Wireless network - Repaters - signal strength

[SUNDOG]

Hello friends.
A group of us who camp out here in the mountains South of Tucson AZ, Havea wireless networ set up in our campfeound.....

here's the setup....

Hughesnet link to Sattelite.....

Wireless router at the base location

Wireless acces points (solar/inverter or 12VDC powered) located on several of the hilltops....

This gives us coverage over the entire campground (about two square miles)
We can all connect and stay connected to the network ...but....

We note that the signal strength varies from low to very good. The connection with the network remains and we can get onto the internet most of the time while this signal strength issue exists.

There are no obstructions vegitation or otherwise in the line from the wireless access points to our individual loctions and tests show that the power to the equipment (Batteries) remains constant.......


Anybody have any ideas what could affect Propogation to cause this problem ??

R,

Neal aka: Sundog :) :cool: :confused: :D
:p

[mjc]

First off...that is NOT camping...sheesh, internet access in the middle of nowhere...***shudder*** ;)

Secondly, how much time/effort/money do you want to put into it?

There could be a number of reasons...I can think of about a dozen possible causes, any one of them just as likely...like anything from geo-magnetic anomolies to various radio/tv signals being reflected to that particular area...antenna placement could be causing 'cancellation' nodes where they overlap...not enough antennas to adequately cover the entire area...

[SUNDOG]

Thanks for the response. Any one of those reasons or a combination of them is a possbility. It is these fluctuations in signal strength that we are crious about......

Again thanks for the input.. The money is already spent. The camping experience here is not that rustic. We have about 50 RV's here and many of us live off Solar....... But Cell phone service is spotty especialy for Cingular.
So e-mail becomes a desirable option. We are aout 50 miles from Tucson by highway the last 8 miles of which are dirt... no phone wires and no electric wires.

Sundog:p

[mjc]

RV park...yeah, that ain't camping...

Heck, it can even change depending on how many and where the RVs park...an RV will reflect quite a bit of the signal. And now, knowing that about being an RV park...unless you can get nearly complete coverage coming straight down (like maybe from a satellite or very tall tower) then reflections are going to play havoc with coverage. Think of it as a city center...all those tall, glass and metal buildings do a good job of bouncing the signal around.

Heck, if I had an RV, I'd pack up the family and come for a visit...nice looking campground and I would still be able to be on here. ;)

PS: Put some <center> tags on the WiFi info on the webpage...it looks kind of out of place not centered.