Wireless Service Providers → WAP11 power hack, part 2

This is a followup to the "potential FCC issues with WAP11 hack" I started last week.
»potential FCC issues with WAP11 hack

edit: this info is based on WAP11, it should also apply to SMC 2655 and Netgear ME102 ("fraternal twins" to WAP11).

Casey Halverson has posted pictures of the dirty spectrum generated from WAP11. Casey has kindly granted me permission to post them here. Read all about it and keep up to date at his website:
»www.maokhian.com/wireles ··· p11.html

It is pretty clear that the WAP11 power hack violates 802.11b bandwidth specs and generates interference outside unlicensed ISM band. Well, it is pretty clear if you've used a spectrum analyzer Casey promised on his website to post more info about spurs and harmonics between 1.4GHz and 2.4GHz -- which are outside the ISM frequency band and I'm sure the FCC would take issue over.

edit: I had to change message for each picture below otherwise the forum software rejects the post
[text was edited by author 2002-02-04 23:29:38]

Casey Halverson
Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved

ditto on copyright notice...
Casey Halverson
Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved

Casey Halverson, Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved

Well, I think his measurements just about settle the issue, except, of course for people who don't know, don't care, and won't listen.
drjim

Great information! The pictures tell it all. Not only are
they creating more noise but they are spraying it all over
the spectrum.

Thanks for the indisputable proof.

It doesn't settle it for people that know the weakest output for the WAP11 is on channel 1 which is 41mW(c0). Inquiring minds want to know what good a 30mW picture does. Channels increase slightly in output, to a max of about 50mW(b5) on channel 14.

I don't understand your objections to his work. Maybe if you wrote to him, he'd do a spectrum plot of all 11 channels. The point of this is that REGARDLESS of which channel he plots, doing the software hack will cause splatter, and out-of-band emissions.
drjim

Could some one please explain the attraction to the Linksys
(either hacked or unhacked)? I can't understand why for just
a few dollars more everybody wouldn't use equipment which
gives them all the performance they need with out the unwanted
side effects. (Kind of sounds like a drug commercial).

I'm no technologist, just a hobbyist. Here are the reasons I chose them.

Availability: Staples, Office Depot, Radio Shack. You don't need to frequent the typical geek hang-outs to be exposed to their stuff.

Cost: Not just the AP, but a total package. With careful shopping you can have a basic WLAN for just over $200. The "few dollars more" is pretty relative. The difference between a Linksys and an Orinoco setup 6 months ago, as an example, was huge and can still be substantial.

Ignorance: I bought a wireless Linksys product because I'd had a good experience with a wired one, and I didn't know of many other choices. Now that I know more, I might make the same choice, but for better reasons.

Reliability: It works. Mine does, anyway. I have suffered a good deal more instability and infinitely more downtime from Windows issues than from those related to the Linksys.

That doesn't excuse the behavior of those who are running hot and creating problems, just my perspective on the "why Linksys?" part.

Like them or not, they have out sold their three major competitors in the last year or so. Even their combined sales were less than Linksys sales. I saw the pie chart on the box of the last router I got. Tech shows and reviewers, rave about their products. I spent $700 on their stuff 10 months ago and was very unhappy, until I did the power hacks. I spent over $300 on the Wappy, so I did not want to ditch it. 9 out of 10 WAP11 owners will never be able to do the power hacks, seeing how their VCR is still flashing 12:00.

Yikes, kinda feels like I went into a crowded theatre and yelled "fire!"

My goal was to inform the tech crowd, and so I posted on this forum (instead of Linksys forum). I think we all need to chill and wait to hear about a "safe" power tweak on the WAP11.

Andrew J, I'm with you -- I can't wait until more lab tests are run on the WAP11. I'm not ready to conclude that ALL tweaking of WAP11 is bad. I'm just happy that folks with spectrum analyzers and curiousity are hard at work trying to get answers.

Let's not start a brand war. Remember that the technology developer has licensed the design to Linksys (WAP11), SMC (2655) and Netgear (ME102). So all three products can use the power hack.

I've said it before and will say it again -- most folks will be happy with products from Linksys/Netgear/SMC/etc (except for some WPC11 cards which have gotten a bad reputation). If you want more flexibility or advanced features then look more carefully at SOHO products or shop the enterprise market and pay more.

said by bbarrera:

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I've said it before and will say it again -- most folks will be happy with products from Linksys/Netgear/SMC/etc (except for some WPC11 cards which have gotten a bad reputation). If you want more flexibility or advanced features then look more carefully at SOHO products or shop the enterprise market and pay more.

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AMEN BROTHER!!!!!!

said by Andrew J:

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It doesn't settle it for people that know the weakest output for the WAP11 is on channel 1 which is 41mW(c0). Inquiring minds want to know what good a 30mW picture does. Channels increase slightly in output, to a max of about 50mW(b5) on channel 14.

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I have 4 wapll's and the default factory settings go from e4 about 21mW to af about 63mW. I just cant understand why some people get good range and others do not. This is good information as it confirms my thinking that after I cranked up my waps I was interfering with myself

Thanks Casey Halverson, I can not wait for next step to find at what setting the splatter starts.

Agreed. I'd like to see some additional testing to determine if there is a way to increase incrementally without causing the scatter depicted above. For my part I'll definitely reset my WAP11 to the default. In all honesty the range improvement for me was quite marginal, and I can live without it. I was far more interested in the ability to disable ESSID broadcast, which the ATMEL SNMP utility also provided (and could be done without changing tx settings). I believe that Linksys has added that feature to their own SNMP utility now too, however, so I don't even need to use the ATMEL util any more.