[paulb100]

is this normal?

Acer Aspire 5733 connects at 65Mbps over wireless-N and only has 1 ariel/antenna internally (but has 2 ports)...does this effect range?

even my 6 year old wireless-G laptop has 2 ariels

thanks

[leroys1000]

Antennas are usually cut to the required length that is
required for the frequencies they operate on.
So range would more be determined by the power of the
reciever/transmitter hardware.
Having only one antenna should not really affect your range.
Your wireless G laptop may have also had a wireless/bluetooth
combo card/hardware that required another antenna.

[paulb100]

thanks leroys1000

there was no bluetooth or anything other than wireless-G on old laptop.. its the first laptop ive seen with 1 ariel... and ive been inside many!!

my other sister has an old cheap celeron laptop and it has 2 wires and connects at 300Mbps...

2 be honest if it doesnt affect range/signal quality in rooms then im not so bothered about the speed

[leroys1000]

Some smaller wireless cards use an antenna printed on the circuit board.
Looks kind of like a square zigzag pattern made out of the traces.

[paulb100]

ahh - it may have one as a 2nd one because it works in 40mHz mode (135Mbps)...you would think it wouldnt if it had just 1 ariel am i right?

[leroys1000]

It's running at 40 because you are connected to wireless N.
If you connect to G it will be slower.

[paulb100]

I know, Im saying i didnt think 40mhz would be possible on 1 antenna...obviously is though

[diolemo]

I have the same laptop and am about to swap the wireless card out for an Intel Ultimate N 6300 and that requires 3 antenna. I'm gonna fit an additional 2. I will let you know the results with and without 3 antenna once it is setup.

[paulb100]

thanks

[diolemo]

Tested with a Cisco/Linksys E4200 router and the Acer Aspire 5733 (Using Atheros AR5B125).

High Signal Area

2 antenna = 6.7 MiB/s RX 6.5 MiB/s TX 0.9/2.3/1.4
1 antenna = 6.6 MiB/s RX 6.0 MiB/s TX 0.9/2.7/1.1

Low Signal Area

2 antenna = 4.5 MiB/s RX 2.8 MiB/s TX 1.0/51.9/3.9
1 antenna = 2.8 MiB/s RX 2.7 MiB/s TX 1.0/26.5/2.1

The transfer rates are average throughput using SAMBA and measured with Netlimiter. The numbers at the end are the min/max/avg for 100 ICMP packets between the laptop and the router.

The new Intel Ultimate-N 6300 does 30 MiB/s RX/TX actual throughput.

If you are thinking about adding an antenna or replacing the card then these might be useful.

[paulb100]

thanks for that...I wont be adding one

did it improve signal/range?

[diolemo]

The main difference is that the speed was greater at longer range. I don't know if it increased the range outright though.

[paulb100]

ok thanks very much for sharing your findings with me... I really appreciate it, it something ive been wanting to know