RE: Atheros tweaks

["Jongwoo Han" <jongwooh%gmail.com@localhost>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steven M. Bellovin [mailto:smb%cs.columbia.edu@localhost] 
> Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 11:43 AM
> To: Jongwoo Han
> Cc: lists%yazzy.org@localhost; tech-embed%NetBSD.org@localhost
> Subject: Re: Atheros tweaks
> 
> On Thu, 9 Mar 2006 11:34:37 +0900
> "Jongwoo Han" <jongwooh%gmail.com@localhost> wrote:
> 
> > > 
> > > Do yourself a favour and don't try to be a smartass. 
> > > Seems like you don't work much with wireless since you're 
> > > totally wrong in every point. 
> > > I already have ~10 miles links like that with atheros cards 
> > > with the only difference 
> > > being commercial atheros drivers instead of open sourced. 
> > > 
> > > Marcin
> > > 
> > 
> > That's interesting...  What I mentioned was atheros 
> 801.11b/g device. Are we
> > talking about the same chip, without any antenna or booster 
> modification?
> >  
> Suitable antennas are pretty cheap to buy and very easy to make.  See,
> for example, http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/ .  For more 
> links, go to 
> http://www.seattlewireless.net/ .
> 
> 
>               --Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb

Thank you for good antenna boosting tips. But I think Marcin claims "the
only difference is in software".
If we use those kind of antennas, any 802.11b/g card extended range are
gained by physical condition improvement (with loss of multidirectionality)
but not by software.

However, Atheros says their "XR(extended range)" technology combined with
their proprietary driver extends typical 802.11b/g range up to 3 folds (30
meter typical range to 100 meter), but I do not think it can reach more than
several hundred feet as it was sold. (I mean no parabolic antenna)