I'm getting sunburnt in my obsy!

[Rusted]

Stop laughing at the back!

I had my laptop shelf on the east side of the pier in winter for solar.
Then the spring sun rose and I'm getting baked alive!

So I moved into the shade of the mounting and telescopes on the north side of the pier.
Nicely cool, handy for the eyepieces/camera but very poor wireless on my laptop with all that metal in the way!
Gong H-a was taking ages just to show updated solar images and I kept losing the signal altogether.

The raised dome is about 20 yards away from the house by line of sight.
With the TP-Link Archer C7 router upstairs on the same level just under the nearest roof slope.
I can't easily run an internet cable across the parking space in the middle.
45Mbps inside the southern wall of the observatory proves there is a very good signal there.

Has anybody had any luck with one of those USB wireless antennae "thingies" sticking out of their laptop?
Its a fairly recent ASUS 4K I7 15.6. 
Or is there a better solution to improve the local wireless reception behind the rather large but vital "obstruction."

Thanks

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I use one of these to pick up WIFI when attending star-camps, https://www.wavlink.com/en_us/product/WL-WN570HA1.html works great at ensuring reliable signal....

[Space Oddities]

What about power-line communication? Since you have electricity inside your dome, you already have a cable going to your house.

You could use one of these, if you want to keep using Wi-Fi inside the dome: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-WPA7510KIT-Powerline-Extender-Broadband-Configuration/dp/B0723C86CX/ref=pd_sbs_0_3/257-3540310-7821467

Or one of these, if you prefer Ethernet: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-PA4022PKIT-2-Ports-Passthrough-Powerline/dp/B07J652QRY/

I can recommend these PLC from TP-Link, they're very reliable. We used some older models at home, because the Wi-Fi wouldn't reach some rooms of our house.

 

 

[JamesF]

I've never had a lot of luck with powerline ethernet.  I think it may be quite dependent on what your house wiring is like, or perhaps if the units are on the same ring.  Not really sure.  It does seem to work very well for some people and not at all for others.

It is possible to get high gain and more directional aerials that may help.  I did that to get network access to my "beer shack" which must be at least 20m from the house.  I'll see if I can find the details later.

Or you could set up another wifi router in bridging mode in the original position and then run a network cable to where you now want to use the laptop.

James

[Craney]

.....P.S.   I would rub some cream on it.

[Gina]

I solved my WiFi range problems with a Ubiquity AP.

[Rusted]

3 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

I use one of these to pick up WIFI when attending star-camps, https://www.wavlink.com/en_us/product/WL-WN570HA1.html works great at ensuring reliable signal....

Thanks for the tip. Not too expensive despite its smartly professional looks. How does it connect to the laptop?

[Rusted]

3 hours ago, Space Oddities said:

What about power-line communication? Since you have electricity inside your dome, you already have a cable going to your house.

You could use one of these, if you want to keep using Wi-Fi inside the dome: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-WPA7510KIT-Powerline-Extender-Broadband-Configuration/dp/B0723C86CX/ref=pd_sbs_0_3/257-3540310-7821467

Or one of these, if you prefer Ethernet: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-PA4022PKIT-2-Ports-Passthrough-Powerline/dp/B07J652QRY/

I can recommend these PLC from TP-Link, they're very reliable. We used some older models at home, because the Wi-Fi wouldn't reach some rooms of our house.

Thanks Pierre.

I wasn't sure these were available here in Denmark.
It seems they are and prices are not too inhibiting. The boxes come in pairs.
Though I'm wondering how well they'd cope on two separate mains spurs.
They both meet back at the same consumer unit but are on separate fuse blocks.
I'm probably showing my almost complete ignorance of electricity supplies here.

[Rusted]

2 hours ago, JamesF said:

I've never had a lot of luck with powerline ethernet.  I think it may be quite dependent on what your house wiring is like, or perhaps if the units are on the same ring.  Not really sure.  It does seem to work very well for some people and not at all for others.

It is possible to get high gain and more directional aerials that may help.  I did that to get network access to my "beer shack" which must be at least 20m from the house.  I'll see if I can find the details later.

