WiFi - need more signal.

[cjdawson]

I installed a Ubiquity Access Point into a club last year.  Bottom line response from the club members is that it's a universal thumbs up.   The coverage inside the old 14th century building is exactly the coverage that I thought we'd get.  Bascially it works through all the member areas, upstairs and downstairs too.  (that's through a floor for one part of the club)    Ok granted that the signal dies when it tries to penetrate the 4ft thick stone walls, but that was expected.

I'm sure that you'll be more than happy with it.

[Stub Mandrel]

4 hours ago, cjdawson said:

Make sure that your wireless networks are on different channels.

Agreed, there really shouldn't be any risk of interchannel degradation.

[Demonperformer]

22 minutes ago, Gina said:

Can you get Gigaclear fibre BB in your area.  They provide the infra-structure rather like BT OpenReach do with twisted pair copper wires for BT

Ah, there is also that. I have just entered my postcode and it gave me a massive form to measure "interest in your area" so I guess not.

[Gina]

The AP has arrived, I've unpacked it and had a quick scan through the instructions.  Very nice looking unit   Just trying to decide where to put it.  Probably fairly high on the wall the router is on.  I think ceiling mounting would need two people and "I ain't twins"   Anyway, no doubt more trouble than it's worth.  I think it's just going to be as high as I can comfortably reach on the wall.  I have a feeling that the higher the better but is it, I wonder.

[Gina]

Been doing some reading about AP placement and not found anything much I didn't know.  Metal obstructions are the worst.  One of those is the stovepipe from the Rayburn - 6" diameter cast iron.  I have produced a rough diagram of the house layout for the parts concerned. The stovepipe is the black dot and I've shown the "shadow" of this pipe from where I had thought of putting the AP.  Since I want 3D printers and possibly other WiFi devices in the workshop, this is not good.  I know it's only a couple of metres from the AP but a "shadow" is a "shadow" and the WiFi strength will be reduced.  Reckon I need to think again about where to put the AP.

[Gina]

Apart from the house I also want to cover the observatory as shown below.  I already have a CAT5 cable running along the bungalow in the roof space to my bedroom put in several years ago when wireless didn't work.  I no longer use it but I could run Ethernet cable to anywhere in the house.  The AP uses PoE so the power unit can be in the living room near the router and powered from UPS like the router and VOIP unit.

 

[Demonperformer]

This is probably a silly thought, but would the new unit accept an ethernet input? Then it looks as if you could set it up in the bedroom with a clear view of both workshop and obsy. Living room being served by router.

[Gina]

Not silly at all and a useful suggestion   The new unit does work off an Ethernet input (only) so it can go anywhere I can get a CAT5 cable to.  And as I said it gets its power from the Ethernet cable ( Power over Ethernet) so doesn't need a power point near it.  I would prefer just one WiFi source so want to disable WiFi on the router but if I were to put the AP in the workshop it should easily cover the living room, bedroom and observatory.

[Gina]

I've found another problem I had quite forgotten.  Just been looking at lines of sight etc. and noticed the lean-to greenhouse on the front of the house that is used as a sun lounge and it has an aluminium frame and very good EMR shield!!!  Where the router is and near where the old router/AP was, is in line of sight through a window to the observatory.  I think the new AP will want to go in the living room to be able to serve the observatory.

[AKB]

 

15 minutes ago, Gina said:

I would prefer just one WiFi source so want to disable WiFi

I live in an old building with solid stone walls and no damp course.  WiFi signals simply don't make it through.  As a result I use two WiFi base stations (Apple Airports) connected by Ethernet as well as the Genexis router.  All portable devices switch seamlessly between them as I move around.  No problem at all.

In addition, I have the Genexis on a UPS since it also carries our internet phone connection.  So I'm good to keep browsing for at least 5 hours in the (not uncommon) event of a power outage.  Worth a thought. 

[Gina]

The WiFi in the Genexis router won't properly cover the living room so I need the AP to cover that.  It's alright with my laptops but not with smaller devices.  I think this is going to be a matter of trial and error.  I had considered a separate AP in the observatory but would prefer not to do that if possible.  The new AP is a long range device so should give me the range to do everything with the one unit.

[Stub Mandrel]

Diffraction.

