I am the proud new owner of the AR300M-EXT. My primary purpose was its ease to connect to public hotspots (Wisp). I was actually surprised that the scanning function is less than poor!!! Unlike other travel routers I’ve owned, the scanning function is limited in its info provided. At minimum, it should list every SSID that appears regardless of the ability to connect to that SSID due to poor signal strength. For Example, compared side-by-side with Netgears Scan Page which showed at least 12 hotspots near my location with perhaps 6 worthy of a decent connection and data speeds, my 300M listed 4 hotspots that showed signals better than 50% anything less did not show. This is absolutely horrible as follows:
First, by showing hotspots with poor signal strength, I can take out my high-gain Yagi and point it at the hotspot and increase the signal strength sufficient to connect and maintain. Thus, there were at least 4 hotspots that failed to show which all were just fine once I took my Yagi out.
Second, the scanner should display several helpful fields, such as signal strength, location, encryption etc. I am very disappointed with a scanner function that fails to provide the same info readily available on wi-fi scanning software. For me, I keep a Yagi on a tripod and when Netgear shows me a full page of hotspots, by turning my Yagi, I can in very fast time see the immediate change in signal strength.
I ask all those reading this is there anything I can do to solve this issue so when I am using that mode, I can really see a complete list of hotspots and with more info on same?
ANTENNA ISSUE: External Antennas
I have the model with 2 antennas. I believe they are 2 dbi antennas. I would like to connect using high gain antennas, but I cannot find out what each antenna does? Does one antenna work on “b” and the other on “g”? Does it matter if one antenna is much higher gain than the other. In other words, can one side be a 6dbi antenna and the other a 14dbi Yagi?
POWER SETTING:
In the setup menu, one can select from 1 to 20 in transmit power. Can anyone explain the actual increase in milliwatts. For instance is the 20 highest setting the same as 500 milliwatts boost? Does anyone know what the actual increase in power is? There is no spec that shows the power of this radio? From my use on the Maximum 20 setting, it is far weaker than my 3 year old Netgear.
USB PLUG IN DEVICE:
There are a bunch of USB adapters one can install in a laptop to increase connectivity with an amplified signal. Can that adapter be installed in this router’s USB port and configured to connect to distant hotspots. Or connected in the Tether Mode?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.strong text