Access Point placement.

[rutchtkim]

Would putting an acces point on floor 1 be alright? I have two floors, can't put it on floor 2 for some reason. Good idea or no? Would signal stregnth be bad for wirless pc's on floor 2 if I put WAP on floor 1?

 

[OdiN]

It should work on either floor. If possible, if you have two windows somewhat facing each other you can put the router near one and the AP near the other upstairs and it should work.

I HIGHLY recommend NOT using PCI wirelss cards, but instead use USB. PCI Cards have to contend with a lot of interference from the computer and the USB adapter can be placed farther away, hung on the wall, etc. Linksys' WUSB11 is good.

Wireless is quite picky, and depending on how your house is built it may not go between floors as well as it can. I installed a Router/AP/PCI for a client..originally only supposed to be Router/PCI card, but I had to use an AP above the computer system to get the signal to the PCI card because they didn't listen to me about the USB adapter

 

[bocamojo]

Putting it on the first floor should not be a problem. I would recommend trying to use the "3 wall rule"... Don't assume that your wireless connection will work beyond 3 walls... Simple. Of course, it might work with 4 or more, but when planning, always assume the worst. In your case, the ceiling would be considered the first "wall". Of course, insulation barriers can possibly have an adverse affect also, but hopefully that will not be an issue in your case.