PocketMatrix

I thought I'd start a thread on this subject since it interests me and a few others.

I just got a 10/100 CF card for my PPC and it's great. Thing is, being tethered to a CAT5e cable kinda defeats the purpose of mobility. So...

What I want to know is what experience people have had. Dan, you seem to have quite some info on this.

I am thinking about implimenting this at my company for the employees with devices. I also want to do it at home.

Is it worth it? Is it reliable at short range, i.e. less than 50 meters? How much interference do you get from walls and wires? In a normal scenerio what are the results, i.e. laying in bed about 25 meters from the access point through a floor?

At close range (<5 meters) 802.11b is as fast as ethernet 10Base-T. I can't tell a difference between the two. That is only if the CF card is configured without power saving mode. When power saving is enabled, the throughput was reduced to 1/5 or so (at close range). The battery drain without power saving is very high on my iPaq. It will kill the batteries in less than 30 minutes. My experience is that walls and floors greatly reduce signal strength. I was able to go about 125 meters outdoors (my WAP was sitting in the window, line of sight from my location) before the connection was completely lost. Indoors at about 12 meters through a couple walls (paneling - not concrete or brick) I had to "baby" it to keep a connection. I would have to move my iPaq around until I found a good spot to maintain a connection. The signal strength would read around 30% at most in that scenerio.

All in all I am disappointed with 802.11b when used with a Pocket PC. I was testing out the feasibility for use in hospitals, and my verdict is that WAPs would be required ever 25 meters at most down all hallways to provide decent coverage in that type of setting. Now if one were using fixed access points, such as PC to WAP, where one could employ additional high gain antennas, etc, then I think it would provide a good alternative to ethernet. Directional antennas can be used outdoors between fixed-point sites to span many miles (line of site). The biggest problem I see with 802.11b at this time with Pocket PCs is the battery life.

Dan East

Thanks Dan. I figured you would have the dirt on it.

My partners and I have regular meetings, and I was thinking about going the webpad route. Mostly because I hate notepaper. I use my PPC for it now, but it is a pain to be tethered to the cat5 and a pain that the screen is so small.

I guess we are a few years away from startrek.

canada had all of our nhl players...lemieux and uhhh whats his face...

that's what I said...

you know it says a lot when an extremely talented programmer thinks in feet and inches

I like to work in "Cheez-It"s For instance, my monitor is 13 "Cheez-It"s wide (viewable area). I make a motion that from now on "Cheez-It"s are considered the standard unit of this board. All in favor say "Sunshine." All opposed, bow your heads in shame and leave.

there you go with that metric crap again. Cheez-it's I say.