Using 802.11 a AND g to Maximize throughput

[Frank_C_Brants]

I've been running some tests & I think I may have found a way to effectively double your throughput if your laptop and your camera are both communicating with your WAP wirelessly.

Why wouldn't you have your laptop plugged directly into your WAP? My thought was to have the WAP, powered by a battery, sitting very close to the camera & moving around with me as I shoot. The laptop would be stationary, connected to "MAINS" current, plugged into the wall. My theory is that the Camera's wireless transmitter will be transmitting at very low power (which is nice, considering I will be holding it up next to my head for the majority of the summer...) if it's talking to a WAP that is 10 feet away. That also lets the WAP do the "heavy lifting" of sending the images back to the laptop, which, in my case, can be 200 to 300 feet away. The WAP will be equipped with two High Gain antennae...

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/index.php

...and will be powered by a pretty hefty battery, so it will be better equipped to do the heavy lifting.

Also, in case you haven't noticed yet, using a WAP can get you from 802.11b (11 Megabit) to 802.11g (54 Megabit). There may be other ways to do this, but this is the route I chose.

So, if the WAP is using the same radio to communicate with both the camera AND the laptop, it would make sense that the bandwidth is cut in half.

Linksys makes a Dual-Band, Dual-Radio Wireless Access Point / Router...

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite...FVisitorWrapper

(Watch the wrapped URL) - it's the: Home »Products » Wireless »Basic Networking »Broadband Routers »WRT55AG)

So, I've forced my Intel 2915ABG MiniPCI wireless card (widely available at online computer parts dealers like NewEgg...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833106220

...to use 802.11a ONLY. Obviously, the camera will be using 802.11g.

Using this setup with my Canon 1D Mark II & WFT-E1A (both on current firmware), and using Thomas' ITP 2.0 server...

http://www.pixagent.com/index.html

I was able to reduce my transfer time from 15-16 seconds / image (for 10.340 Meg Canon RAW files) to roughly 6 to 7 seconds for the same file.

That's exactly the same throughput I get when sending files (wirelessly) to my linux ftp server, sitting on the wired network.

Hope this helps...

Franko
Frank C. Brants
Desk 817-763-0893
Cell 817-980-2245

If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
-- Maslow

[Greg_De_Stefano]

You might try this as well. Use the ethernet port on the WFT-E1A to connect straight into the WAP. It means another cable around the camera, but it gets around the limitation of 802.11g and allows you to just use 802.11a. Course, I can't say I've used that ethernet port much outside of testing, so I'm not sure it would do exactly what I think it should. The other way is to keep the router near you running on mains and plugging your laptop into a port on that. Your stuck at 802.11g, but you don't have the cable near the camera, and it will still run at the same speed you have now. The reality is that your stuck at the 802.11g speeds, even with that 802.11a section in your image path. Only the first option would get things to go any faster. But, I haven't seen the Canon beat 4-5 seconds wired, so 6-7 wireless isn't too bad.

-Greg De Stefano
Greg@ImageMechanics.com
www.ImageMechanics.com