bi241@scn.org wrote:
> did you install the driver on the CD that comes with the card? the
> updated driver seems not working well with netstumbler
>
> i bought those airlink cards about a year ago and havent done any
> modification. i did pop the USB plastic case open and saw two antennas
> on this card. the external seems to be the TX and the one on PCB i
> think is the RX... it has different antenna configuration than its PCI
> counterpart, but the USB has a different chipset, the rt73 (vs rt61)
> which i suspect having better receive sensitivity
>
> so the perfect mod would be replacing the external antenna with a
> reverse polarity SMA connector and hook it up with
>
> a) yes, a very high gain omni or directional antenna
> b) or an external amp, like the popular and available hawking HSB2
> that can put out 500mW and comes with a 2dBi omni
>
> Frys is having HSB2 on sale for $69.... for antenna, i would look for
> one on eBay or other websites... i just can't stand the ridiculous
> prices that they set on those simple devices at local electronics
> retailers, even at Frys... despite the fact that i dont have enough
> skill and too lazy to build one
>
> i am not sure how this set up would work for MIMO design, as the
> AWLL5025 specification says that it has diversity antenna
> configuration... meaning it assigns TX to one antenna and RX to
> another. This mod would probably improve just the TX side and leave
> the RX side at the mercy of the chipset's RX sensitivity
>
> but the AWLH4030 is a different story. it has one single antenna for
> both TX and RX... so i removed the antenna and hooked it up to a
> hawking HSB1 (yeah i've got the version 1 of the HSB) set the amp to
> 500mW, snapped in a 9dbi omni and ran wildpackets omnipeek. From my 2nd
> floor apartment, i can see a wifi hotspot from a nearby scottish inn,
> which is about 1.5 miles away as the crow flies.... by the way, the
> setup is entirely indoor and done in my desk in the living room, and
> no, there's no clear line-of-sight to any of the networks i was able to
> "see" with this setup
>
> contrary to popular beliefs, and politics, an external wifi amplifiers
> does boost the receiving side of the radio it hooks up to, provided
> that one single antenna is being used..... from my experience, the
> Hawking HSB1 and HSB2 are bi-directional, output 500mW of TX power and
> provide a +12dB RX gain, are relatively inexpensive and work well with
> both OFDM and DSSS in half-duplex mode ...
>
> my next wifi adventure would be buying another HSB, hook them up in
> series, that would theoretically give me a +24dB boost in RX gain while
> maintaining the output TX power within legal limit... i cant wait to
> see how far my hotrod wifi toys can reach...
>
> cheers


<snip>
I am running X64, so I had to get the driver off the net. I haven't
tried the Airlink with netstumber on my notebook (win2kpro).

My understanding of diversity receive is there are multiple receive
antennas and one combination transmit/receive antenna. On my SMC card,
the combination TX/RX port is the one near the LED.