I have an old laptop that I put debian sarge on. I just wanted it to be a terminal in the kitchen and maybe play music.

The wireless range was really dreadful (802.11b).

I decided to install vectorlinux since the machine is pretty old and sarge was running like a bit of a dog. Well, vector is great and the system is much faster.

I also noticed that the wireless range increased dramatically (same hardware, same settings).

I was just wondering how much the os/distro is a factor in wireless range. Or is it simply a matter of having a few more resources with the lighter weight distro?

Just curious for your opinions.

Thanks

OS should not have any impact on the range. But location does have a big impact on range. A few feet in a kitchen or similar environment can make a big difference.