Or you could set up another wifi router in bridging mode in the original position and then run a network cable to where you now want to use the laptop.

James

Thanks James.

If the mains/Ethernet kit doesn't work then it can go back to the dealer.

Not at all sure what bridged Wi-Fi routers look like?

Network cables to the observatory aren't very doable. 50 meters the long way round the car parking area.
Are they UV resistant for outdoor dangling mid-air across hedgerows and shrubs? ?

[Rusted]

2 hours ago, Craney said:

.....P.S.   I would rub some cream on it.

That's easy for you to say.

[Rusted]

2 hours ago, Gina said:

I solved my WiFi range problems with a Ubiquity AP.

Thanks Gina.

Can you be more specific as to model?

They seem to go from "how much?" to selling kidneys on eBay..

[Macavity]

I added an CAT6 internet cable to the rest of my Random USB-Cats, Video Coaxes?
(Personally I cannot raise a lot of enthusiasm about Wifi / Wireless Connectivity) ?

I did build an internal ceiling / sliding partition doors for part of my observatory... 
If I do go into the "Sauna Business", it could serve as reception... House the TILL? ?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

34 minutes ago, Rusted said:

Thanks for the tip. Not too expensive despite its smartly professional looks. How does it connect to the laptop?

however you want, as a sender from your existing wifi network, and just use the laptops' inbuilt wifi, or as a receiver which picks up the 'home'  wifi network & you connect an ethernet cable between it & your laptop, or its even possible to do a mixture.... 

[Rusted]

5 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

however you want, as a sender from your existing wifi network, and just use the laptops' inbuilt wifi, or as a receiver which picks up the 'home'  wifi network & you connect an ethernet cable between it & your laptop, or its even possible to do a mixture.... 

Thanks for the explanation.

[stash_old]

5 hours ago, Rusted said:

I can't easily run an internet cable across the parking space in the middle.

Cat5/6/7 cables come in "Outdoor" grade  and is UV resistant - its like having normal Cat cable inside another  cable - works fine - used i 3 yrs no problem (so far)  - including working during "Beast from the east" snow and frost. You could of course use some 15mm plastic ribbed conduit and normal cat5/6/7 cable - its pretty cheap and robust  

Plus surely a small pipe 1cm internal dia could put put across under the drive - unless its concrete - but that is still doable.

Ethernet has no problems doing up to 100m and would give you 1gb depending on the local network.

[Gina]

38 minutes ago, Rusted said:

Thanks Gina.

Can you be more specific as to model?

They seem to go from "how much?" to selling kidneys on eBay..

Link Here

 

[Rusted]

17 minutes ago, stash_old said:

Cat5/6/7 cables come in "Outdoor" grade  and is UV resistant - its like having normal Cat cable inside another  cable - works fine - used i 3 yrs no problem (so far)  - including working during "Beast from the east" snow and frost. You could of course use some 15mm plastic ribbed conduit and normal cat5/6/7 cable - its pretty cheap and robust  

Plus surely a small pipe 1cm internal dia could put put across under the drive - unless its concrete - but that is still doable.

Ethernet has no problems doing up to 100m and would give you 1gb depending on the local network.

Thanks. That's valuable information but running a cable from upstairs would be quite difficult given all the hurdles.

[JamesF]

9 hours ago, Rusted said:

Thanks James.

If the mains/Ethernet kit doesn't work then it can go back to the dealer.

Not at all sure what bridged Wi-Fi routers look like?

Network cables to the observatory aren't very doable. 50 meters the long way round the car parking area.
Are they UV resistant for outdoor dangling mid-air across hedgerows and shrubs? ?

Many wifi routers can be configured to run in bridged mode.  There's nothing particularly special about them.  It's like having two wired networks, each including a wifi router, and joining the two networks by having the routers transmit the network traffic over the wifi link.

James

[Rusted]

Thanks for the explanation. I think we can safely say my confusion is now in fully bridged mode.

Went over to do some solar when it cleared up in the afternoon.
Tried the laptop on the north side of the pier again and had mid-20s Mbps..
It must have been a complete fluke from moving the router indoors.
The problem is, that now I can't use the printer on which the router is sitting. 
This modern technology, eh?