Wireless access range is rubish

[Ed^Chigliak]

Wasn't sure what to expect but certainly expected alot more range. The wireless access point is Netgear ME102 and laptop is an Acer travelmate 800LCi Centrino has intel pro wireless 2100 (802.11b WLAN). If you walk bewteen the laptop and the access point it stops working and if you leave the room where the access point is located it stops working. I doubt I'll be needing to set any security settings as I would have to invite drive by hackers in for tea with such poor range.

Any ideas... I thought maybe there should be an atena for the laptop or something.

[stoopid]

Yikes, that's really bad dood, should definitely be getting more range. Are you sure there isn't something creating interference??

[versello]

Ya, really sounds like you got some serious interference problems :o

I have a D-Link wireless setup in my house and I can go downstairs and upstairs and receive full coverage.

[primesuspect]

Yup, I'll third this - I have a centrino laptop, thus the exact same wireless card as you, and I get mad range. I can be down the street from my house about 150 feet and still connect. I have the worst piece of crap Linksys WAP11 that you could possibly ask for and I still get good range. You must have something wrong elsewhere.

[Ageek]

Here is what PC Mag got for that wireless gate--

Performance:
10 feet: 4.4 Mbps
40 feet: 4.2 Mbps
100 feet: 3.5 Mbps

I think you have hardware problems. Big time. Sorry. The only other thing I can say is Netgear links best with Netgear. and wireless access points are hugely sensitive to surges and drops and slumps in power. I would UPS the thing, try a PCMCIA wireless NIC from Netgear and see if is soem weird compatibility thing, and then RMA the access point. Netgears are either great or terrible and it seems to be production batches and not models.

John Danielson.