Hi,
Is the weak link in WiFi always the client station? Is it because client stations are just too quiet for the AP to hear?
I manage a 802.11 b/g/n 2.4Ghz WLAN on a 12-acre RV park in a urban area of southern California. The APs are Engenius ENH200 and EOA7530 with WDS for backhaul. Coverage is typically -70dbm in bad locations and between -55dbm and -45dbm when line of site and outdoors. There are at least a dozen competing APs in the vicinity and everyone has a microwave oven, so interfernece is always looming.
Laptops, when inside RVs, and handhelds, just about anywhere, have the most difficulty using the outdoor system. In testing, the clients hear the APs but the APs seem not to hear the client station. So the data rate is poor. The router shows few bad and/or retransmitted packets. The APs on the other hand seem to constantly reassociate various clients. Typically with 60 users online, 6 users will have trouble getting or staying connected.
Adding a WiFi booster to a laptop seems to always cure, interference notwithstanding, but handhelds remain an issue. For handheld users, we ask them to goto the lounge. The lounge is indoors where WiFi consistently works very well from reports.
Am I correct in believing the client is the weak link?
Many thanks,
Keith
