what dB should I expect to achieve?

what dB should I expect to have a stable link? -70? -60? how low is ideal?

Hi There,
Is this an output in NetStumbler?
We have found that anything below about -70 seems to work ok, anything below -20 seems to work no worries. The main thing is to get no interruptions in signal.

Cheers

__________________
Kind Regards

Dan Clark
Network Manager
DunedinWireless
Scarfies.Net Ltd

-20 dBm is fair screaming in, i'm surprised you aren't overloading the receiver of the card/access point. as said before, better than -70dBm should br fine

Hmmm.
A fade margin of around 15db - 20db should provide you with a stable link.
Your fade margin (Theoretical margin) is, TX power budget + RX power budget - free space loss.

Try the System Performance calculator at http://www.zytrax.com/tech/wireless/calc.htm to get some idea.