T23 internal wifi advice

[alagregg]

hi, my T23 has internal wireless with non-ibm antennas. It works generally ok and i get a high signal (althougth does have a tendancy to cut out).

however i am unable to use a aux antenna (antenna plugged into aux port) with it. adding a second antenna seems to drastically reduce my signal.

Using the program network stumbler i am able to see actually adding any antenna to the aux port seems to increase the noise in the signal drastically.

i have tried this with various antennas and different drivers for my card. (even have updated card firmware)

as i understood it, the aux antenna should only help when it gets a stronger signal than the main. and should not overall reduce my network signal. please correct me if i understand this wrong.

i am only asking as i am wondering if my mini-pci card is faulty, and am considering replacing it.

ps. my card is a prism chipset based wireless/modem combo.

- al

[rkawakami]

You are correct. The two antennas are supposed to work together. The receiver on the WiFi card should automatically select the stronger of the two signals. If you have been changing antennas, placement, and wireless card firmware and it still operates worse with the AUX antenna, then I'd say your card is the problem.

That said, I don't know how you are determining that the AUX antenna adds to the noise level with NetStumbler. Looking at my program (version 0.4.0), it displays a ratio of signal-to-noise. A weaker signal or one that exhibits more "noise" than "signal", will result in a lower (smaller) signal bar. Is that what you are seeing?

Other things to check...

- if your wireless configuration program or utility indicates your connect speed (not just signal strength)
- NetStumbler forums to see if your card has been reported as working/not working with NetStumbler
- placement of your AUX antenna relative to the MAIN
- any other AP operating on the same channel as your system

[alagregg]

in responce to the previous post - most of the signal bar would turn red, which is how i assumed more noise is present, i can post a screenshot if you desire

HOWEVER,

i have now replaced my prism wireless card, with a one based on an intel chipset. This solved my signal problems, and i can now use two antennas

my old card was strange in that it would always say it had an excellent signal or no-signal at all. (in both windows wifi stuff and stumbler).

i have however an another issue which happens with both my old and new network card. DVD playback slows down (judders) about once every minite on my T23. If i go into device manager and disable the wifi card, dvd playback is fine. I would be grateful if anyone could advice why this is.
(advise me if i should start a new thread for this)
- AL