Signaless in Seattle
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Signaless in Seattle
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Ok, im not in seattle but Texas but the title sounded good.
So i need some help here. Im quite technical, this is far from my first rodeo but im having just a heck of a time. Here is the scenario.
26 acres and no wifi/cell signal so working in the back of the property suffers in terms of connectivity and entertainment. I purchased the TL-ANT2415D 15dBi omni directional. I mounted the antenna on the roof straight vertical, ran the wire directly to three different routers. A nighthawk router a linksys router and a trendnet router. None of which offered any results further than just being in the house with the fixed antennas on the router. I played around enough and just decided to use the Linksys WRT54G which is just a fixed 2.4Ghz router (as apposed to the dual band nighthawk)
I have a TrendNet TEW-L208 wire https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FICJ8S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which is a bit longer than i'd like but the only way i can make it work. Im assuming a 6dbi loss (at best). Regardless, Antenna to wire, wire to router. Plug and play.
I go about 200 feet out from the antenna and i have a stronger connection to the wifi to the nighthawk router that is sill live in a room on the other side of the house than i do with the 15dBi antenna on the roof. I RMA'd the antenna assuming clearly it has to be the antenna. Second one on the roof and no luck so as a I.T. guy i swallow my pride and call support. We go through a few things and they dig up some documentation saying the antenna should be at a 45 degree angle to the ground. Which sort of defies the point for me but see attached.
Im lost as to the technical aspects of how a "omni directional" (aka 360 degree) antenna works better angled toward the ground. I can understand the near side or the side angled TOWARD the ground to have a better connection but the far side (angled toward the sky) doesnt seem like the best premise to "omni directional".
That aside, we also looked at some of the router settings (see attached) We changed channel from "6" to auto to clear up some chatter. Dunno if that will matter but i'll check that AND the combination of the angled antenna. Which again seems quirky at best.
So in addition to the ideas i pose:
1) angling the antenna
2) adjusting the channel
i'd like folks thoughts on any of the settings in the router screen shots. I obviously flashed the firmware on the linksys router to the dd-wrt version. Gives some more control, im wondering if i can boost power to the antenna (since there doesnt seem to be away to add power to it). I dunno. basically to end the ramble, i need ideas because im not getting any sort of positive gain by having the antenna on the roof. I've read some posts stating that maxing out the "TX" (transmitting antenna?)
Hardware Version :
Firmware Version :
ISP :
Ok, im not in seattle but Texas but the title sounded good.
So i need some help here. Im quite technical, this is far from my first rodeo but im having just a heck of a time. Here is the scenario.
26 acres and no wifi/cell signal so working in the back of the property suffers in terms of connectivity and entertainment. I purchased the TL-ANT2415D 15dBi omni directional. I mounted the antenna on the roof straight vertical, ran the wire directly to three different routers. A nighthawk router a linksys router and a trendnet router. None of which offered any results further than just being in the house with the fixed antennas on the router. I played around enough and just decided to use the Linksys WRT54G which is just a fixed 2.4Ghz router (as apposed to the dual band nighthawk)
I have a TrendNet TEW-L208 wire https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FICJ8S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which is a bit longer than i'd like but the only way i can make it work. Im assuming a 6dbi loss (at best). Regardless, Antenna to wire, wire to router. Plug and play.
I go about 200 feet out from the antenna and i have a stronger connection to the wifi to the nighthawk router that is sill live in a room on the other side of the house than i do with the 15dBi antenna on the roof. I RMA'd the antenna assuming clearly it has to be the antenna. Second one on the roof and no luck so as a I.T. guy i swallow my pride and call support. We go through a few things and they dig up some documentation saying the antenna should be at a 45 degree angle to the ground. Which sort of defies the point for me but see attached.
Im lost as to the technical aspects of how a "omni directional" (aka 360 degree) antenna works better angled toward the ground. I can understand the near side or the side angled TOWARD the ground to have a better connection but the far side (angled toward the sky) doesnt seem like the best premise to "omni directional".
That aside, we also looked at some of the router settings (see attached) We changed channel from "6" to auto to clear up some chatter. Dunno if that will matter but i'll check that AND the combination of the angled antenna. Which again seems quirky at best.
So in addition to the ideas i pose:
1) angling the antenna
2) adjusting the channel
i'd like folks thoughts on any of the settings in the router screen shots. I obviously flashed the firmware on the linksys router to the dd-wrt version. Gives some more control, im wondering if i can boost power to the antenna (since there doesnt seem to be away to add power to it). I dunno. basically to end the ramble, i need ideas because im not getting any sort of positive gain by having the antenna on the roof. I've read some posts stating that maxing out the "TX" (transmitting antenna?)
