Wireless Equipment Placement And Range Guidelines - NETGEAR ProSafe FVS318N Reference Manual

ProSafe Wireless-N 8-Port Gigabit VPN Firewall FVS318N
(NIC) through an antenna. Typically, an individual in-building wireless access point provides a
maximum connectivity area of about a 300-foot radius. The wireless VPN firewall can support
a small group of wireless users—typically 10 to 32 users.
Configure the wireless features according to the order of the following sections:
1. Configure the Basic Radio Settings
2. Configure and Enable Wireless Profiles
3. (Optional) Configure Wi-Fi Protected Setup
4. (Optional) Configure Advanced Radio Settings

Wireless Equipment Placement and Range Guidelines

The range of your wireless connection can vary significantly based on the location of the
wireless VPN firewall. The latency, data throughput performance, and notebook power
consumption of wireless adapters also vary depending on your configuration choices.
Note: Failure to follow these guidelines can result in significant performance
degradation or inability to wirelessly connect to the wireless VPN firewall.
For complete performance specifications, see the Data Sheet at
http://www.netgear.com/images/FVS318N_DS_23Aug1118-36060.pdf.
For best results, place your wireless VPN firewall according to the following general
guidelines:
• Near the center of the area in which your wireless devices will operate.
• In an elevated location such as a high shelf where the wirelessly connected devices have
line-of-sight access (even if through walls).
• Away from sources of interference, such as computers, microwaves ovens, and 2.4-GHz
cordless phones.
• Away from large metal surfaces or water.
• Placing the antennas in a vertical position provides the best side-to-side coverage.
Placing the antennas in a horizontal position provides the best up-and-down coverage.
• If you are using multiple wireless access points such as the wireless VPN firewall, it is
better if access points use different radio frequency channels to reduce interference. The
recommended channel space between adjacent access points is five channels (for
example, use channels 1 and 6, or 6 and 11, or 1 and 11).
• The time it takes to establish a wireless connection can vary depending on both your
security settings and placement. WEP connections can take slightly longer to establish.
Also, WEP encryption can consume more battery power on a notebook computer.
Wireless Configuration and Security
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