Long range WiFi, discussion - General Topics

Hi All,
I work long hours about two miles from home, the data signal there is terrible (because I work in a reinforced steel box), I've been looking into long range WiFi, what I'd like to do is mount some kind of repeater/router or the like on the roof of my house and use that to connect to my home WiFi from work and also when I'm out around town.
I'll be using (mostly) an Xperia T as the mobile device, I know I can probably transmit a signal two miles with no issue, but the Xperia's TX power is probably extremely low, so I might be looking at two antennas, or a home set up and some kind of AP at work with a good antenna (which limits this to use at just work which is not ideal but more than acceptable).
Is this kind of thing possible without breaking the bank?
In summary:
Need a device to mount on the roof of my house and possibly another device/AP for work for long range omnidirectional (directional if I have to) WiFi access, has this been done before?
Edit: Please feel free to move this post to the appropriate section, I had no idea where to post it.

Do you have line of sight from your house (or roof) to your workplace? If not, you might be out of luck.
Anything in your building that screens your phone signal is likely to screen 802.11 too.
You're likely to have the best results with a decent AP at each end, each with a directional antenna.

Related

PDA's and health concerns!

Guys, this ain't an upgrade nor a hack issue. It is more important than all that. It is about health and how health friendly those devices are :!:
I have been hearing lots of issues about the radiation generated by either the GSM, BT or WiFi signals!
Is it true that it is not wise to carry the PPC next to the heart in the pocket or on the side pocket? Has there ever been an official report or research done on this and found it is not too friendly :?:
I know that this forum has got people from all over the globe. Therefore some of those countries might have researched and would have announced it, but mind you.. "Official Announcement
Please advise since it is a worry I've got :roll:
i've read more cases where study said that it was no problem that the other way around same thing with utms (3g)
but even if it were a problem that your hart would never be the troublesome place
your head and your testicles would be that place where it could cause issues
high watt transmision cause inc in celluar activities your hart is just a pump and need high volts expousre to react to anything like that
your brain are a pile of fat tissue where the neural transmitors and cemestry cause thinging and emotions celluar changing can be an issue there
and your semen aswell semen are preduced as a copy of the earlier produced so celluar changes which are high enough to mutate could be a problem
but cellphones are nowhere near as troublesome as highvolt lines and the wifi networks
only place you can 100% safe in in a big lead safe
Rudegar do you mean that GSM is more harmless than wifi? As far as I know the transmition power of GSM can go up as much as 2Watts in areas with low signal while wifi is only miliwatts!
wifi is always gsm is only when you make a call
i speak of wifi where you dont just use wifi at places where there are hotspots but you having a wifi network maybe some transcievers to str up the signal and such
and i also do believe that wifi is stronger then bluetooth which is just a few miliwatt dident check it though
Hello,
I'm no doctor but what I can tell you based on wireless emmissions is that if you use a bluetooth headset, and keep the device as far away from you as possible. The emmissions are reduced considerably.
A bluetooth headset has a range of 5 meters, whereas Wi-Fi or Cell Transmission are a hundred times that. Which makes me think that having a bluetooth headset near your ear, is a hundred times less strong than having a mobile phone, this gives me a peace of mind.
