SM01 mounting brackets

Your wireless network takes some care and attention. There seem to be a lot of factors, that no end of research will prepare you for. Strange alien composites in your walls to block signals, antenna position, interference, and even someone else with a default setup that stops you from initially configoring your own network. How rude!

Well all of this so far has befallen me too. It's a learning process which really gets you in touch with your inner house. Plonking the base station down, configoring your laptop like a good little boy scout, and wandering around all those places indoors you think you want to get wireless access, seems to be just the beginning of this adventure.

I looked into larger antenna, even cantenna, but nothing seemed to give a definative answer. The final solution came from an unexpected source.

The SM01 stacking/wall mounting bracket from Linksys. They are just a sheet of molded plastic, which has holes that match up with your Linksys router, switch, or hub.

1. Place mounting bracket where you want it on the wall and mark the points to put your two screws.
2. Pop the rubber feet from the router/hub/switch. (Yes they DO come out, and now you know after all this time WHY they are there)
3. Push the router/hub/switch onto the bracket. (No matter what anyone says, you do not have to screw the device to the bracket itself)
4. Screw your screws into the wall, nearly all the way, and then simply hook the bracket onto them. Easy as a very easy thing with a how-to video included!

One weird thing to note is that YOU DON'T GET ANY SCREWS with your SM01 stacking/wall mounting brackets. But anything will do, and unless you are susceptible to earthquakes then I am sure you will be fine. Even a teenage door slamming contest should be ok with these things, unless you live on the set of a major cheap soap opera, where the walls nearly collapse each time someone discovers they are the long lost sister/brother/father/mother of someone.

So all in all, moving the base station just 2 meters (beyond a wall with strange alien composites of unknown er... composition) has made an amazing difference to the reception throughout the house. In this instance, the WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router is now facing downwards, with the antenna in the usual position (L shaped), at the top of the center of the house, gives a great signal all round. Even in a heady mix of wireless house phones, microwave ovens, and an overuse of those little JENSEN DSC-IR100A Remote Control Extenders! All supposedly, wireless network stopping evilness.

They are only $2 each, but it seems you can only buy them in packs of 10. So it's a lot for just one box, so perhaps a buddy has one spare? Or you could sell them onto others, who knows, thats your problem. But they do work very well indeed!

Good luck


Open the pod bay doors Hal


Remember, you need to get power and your intial network cabling to this point, so take that into account when deciding where to place it.