You won't get a blockage more than a foot or two on the far side of the pipe.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Download a copy of NetStumbler (http://www.netstumbler.com/) to work out best siting of your device....

[Gina]

The internal walls of the bungalow are only stud walls - wooden framework with plasterboard so shouldn't attenuate radio waves much.  The external walls are reinforced concrete sections.  I think the roof has aluminium foil insulation but not sure.  But wet tiles would stop the signal anyway I think.

[Demonperformer]

Well, can your cats cable be moved so that it feeds the other side of the living room (bottom in the diagrm)? You then avoid the pipe that is casting the shadow. Depends on how directional the AP is and where the 'front' of the house and 'greenhouse' are I guess.

[Gina]

The front of house (and greenhouse) are at the bottom of the diagram.   I'll add it to the diagram shortly.

4 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Diffraction.

You won't get a blockage more than a foot or two on the far side of the pipe.

I did wonder.  Maybe I'll try the AP where I thought then, at least the signal can get to the observatory through the window if the wall is an obstruction with its iron mesh.

[Demonperformer]

In that case, I would think somewhere on the wall on the right of the diagram would avoid both pipe and greenhouse? 

[Gina]

Here's another diagram including the "sun lounge".  I think I have the observatory better placed too.  It pouring with rain so I'm not going outside to measure up!

[Gina]

Downloaded and installed the software for the Ubiquiti LR AP ready to try things tomorrow but the application is not appearing on the system ATM - guess it needs rebooting.

[noah4x4]

Hi Gina,  this is a bit of a long shot....But.. 

Raspberry Pi is merely a USB2 and 802.11n wireless device only capable of handling 450 Mbps over either. A BT Smart Hub offers dual band 2.4Ghz (802.11n) and 5Ghz (802.11ac). The latter wireless protocol is 5x as fast. A BT Smart Hub automatically detects the correct wireless protocol. Have you checked that your replacement router is 802.11n compatible (and set up correctly for the Pi?).

I have an EAA set up and was staggered to discover that my 'new' laptop was merely 802.11n. I purchased  a £12 802.11ac wireless adapter, disabled the 802.11n (via device manager), and the impact was dramatic.  

I don't think you can upgrade the Rasberry Pi wireless adapter, but it is worth checking that everything is linked up at  802.11n. Also do you have any USB3 devices? These might  interfere with slower 802.11n/USB2. You might try dropping to USB2 for all (or upgrade all to USB3/802.11ac.).

 

[Gina]

It wasn't a BT Smart Hub but a HomeHub 4.  The Genexis has the same wireless protocols but not the power/sensitivity.  Yes, the RPi is 2.4GHz as are all my current devices including laptops (quite old).  You can't upgrade the RPi 3 WiFi but you can plug in a dongle.  I have USB3 on one laptop and on my Linux Mint desktop plus a couple of USB3 astro cameras.  OTOH USB has nothing to do with WiFi (unless using a WiFi USB dongle).

[SilverAstro]

9 hours ago, Gina said:

an aluminium frame and very good EMR shield

Dont worry about it, the size of the holes between the aluminium bits are big  re the wavelength, so no prob. the photons will not notice.

Depending on the size of mesh in the concrete that may be a prob !

Best practice :- put it on flex and wander about for best sigs ?

That was brill delivery time, your link pointed to amazon com ? is that the same as amazon.uk

I never yet used amazon (can you believe !)

 

[Gina]

Thanks   amazon.co.uk it was and Prime delivery.  I buy quite a lot from Amazon and find them very good.  Their prices are good and delivery very good.  They accept returns without a quibble and the return has pre-paid postage so no cost.  It costs to have Prime but with the amount of items I buy and the (usually) next day delivery, I think it's worth it.

[Gina]

I'm having a problem with the software for the Ubiquity AP.  I downloaded the Linux version and installed it on my Linux Mint (Ubuntu compatible) desktop but it's not showing in the applications list.  Just downloaded the User Guide and it only covers Windows and Mac installation though it does list Linux in the system requirements.- looks very old as it doesn't say the LR has 5GHz WiFi, which it has.  HELP please?  Anyone?

[Gina]

I suppose I could try the Windoze version - I do have a Win 7 laptop...