[Flounder] wifi dongles

[Glenn McIntosh]

On 2/3/22 21:59, Russell Coker via Flounder wrote:
> Now I have a relative who can't conveniently get an Ethernet cable to their PC 
> ... so the NBN device at the other end of the house has to be used).  I've got
> them using one of my 2.4gHz dongle> 5gHz is a required feature for me as that frequency tends to have less
> interference.> 
> Are external antennas good?  Adverts claim that the antennas give a 5dB signal 
> gain

can't help with software compatibility, I've only tried a few cheap wifi
dongles and they've all worked on Linux (though some needed the non-free
drivers)

But when trying to range through a house, it is worth understanding what
lies between the dongle and the access point.

In the GHz range, you don't get a heap of refraction, so the
line-of-sight becomes important.

A lot of things can block, attenuate or reflect the RF, including human
bodies, reinforcement in concrete, appliances, and so on. So it can help
to have a 3m USB extension and place the dongle up above the level of
these barriers, and similarly have the access point up high.

The 2.4GHz band is certainly subject to more sources of interference due
to the popularity of this band (bluetooth, microwave ovens, other
people's wifi etc).But it has lower free-space losses, and can be a
little more forgiving of small objects in the path. And unfortunately
even the 5GHz band is starting to get a little crowded. These are both
relatively unregulated bands.

The 5dB passive omni antennas are definitely worthwhile for increasing
range. They achieve the gain by 'flattening' the donut shaped radiation
pattern so that more energy goes into the horizontal plane; this of
course means that the antenna needs to be facing the right way (pointing
up/down). But increased power is a poor substitute for an uncluttered
transmission path.

Glenn
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