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Product Reviews:
Linksys WSB24 Wireless-B Signal Booster |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro...
Comments: To improve the performance of a two-way communications link, it doesn't help if you increase the range of the link in1direction without making any improvement in the other. The WSB24 attempts to effect this bidirectional improvement, however how it is achieved is of dubious value. If you have used this product and wondered why the results you get are so weird, here's why:
If block diagrams are meaningful to you, have a look here: https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=292345&native_or_pdf=pdf. You can see that what Linksys/Cisco has done here is to increase transmitter signal strength. This gives improved performance in the downstream (Internet to you) direction. L/C has also improved front-end noise figure by (I presume) careful engineering and eliminating the transmit/receive switch between the low-noise amplifier (LNA) and antenna. Whether L/C has achieved a noise figure reduction equivalent to the transmit power increase (10 dB, honest) is doubtful, however since I have never seen L/C publish a receiver NF spec, I do not know. So the upstream improvement (from you to Internet) is something, however probably not 10 dB. however the transmit portion of this thing does kick out the juice.
Now the weird part. By simply summing the2diversity outputs of the wireless router driving this thing (this is the job of the Wilkinson Combiner, a Y-connector for radio waves), you are trashing any benefit you might have gotten from diversity. Since L/C is silent on what its diversity does and how much benefit it supplies, we are left speculating in the closet. Have we honestly lost anything? Was diversity really doing anything to begin with? Do2antennas simply look better than one? Would someone please turn on the light?
Ditto on the receive end. With this booster in place, the receive signal presented at the diversity ports is (by definition) identical. That this doesn't disturb the functionality of the attached router1little bit is a testament that the diversity-selection circuitry can not be that elaborate: Asked to choose between apples and apples, it unhesitatingly chooses apples without giving a second thought to whatever happened to the oranges it was once offered. C'est la vie. I am conviced that people who go through life this way live happier lives.
In summary, we have a 10-dB (10x) increase in transmitter power, which should be great for a 3X range increase. We have some improvement in receiver noise figure, which might bring 5 dB or so in that direction. So let's guess that we might pick up 2X or so in real range. however we're giving up diversity. What does this cost us?
Are dual antennas and diversity the IT equivalent of the tailfins on the 1960 Cadillac, the winglets on the Lear 45? Only your hairdresser knows for sure.
Here is some feedback from a high-performance installation I did using1of these things: 1) It works. It does increase range. 2) If you attach it to pair of high-gain antennas, it will work even better. 3) If you attach1of its ports to a single high-gain antenna, you will get weird results. Because I did not know what was inside the thing when I 1st tried this, the results I got were quite confusing. I could not beleive that a strong, technically competent organization like L/C would really do what I now know it really did: trash diversity to save a nickel, or to pick up a dB or2in the receive chain. I shouldn't blame Cisco: this product was developed before it acquired Linksys, and the booster is no longer on the market. So why am I going to all this effort to review a product that is no longer on the market? great question. You can still find these things on Amazon.
Is it a Cadillac? Not quite. however neither is it an Edsel.
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Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: WSB24 compatability with WRT54GS router WSB24 works with WRT54GS works with WSB24
Comments: I usually hang out in Linux space, however this amazon forum has attracted a lot of traffic and has helped me, so let me help back. I did own a BEFW11S4 which I used with a WSB24, and yes it DID help taking signals from 40 up to 80% in all directions within about 25 meters in a several rooms of a wood-frame house. My BEFW11S4 just died and I could only get a WRT54G series router at the local Radio Shack. I was concerned that my WSB24 would no longer work, however this forum suggested that it would work. I am1more person to tell you that it DOES work. I got the same signal enhancement that I had with respect to the older router. Just to play it safe, I forced my WRT54G into "B-only" mode. I still had the old antennae around from my BEFW11S4, so I had no antenna troubles. Given that 802.11G and 802.11B are both at 2.4 GHz, there is no electronic reason why this amplifier would not work, though there may be connector issues as explained by others. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Works with WRT54G
Comments: I have had the WSB24 signal booster in storage since I switched from a Linksys wireless 802.11B router to an 802.11 B/G router, the WRT54G to be specific. However, I decided to give the signal booster a try with my B/G router. It is easy to set up, just unscrew the antennas from the back of of the router. Screw the wires from the signal booster onto the router in the place of the antennas you just removed. Then plug the power adaptor in and Bobs your uncle (you are done, that is).
My signal strength went up 2-3 bars in the "dead" spots in our house and now goes to the farthest corner of our 2 story house with all signal strength "bars" lit up.
So even thought the WSB24 is not designed to work with an 802.11 G router, it does work fine with the Linksys WRT54G. Note that this booster has been pulled from the market by Linksys. If you want one, you will have to purchase a used one. however you can not have mine. |
Rating: 1 (out of 5)
Summary: i purchased1and it did not work for me
Comments: I purchased1of your linksys booster, and it did not work out for me. I do not really know what is wrong with it i tryed it with a linksys assespoint, however it did not work as well.I am not happy with this product beacuse i can not use it and my money is gone what can be done. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Linksys Signal booster took me from 34% to 83% thru concrete
Comments: I Purchased the Linksys Signal Booster for 81$ on Amazon.com, any store I found it in would run me $99, so I give Amazon 5*****Stars + with FREE shipping, :). Thru 2 concrete walls and about 30 yards, + 1 1/2 inch think would wall, the Booster took me from 34% strength to 83% strength. Quality went from 92% to 100%. Ething is quicker and more stable. Excellent Deal and Product. btw, my neighbor 100yards away and also behind concete, well he gets 43% strength, up from 24%, and thats across the street from me. I can now walk 200yards in any direction and have internet access. Ofcourse at 200yards service is real slow. |
