Mailing List os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com Archived Message #4292

From: Ray Hyder <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com> Full Headers
Undecoded message
Sender: os2-wireless_users-owner <os2-wireless_users-owner@2rosenthals.com>
Subject: [OS2Wireless] NetGear MA311
Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 15:51:02 -0400
To: os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com



Lewis G Rosenthal wrote:

Hi, Ray. Congrats on your new Wi-Fi hardware!

Ray Hyder wrote:

I realize the IBM driver was designed to run on a ThinkPad  but it does recognize the MA311 and works okay as far as I can see.


It's all a matter of chipsets...


It is a Prism 2.5 chipset.
Performance...   When transferring a 10 meg file between the systems I'm getting a 450 KByte rate with WEP disabled.  350 KByte with 128 bit WEP enabled.   Does the  128 bit WEP really have a 25% overhead?


It varies between manufacturers, but there is a definite, measurable hit
by turning on WEP. 25% doesn't seem unreasonable.

Ahhh, the cost of security!
  Are these transfer rates normal for WiFi at 70 feet?


There's no universal yardstick. You could try using a parabolic
reflector to increase gain at either (or both) end(s) of the connection.

Lewis, that's true  but parabolic antennas are really expensive and for less money I could simply dig a trench  between the two buildings and drop in a Cat 5 cable and run at 100 Mbps.   It would be less than half the price and 10 times the speed...  Why not?  Don't need the speed for  the application  I have and I'm now fascinated with WiFi...  :-)

  I have a 5db gain omni-directional antenna on order for the MA311.  Will that help?


Probably. Also try adjusting the placement of the antenna/AP. It's
amazing how even a few inches can improve transmission. Also, try
adjusting the relative positions of the antennae at the AP (like TV
rabbit ears).

I've done that  so many times I'm worried about wearing out the antennae!
The driver...  It looks like the driver boots up with the radio off  or something.


This indeed sounds like an option in the NIF which may not be well
documented. Jens can probably speak to this.

Jens did help me fix that problem!   Thank you again Jens!


Stability...   With all of the above considered,  the MA311 somehow decides,  after about an hour,  that it is time to quit work and it goes "unavailable".   Nothing will bring it back short of a reboot.  Please!  What am I missing here?


Hehehe... Welcome to the brave new world of Wi-Fi power management (or
mismanagement, as the case may be). It sounds like the card's power
management functions are being enabled, and unfortunately, Wi-Fi cards
of today's vintage(!) are notorious for being unpredictable when power
management is enabled. As there are no standards for power management


Lewis, it turns out not to be a power management problem.  For some reason the MA311 likes to receive data but when it has to transmit data it falls into an unrecoverable coma...
Any help with the above will be appreciated!  - ray


No problem! That's why we're all here! (Of course, you could try calling
Netgear..."OS/2? Is that something like OS X?..."


Don't get me started...  Positive and sunny thoughts are  now being replaced with negative and dark thoughts... .
.
.

Back in control...  I think...  ;-)
.
.
.
Lewis, thanks for your input!  - ray


--



Ray Hyder
PO Box 448
Georgetown, Georgia 39854-0448


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