User's Manual

• How many remote units do you have talking to each access point?
• What channels are you using, and how are they dispersed?
• How much coverage overlap is there between access points?
• How high above the floor are the access points mounted?
• What revision of Intel(R) PROSet software or other LAN software are you running?
• What other electronic equipment is operating in the same band?
• What construction materials are used in wall and floors?
Users are dropped from the wireless network
Suggested causes and solutions:
• Find out if a person or workgroup moved or if the building has been rearranged.
• If two or more users are seated too close to each other, performance can suffer. Instruct
your users to space themselves a small distance apart to keep receivers from being
overloaded.
• Delivery trucks with very large metal sides can affect performance by reflecting
destructive signals back into a building. If you have an installation that includes a
shipping dock, check to see if the problem coincides with the arrival of large trucks.
• Personal “systems” can also interfere with your network. Wireless speakers, cordless
earphones, some Bluetooth devices, and similar systems can be the source of an
infrequent but hard to find the problem. Some systems do not conform to wireless
regulations. Shut off suspect devices or remove them from the area.
• If possible, remove and reinstall your new software. Conflicts with other resident
software packages are always a possibility, and they are not always the fault of the
newest addition. Sometimes just starting over fixes the problem.
• Swap units around. Does your problem follow the changed units, or is it unique to a
specific location? If it follows the product, the swapped unit could be damaged, or
improperly configured. If the problem stays with the location, try to find out what is
different about that particular room or area.
Range decreases as data rate increases
This is a normal condition. Range is inversely proportional to data rate: the faster the data, the
shorter the range. This has to do with the modulation technology used. Very fast data rates
require extremely complex signal waveforms, where even minor distortions can result in data
errors. Slower data rates are much more tolerant, and consequently will get through even in the
presence of some amount of noise, interference, distortion and echo.
Signal doesn't pass through a short or thin wall
Range is highly dependent on the physical environment. In a line-of-sight location, with elevated
and calibrated antennas, range predictions are quite accurate. This is not true in a “typical”
office building, where the walls may be simple drywall (which is almost transparent to
microwaves), or could be plaster with metal underneath. Most sites are somewhere between
these two extremes, and consist of a mixture of surfaces. You can’t tell what is inside a wall by
just looking at it, and we can’t tell you exactly what distance you will achieve. Consider
published range information to be typical, average, common or usual. Do not expect it to be
exact.