what is the range on intel pro wireless a/b/g in a laptop? particularly a lenovo 3000 n100?

Answer 1

Answer is "it depends" on first if you're indoors or outdoors, if indoors it further depends on the home/building construction like sheetrock and studs versus cinderblocks in an apartment building, etc. Also depends on where your access point or wireless router is placed, if it's down in a basement or tucked away in a far corner of your home versus up on the top of a computer desk in a central room. A common rule of thumb is 10,000 square feet, so picture a 100x100 foot area around your access point. Of course it's not really a square so picture a circle with a 50 to 60 foot radius. That'll keep you in range for a pretty good to excellent signal in most cases. Also depends on if there's a neighbor with their own WLAN on the same or a nearby channel as you. Try channels 1, 6 and 11 in turn to see which give you the best results.

Download a tool like NetStumbler and walk around with your laptop to do a simple site survey, this will tell you your signal to noise ratio and signal strength in real time as you walk around. It'll also show you which other WLANs are out there and what channels they're running on, so you can choose the best channel for yourself, 1, 6 or 11. If you have an 802.11a capable AP and your a/b/g card, you have more channels to choose from there.