[OT] Access Point suggestions

[Bill Moseley <moseley@hank.org>]

I've got and SMC 2652W Access Point and a Cisco 352 pcmcia card for use at
home.

The connection drops every once in a while, and I often need to power-cycle
the access point to get it to re-sync.  Rebooting the laptop or removing
and reinstalling the pcmcia card doesn't seem to help.

I assumed this was a configuration or driver issue on the linux side.  But
I just got back from OSCON where my wireless worked flawlessly under Debain.

It seems to be an issue with the way the Cisco card and SMC access point
talk -- they are just a few feet apart so it's not a range issue.  I'm not
aware of ways to debug the hardware other than using iwconfig and ping.
Iwconfig looks normal, and ping either works or it doesn't.

I used to run the laptop under Windows with the matching SMC pcmcia card.
It was very stable, but the range sucked.

I have not been that thrilled with the SMC access point (due to the range),
so I'm considering buying a slightly higher-end device.  Not sure if that
will help much, but it might be worth a try.  Would it make sense to buy a
Cisco unit that is in the same series as my card?  Such as:

  http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.asp?EDC=271073

Or is that throwing money at a brand name?  I see those cisco units on Ebay
for a small savings, but nothing too significant.  

Any suggestions on how to debug the dropped connections?

Any recommendations on Access Points?

Thanks,

-- 
Bill Moseley
mailto:moseley@hank.org


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