Re:Signaless in Seattle
I agree with kevsh and would also not recommend to mount the AP in the attic if heat can go up to 140°F. As for lightning, ESD and even rain or humidity any consumer-grade device made for indoor use only will be problematic, too.
In one installation I had a Linksys WRT160 (the same device as on kevsh's photo) in the open, b/c of customer's demand and it did break just after a couple of months during coldness in winter. OTOH a Linksys WRT54 in my own attic survived somewhat longer, but there were no such extreme temperatures (~ 20 to 100°F usually) and the WRT54 was a rock-solid device with shielded Ethernet ports, so it was grounded to protect against ESD, while the WRT160 has plastic ports w/o shielding.
I switched to TP-Link's Professional Line of outdoor APs in early 2016. I have a CPE210, a CPE510 and a WBS210 with sector antenna on two locations. All devices did survive storms with heavy lightning ~1/4 mile away! Did not cause any problem so far. Having a temperature range from -22°F to 158°F they also kept on working in last winter's coldness. They use MIL-grade chips and weatherproof boxes, so no trouble anymore with the housing. I did wait for the EAP110-Outdoor for a year now (it was announced as OBS210 in TP-Link's product guide of early 2016) and it finally arrived on the market, although with EAP firmware instead of PharOS used in the WBS210. I will soon install them at customer's places needing omnidirectional 360° antennas.
First photo shows two CPEs on a mast powered by one PoE power source looped through the second port from the first CPE to the second CPE. This photo was taken at the time of adjustment, they are now fixed in their positions and work flawlessly since then. Antenna beamwidth is 65° for the CPE210 (2.4 GHz) and 45° for the CPE510 (5 GHz). They are used for a PtP directional link to the other side of the valley, where a second CPE combination is used. But if the beamwidth and (much lower) distance would suffice, you could also use them in a PtMP setup with end-user devices.
Second photo is a WBS210 mounted to the TL-ANT2415MS sector antenna (beamwidth 120°) in use as PtMP since last autumn, also working w/o any problem:
This is how I answered the questions in your post #16 which did arise for me as well long time ago. ;)
I still have external antennas with appropriate outdoor equipment (such as the older TL-WA7210 which has an external antenna plug) and lot of CFD-200 antenna cables for sale at eBay, but since it is EU gear it isn't suitable for use in the US.
In one installation I had a Linksys WRT160 (the same device as on kevsh's photo) in the open, b/c of customer's demand and it did break just after a couple of months during coldness in winter. OTOH a Linksys WRT54 in my own attic survived somewhat longer, but there were no such extreme temperatures (~ 20 to 100°F usually) and the WRT54 was a rock-solid device with shielded Ethernet ports, so it was grounded to protect against ESD, while the WRT160 has plastic ports w/o shielding.
I switched to TP-Link's Professional Line of outdoor APs in early 2016. I have a CPE210, a CPE510 and a WBS210 with sector antenna on two locations. All devices did survive storms with heavy lightning ~1/4 mile away! Did not cause any problem so far. Having a temperature range from -22°F to 158°F they also kept on working in last winter's coldness. They use MIL-grade chips and weatherproof boxes, so no trouble anymore with the housing. I did wait for the EAP110-Outdoor for a year now (it was announced as OBS210 in TP-Link's product guide of early 2016) and it finally arrived on the market, although with EAP firmware instead of PharOS used in the WBS210. I will soon install them at customer's places needing omnidirectional 360° antennas.
First photo shows two CPEs on a mast powered by one PoE power source looped through the second port from the first CPE to the second CPE. This photo was taken at the time of adjustment, they are now fixed in their positions and work flawlessly since then. Antenna beamwidth is 65° for the CPE210 (2.4 GHz) and 45° for the CPE510 (5 GHz). They are used for a PtP directional link to the other side of the valley, where a second CPE combination is used. But if the beamwidth and (much lower) distance would suffice, you could also use them in a PtMP setup with end-user devices.
Second photo is a WBS210 mounted to the TL-ANT2415MS sector antenna (beamwidth 120°) in use as PtMP since last autumn, also working w/o any problem:
This is how I answered the questions in your post #16 which did arise for me as well long time ago. ;)
I still have external antennas with appropriate outdoor equipment (such as the older TL-WA7210 which has an external antenna plug) and lot of CFD-200 antenna cables for sale at eBay, but since it is EU gear it isn't suitable for use in the US.
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