I'd like to know if anyone here has done any com

[dcplumer]

I'd like to know if anyone here has done any comparisons between their tablets and other wireless devices in terms of the range they can get. The TC1100 specs state that the expected range is:

802.11a - Typical
500 feet - Outdoors Open Area
150 feet - Indoor, Office-environment

802.11 b - Typical
1200 feet - Outdoor Open Area
300 feet - Indoor, Office environment

802.11 g - Typical
1000 feet - Outdoor Open Area
200 feet - Indoor, Office environment

With both the original Intel wireless card and the upgraded WLAN 500 a/b/g card, I'm lucky if I can get 30 feet from the router. My husband's Vaio seems to have about 3 times the range.

I called tech support to see if this was normal, and the person I spoke to thought it sounded like a problem with the internal antenna. I sent the unit off for repair on Tuesday and got it back today with a note that "Your system passed diagnostic testing. The service issues reported to HP's support center could not be duplicated." Before I call to complain again, I'd like to know if this truly is a normal condition.

Thanks!

Danielle

[ualvoyager]

Hi Danielle,

I use a Linksys Wireless G access point at home. I had been using an iPAQ 4155 pocketpc and the range on that was PHENOMINAL!!

Once I upgraded to the TC1100 I have noticed that the range is somewhat limited. For example I used to be able to walk across the street to my neighbor's house and sit in their back yard and surf from my access point at home on the iPAQ (we're talking at least 900-1000 ft). With the Tablet I can get as far as the curb on the other side of the same street in front of the same neighbors house (about 750-875 ft)and sometimes it will drop off while I am inside my own home. This was BEFORE I installed SP2.

Since I installed SP2, something has happened. I am actually getting better reception, no "drop offs" at all now and I can at least get into my neighbors house with the Wi-Fi on the Tablet.

In regards to the drop offs from inside my own home, I too was begining to think something was amiss with my Tablet. But since I installed SP2 onto the Tablet, all of those issues have disapeared.

Hope this helps!

Koby

[charliekowalchuk]

Yeah, not that posting that I don't have a problem and you do, is going to really help, but since there is only one post right now, I will chime in and agree, however from the second day I got mine I went to SP2, so I can't speak for problems using SP1

But I went from a P4 laptop with built in 802.11b and now I use my TC1100 Centrino, and I get better connections then I did with my old laptop.

30 ft, is that through a couple of walls?

regardless, since you say that you have tested the range using another laptop

If you have the Intel Proset Wireless utilities installed (they are supposed to come with the machine, but I had to go to HP support website to download them) there is a setting in that application to where you can control how much of a range you get on your wireless device. I remember it came defaulted to Auto, but perhaps that setting is set incorrectly. or perhaps if you don't have that utility loaded, you might want to give it a try, because then you could play around with the power settings on your wireless card, and see what happens.

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi...7_5840.html#10

You have to choose the utility for your wireless card. the 802.11b is the intel proset utility and the 802.11a/b/g is the HP WLAN W400-W500 Atheros Client Utility

[dcplumer]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will try installing SP2. I wasn't keen to try it as a beta, but release 1 is apparently pretty stable.

Danielle

[swcruz]

You may want to have a look at your wireless access point. Different chipsets may or may not work well together. I have seen other posts stating that the Centrino chipset does not play well with certain brand access points (Netgear is one of them, I believe). If your husband's VAIO is also a Centrino, then maybe updating the firmware in your wireless access point is in order. I recently switched from an 802.11b wireless router to an 802.11g wireless router, and I am getting better range. There are many different variables to test; it may not be the tablet.

[swcruz]

After all the XP wireless bashing this week, several sites have posted the fixes to this problem. Read more here: http://arstechnica.com/news/posts/1086548177.html

[WNewquay]

Sergio,

Nice catch on that article - I've added a link to it in the New User thread.
http://tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12311
Thanks

[dcplumer]

I installed a fresh version of XP and installed SP2, but I don't see any difference in the distance I can go from the router. I've never really had the classic problem of "drops," which Sergio described; I just can't get a good signal!

Right now, in my office less than 5 feet from the router (to which we've added a 15db gain external antenna -- I couldn't get any connection until we added this), I have 4 bars on the status indicator. Just outside the office, roughly 15 ft. from the router and in line of sight of the antenna, I have 3 bars. In the living room, 30 ft. or so away but with two walls intervening, I have 1 bar if I'm lucky. Sure, I can install an access point in the living room, but this still seems ridiculous!

The router I'm using is a Linksys Wireless G. I haven't looked to see if there's a firmware update for it yet. That will be tomorrow's chore.

Danielle

[WNewquay]

Danielle,
Have you looked inside your unit (smaller access panel at the back) to see if *both* antenna leads are connected?

Also - I *would* definitely check for firmware updates.

http://linksys.com/download/

[dcplumer]

Yes, both antenna leads are connected to the WLAN card. My suspicion was that there was a loose connection to the actual antennae, which are underneath the screen. That's why it was sent for repair, although I think they just turned it on, said "yep, it works," and sent it back.

Upgrading the router's firmware didn't help. We set up a Linksys access point as a repeater in the living room, and that has made a significant difference. Maybe the walls in our house are lead-lined?