What is to keep in mind is that, especially during conversation. Not to leave the device inside your pocket plugged within your belt. This causes more problems as the testicles are more prone to damage than the brain is. Thus even when using the bluetooth headset. In effect its better to keep the device at a distance from your body.
Also note that using a mobile phone inside a car (especially new ones), is dangerous... Why? Because the car's shield acts as a mirror to the radio-waves. It reflects 10 to 20 times within the car, thus the radiation within the car is reflected and causing higher radiation within.. Solution? External antenna, I don`t have one, but when I use the mobile, I put it far away on the dashboard, close to the window to reflect the least radiation possible within the car. Please note that all PDA2Ks and PocketPC phones have a builtin slot to connect external antenna!
Well in fact you're right about the Lead Box.. But really, I believe that when I'm going to the beach, under the sun. Im not only getting a high dose of ultraviolet rays. Lieing down, my body is probably able to receive a 1200 channels from astra (some encrypted) and another 400 from Hotbird. Its also constantly receiving the Date and Time from GPS Satellites to calculate the location. On the other side when standing up, I'm probably getting 40 Terrestrial Channels and another 100 FM Channels. Apart from the Wi-Fi stations AND Cellular Antennas nearby.
the world is becoming clattered in radio communications. Its a must of our everyday life, the trick is to be aware of it and where possible to reduce it.
Small note about signal strenght :
The mobile's radio transmitting voltage is set according to the signal strenght.
In areas with low signal strenght, the voltage is incresed, thus increasing the radiation.
Regards,
Eman
Hello,
I'm no doctor but what I can tell you based on wireless emmissions is that if you use a bluetooth headset, and keep the device as far away from you as possible. The emmissions are reduced considerably.
A bluetooth headset has a range of 5 meters, whereas Wi-Fi or Cell Transmission are a hundred times that. Which makes me think that having a bluetooth headset near your ear, is a hundred times less strong than having a mobile phone, this gives me a peace of mind.
What is to keep in mind is that, especially during conversation. Not to leave the device inside your pocket plugged within your belt. This causes more problems as the testicles are more prone to damage than the brain is. Thus even when using the bluetooth headset. In effect its better to keep the device at a distance from your body.
Also note that using a mobile phone inside a car (especially new ones), is dangerous... Why? Because the car's shield acts as a mirror to the radio-waves. It reflects 10 to 20 times within the car, thus the radiation within the car is reflected and causing higher radiation within.. Solution? External antenna, I don`t have one, but when I use the mobile, I put it far away on the dashboard, close to the window to reflect the least radiation possible within the car. Please note that all PDA2Ks and PocketPC phones have a builtin slot to connect external antenna!
Well in fact you're right about the Lead Box.. But really, I believe that when I'm going to the beach, under the sun. Im not only getting a high dose of ultraviolet rays. Lieing down, my body is probably able to receive a 1200 channels from astra (some encrypted) and another 400 from Hotbird. Its also constantly receiving the Date and Time from GPS Satellites to calculate the location. On the other side when standing up, I'm probably getting 40 Terrestrial Channels and another 100 FM Channels. Apart from the Wi-Fi stations AND Cellular Antennas nearby.
the world is becoming clattered in radio communications. Its a must of our everyday life, the trick is to be aware of it and where possible to reduce it.
Small note about signal strenght :
The mobile's radio transmitting voltage is set according to the signal strenght.
In areas with low signal strenght, the voltage is incresed, thus increasing the radiation.
Regards,
Eman

