We have an older ruckus 2942 at a customers site. It is connected directly to a Charter wireless modem. The Charter modem wireless appears to be turned off.
The location is center of an upper story 2level condo and provides Internet access for 5 condos that are adjacent/circling it. These are older wood frame structures on by a lake with problematic signal strength mostly at the lakeside condo which may also be the furthest away at about 75 - 100 ft.
His complaint is that the signal strength is low especially from that particular cottage. He stated that once connected, however, it seems to work fine.
I used Ekhau heat mapper and my RazrM Wifi Analyzer to do a basic site survey (not connected to the SSID) and noted that signal strength was at -80db and less from within the problematic condo. Going outside with the condo between the AP and myself, the signal strength increased to around -70 to -80db.
I have not been able to log into the AP to get any config info. I pick up numerous wireless signals around the area but most are weak though there are conflicting (same channels) from those signals.
I cannot say that the wireless unit is bad because once connected, speed tests run fine. It has been reset before and after each site survey (soft reset). The surveys are very similar though my second survey was a bit more hurried so less accurate
I really want to log in to the device and get a better picture of what it is configured but also want to see what advice you folks have.
Is this device old enough that it may have issues no matter it transmitting power?
My thought is, after logging in and checking settings on the AP, is that if it is already working at full power, that a new AP should be purchased. Possibly checking firmware for updates first.
My reasoning is that the 2942 only runs at wireless g at 2.4ghz and given the age, moving to a newer dual band wireless N ap would be a better fit. Especially with all the other APs in the area and many of those did not seem to be in the 5ghz band.
Could it possibly also be used in mesh mode and deployed in one of the other condos after purchasing a newer device --- or act as an extender?
