In uk.d-i-y, Richard wrote:
I've just got round to installing my Belkin ADSL Modem/wireless router
to replace my USB connected BT ADSL modem and I'm having problems with
the wireless signal strength that I'm receiving on my notebook which
is equiped with a fairly old Belkin PCMCIA wireless network card -
802.11b

I've come to the conclusion that it sometimes just doesn't work. For
example I have a (Dell, Centrino) laptop whose 802.11b simply never
works in our kitchen. Changing channels and/or moving the (Belkin) base
station, even right next to the laptop, are futile. Other WiFi devices
work fine in the kitchen, it's just one laptop that refuses to. At one
stage I thought it must have been some strangely-targeted interference,
but I went to great lengths to eliminate interference (taking all
battery-operated RF devices to the bottom of the garden, turning off
mains at the fuse-box to everywhere but the detached garage and running
an extension lead from there to the base station) and it didn't make a
blind bit of difference. Interference from neighbours is unlikely to be
an issue because our nearest neighbour is over 100 metres away. There's
something about that laptop in that room.

FWIW WiFi reception is generally poor in this house, which has some
400mm-thick internal walls. I now have two base stations (one Belkin,
one unbranded) and I still get *very* patchy coverage.

--
Mike Barnes