Modems?

[Dean Hoffman]

I've been looking at modems this morning. Why are they rated by square feet rather than linear feet?

[hubops]

Dunno. I'm still using the very first router that Ma Bell provided - - when I tried high speed cellular internet over 15 years ago. NetGear - it's served well through a couple different internet providers since then. John T.

[Ed Pawlowski]

The signal radiates in all directions. Linear would be more of a beam. Make sense to me.

[invalid unparseable]

Never heard of rating a modem like that. I read that there are different types of modems for cable, DSL, Fiber and dial-up. For cable DOCSIS 3.1 is best. Think mine is a DOCSIS 3.0 supplied by Comcast with modem, router and phone connection built in. I get good reception throughout the house and even outside but fastest are Ethernet connections. Modem and router placement are important. When I got a smart TV for my den reception was crappy until I remove a metal filing cabinet that was next to it.

[invalid unparseable]

Modems are rated by furlongs per fortnight ;-)

WiFi enabled routers should be rated by circular feet (aka radius)

[Marilyn Manson]

Seems like a linear value with the caveat that the modem be centered in the space would make more sense.

A modem capable of providing service in an e.g. 2500 sq ft area may work well if centered in a 50' x 50' space, but might not reach the end of a 1' x 2500' hallway, even if centered.

Tell me that it broadcasts 50' in all directions, than I know exactly what I'm dealing with.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Even that is not always accurate. I can go in my back yard and be connected but if I go next door it is a shorter distance but will drop out. It has to go through a couple of walls in that direction.

Would be great if you could shape the signal cone for individual needs. Maybe an "up to" radius would help. That assumes the buyer knows what a radius is.

[trader_4]

So if you have an area that 1 million sq ft that is 1million feet long by 1 ft wide, that works the same as an area that's 1000 x 1000? I don't think so.

[Marilyn Manson]

Most (if not all) routers (which is what we area actually talking about) already address potential degradation based on placement, obstructions, etc. Assuming that that would remain as a warning if the coverage spec was changed, a distance measurement does tend to make more sense than square footage.

But I get it. The marketing folks want to make it easy.

"How big is your house? "OK, this router will cover that square footage." *

• caveat, caveat, caveat.

[Snag]

There are directions on the internet to make a parabolic type reflector to increase wifi range - and make it directional . Basically foil glued to poster board .

[Ed Pawlowski]

Poor composition on my part. The area makes sense, not linear.

[Jim Joyce]

I did that in 2005-2006. Those were the days of little or no encryption, so I was able to access most of my neighbors' systems. Some people used WEP encryption, not realizing that it could be bypassed in as little as

30 seconds.

Agreed.

[Jim Joyce]

Some of the newer WiFi routers have an antenna array, versus a single antenna. With an array, the router can determine where the active clients are, and it can 'beamform', where it sends its signal where it's needed rather than transmitting equally in every direction.

[trader_4]

I'm impressed by the range of cell phone wifi, either to connect to a hotspot or when used as a hotspot. It's just a small battery powered device.