeff said your best bet is to provide better coverage by installing a better wireless network, more APs, do site surveys with Netstumbler & Wi_Spy and if you want to spend some real money go with a managed wireless network which requires a Wireles LAN Controller to manage these manageable APs. They adjust signals levels, RF channels, etc and are almost a requirement if you're doing wireles voip phones since these WLC's manage the handoffs & associations while roaming.