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I'm not in the business of selling any products but my experience may be of assistance to some of you.
We have several Mac laptops and a Windows (yes Apple, we still need decent printing capability) laptop all on 802.11. There are two networks, an Asante and a D-Link (the model numbers are irrelevant).
We've had disappointing performance from both networks and I finally decided to dig into what was going on. We used a 15" G4 PowerBook as the target laptop since its ability to pull in an 802 signal is pitiful compared to the G3 iBook.
Step 1) Download and install AirPort Grapher (freeware but donations accepted) and use it to determine signal strength. This was an invaluable tool and without it I doubt if I would have realized much improvement. http://www.chimoosoft.com/apgrapher.html
Step 2) Locate your laptop where you would like to use it and check the signal strength.
Step 3) Move your wireless router around a bit. We realized over a 40% improvement in signal strength (from a fluctuating 38% to 40% to a completely steady 83%) by simply placing the D-Link on its side with the antenna pointing straight up and a 10% to 15% on the Asante by placing the unit on its front panel with the 802 card sticking straight up in the air and flat towards the desired laptop location. Neither unit was relocated other than to change how they were sitting on top of the modem.
Step 4) In a far bedroom the Powerbook cannot pick up a signal and the iBook picks up a weak 20% to 30%. We added a D-Link AP800+ Range Extender to the D-Link network (would not repeat the Asante's signal so no guarantees about it working with non D-Link products although D-Link indicated it does work with some non D-Link products but no guarantees). Placed in a far bedroom, the AP800+ increased the signal strength from the 20% to 30% range to a steady 81%! Interesting, the D-Link is in the bedroom a few inches from the iBook. This tells me the iBook's antenna stinks compared to the D-Link's as they are both equidistant from the router.
Step 5) Assuming you are on OS X; if you're running PPPoE AND have a modem that is both a router and a modem (both our Alcatel Speed Touch Home and our Westell 2200 are both a router and a modem but nowhere do you find this little tidbit of knowledge without getting into the bowels of the modem's manual - assuming you even received a real manual) AND are using a router that's handling PPPoE for you, question your provider's and the modem manufacturer's install instructions. In my case, all were incorrect although I was always connected to the net, Safari performance was erratic if not unstable (although both OmniWeb and Explorer were stable, they did get bogged down at times). An update of one of the manuals resulted in me beginning to question if my Macs were configured correctly. If you have a modem that's also a router do not use the PPPoE screen in Network Settings. Set TCP/IP to DHCP, put the modem in bridged mode (now its only a modem) and let the router take care of PPPoE (you'll have to enter your access info). This is a bit of a pain and your best bet to understand this better is http://www.dslreports.com/.
Hope this is of help to someone,
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