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http://www.wi2600.org/mediawhore/nf0/wireless/docs/802.11/WAP11/fun_with_the _wap11.txt This text file by Xam (C) 2001 .. and all that jazz comments/questions/etc to xam@wi2600.org OH yea; if you break your shit becuase of soemthing you read in here, don't expect me to take any sort responsibility. The potential to void your warranty and break your AP is real; if you don't feel like you understand the language and instructions here, don't go forward with this howto! I felt I should say this in the interest of the idiots out there who think that somehow, by merely describing a way to do a task I somehow am responsible if they screw up. Bzzt! Wrong! ---------------------------------------------------- This file is a result of learning of an interesting set of features available to the user of a "WAP11" access point, sold by Linksys. The origional persons who dispensed this little bit of knowledge are deserving of much thanks and credit, however, I'm not sure if much detail should be gotten into. In any case, the origional discovery was not my own. For now, they are known as the: "super secret canadian wireless group" <G> What's so cool about the WAP11? Well, lets cut to the chase; with a little bit of effort, you can turn the "normal" WAP11 into an Access Point with suprising range and power, by simply telling it's radio to output a stronger signal. True, this will ammount to 3 to 4 db gain in power, which isn't all that much, but heck, it's free. If you are using some sort of external amplifier system, observe caution. Many external amp's will not like seeing this much power at their input. However, if the amp is auto-ranging, and accepts a wide range of power (some are 10 to 100 wm), then using additional power may not be important. The only case that comes to mind where higher power out of the AP would be good would be in where you have a long run of very poor coax, and need that additional 3 to 4 db of signal to obtain a higher signal to noise ration at the input of the amplifier. Anyway, yes; the power output IS a software-controlable parameter set. A location in the bridges configuration space called "register CR31" contains 14 values, each one byte in size which serve to control the transmit power. Yes, there is a byte per channel; you're not stuck with a signle output power for all channels. This could serve to be usefull in cases where contoured power output within the 2400 to 2480 Mhz band is needed. Within the tool (discussed later) you'll be setting this byte to various values depending on the power output you're looking for. The scale is as follows: 00----------80----------FF 0mw--------100mw-------0mw The scale is linear, 80h (128 decimal) being the highest power, at nearly 100 mw! YES! The Wap11 in fact, contains a radio which is capable of 100 mw opperation. It is interesting to note that the power decreases as you near FF and 00 on either end the byte values. Listed here is the default channel set power for a WAP11 bought recently with the FCC regulatory domain set. Channel Power 1 c0 2 bf 3 bb 4 bb 5 b9 6 b7 7 b7 8 b7 9 b5 10 b5 11 b5 12 b5 13 b5 14 b5 The defaults are moving away from higher values to lower values as you go from from channel 1 to 14. However, this translates into lower power UP to higher power through the band. This could simply be precompensation for greater absorbtion exerienced by higher frequencies. Or, a number other other reasons. I'm not inclined to think it'