External antenna/signal boost?

Hello! I'm looking for a way to boost my signal. I've noticed that when I have under 3 bars (and even if it bounces up to 3 and back down) my battery drains quicker than it can charge. At work as long as I have 3+ it will charge faster but if I'm at a different spot and its under 3 it drains. Also, it heats up (usually hangs out around 98.6 degrees but sometimes it'll go 105+). My main reason for wanting a boost at home is because I tether to play games when my sisters hog the house connection. So I'm looking for a cheap way to boost my signal. Small repeater sort of thing or something. To my understanding the little spots under the cover allow you to plug in external antennas, so where can I find everything for that? (And yes I saw that people can't get signal back after)
THANK YOU
Mechachu said:
Hello! I'm looking for a way to boost my signal. I've noticed that when I have under 3 bars (and even if it bounces up to 3 and back down) my battery drains quicker than it can charge. At work as long as I have 3+ it will charge faster but if I'm at a different spot and its under 3 it drains. Also, it heats up (usually hangs out around 98.6 degrees but sometimes it'll go 105+). My main reason for wanting a boost at home is because I tether to play games when my sisters hog the house connection. So I'm looking for a cheap way to boost my signal. Small repeater sort of thing or something. To my understanding the little spots under the cover allow you to plug in external antennas, so where can I find everything for that? (And yes I saw that people can't get signal back after)
THANK YOU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We used to live in an AT&T dead spot (yeah, yeah, who doesn't?) and ended up putting a powered wireless repeater in the house with an external antenna on the roof. I believe the manufacturer was Digital Antenna. They're not cheap, but the wired versions (if you can live with that) are a bit cheaper.
As long as you have high speed internet at home get an Airave. It puts up a tower in your house and processes everything over your home internet connection. 5 bucks a month i believe.
http://support.sprint.com/support/device/Sprint/AIRAVE_by_Sprint-dvc1230001prd/?id16=airave
Problem solved.
I thought about airwave but people ten to not pay the internet from time to time xD and does the signal crap out if people use the internet? Its only a 768 connection (country ftl) and people tend to netflix and cam -_-
Mechachu said:
I thought about airwave but people ten to not pay the internet from time to time xD and does the signal crap out if people use the internet? Its only a 768 connection (country ftl) and people tend to netflix and cam -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The airrave uses your internet connection for 3G data and voice calls. If your internet is slow to begin with and ppl are hammering it all day long the airrave won't work well for you. Also, it doesn't hand calls off to the real cell network, so if you're on the phone and you leave your house the call will drop. If you have good signal outside and bad signal inside, one of those repeaters is the way to go - but it ain't cheap.
Dang ok. What about something like the Wilson Magnet Mount Cellular Antenna at Radioshack? (Its on the site. Id link it but you need 8+ posts >.<)
I'd just limit your sisters ip address/mac address with a QOS policy, so that she can't hog all the bandwidth. (would be done at your router)
I've heard and seen on this board some nasty results from connecting external antennas to the connection point behind the battery cover. Do a search in the forums to see, I can't remember exactly off the top of my head.
Ya I only saw a couple people mention problems and it seemed to be things that they had only heard
Whatever you do DO NOT CONNECT an EXTERNAL ANTENNA to the CONNECTION POINT.
So far, everyone on this forum who has tried so with a Galaxy S has ended up with some permanent baseband (or whatever is responsible for the gsm/cdma part) corruption. What ended up happening was that the internal antenna would turn off. In some cases it meant that they could only call with the external antenna plugged in, and in other cases is meant that neither the external or internal antenna would work. (note: This has happened only on captivate and vibrant so far, so I am not sure what will happen on CDMA but.... Better safe than sorry right!?).
oh and sorry for the large font.... It catches your eye... ~_~
krackers said:
Whatever you do DO NOT CONNECT an EXTERNAL ANTENNAto the CONNECTION POINT.
So far, everyone on this forum who has tried so with a Galaxy S has ended up with some permanent baseband (or whatever is responsible for the gsm/cdma part) corruption. What ended up happening was that the internal antenna would turn off. In some cases it meant that they could only call with the external antenna plugged in, and in other cases is meant that neither the external or internal antenna would work. (note: This has happened only on captivate and vibrant so far, so I am not sure what will happen on CDMA but.... Better safe than sorry right!?).
oh and sorry for the large font.... It catches your eye... ~_~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol I did that when i got my first smart phone, the htc touch. Thankfully back in those days sprint would fix any problem or give you a new phone no questions asked for 55 dollars. ( I used to find inventive ways to break my phone. Like the mentioned external antenna, or a homemade battery back)
I'm interested in a solution to this as well, preferably something that doesnt have a monthly fee attached.
In my basement, I get about 1-2 bars of service, and sometimes nothing at all. Is very frustrating to receive texts up to an hour late.
talk about ad placement
This came up right under the latest post in this thread:
Tri Band Yagi 700Mhz - 2500Mhz 9dBi
Our highest gain directional tri/multi antenna - for 700-2500mhz networks (including Verizon LTE, Sprint/Verizon/AT&T/Alltel 3G, and more).
LINK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank jebus for adfree android and adblockplus for firefox...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

[Q] How to select the strongest WIFI access point?

Does anyone know how the Xoom can connect/switch to the strongest WIFI access point? Would be great if someone can help me with this.
Thanks in advance!
Wahoo - a chance to give back for all I've learned here! So here goes.
This is MY experience asking the very same question. There may be a better answer of course. So, here's what I think I know:
Background - I have a XOOM and smart phones all over the house. My signal sucked in one part of the house, so I set up a repeater. I wanted to connect to the repeater when near it - and connect to my home router, when near it. I knew this had to be good because my signal meter said it would be. But, when I cycled the wifi on/off, no matter where I was standing, it would connect to AAA, before BBB. Even if BBB signal was 10 times the AAA. As long as it could see it, it would connect. Nuts.
My learning: Your device seeks in alpha number order = 1 before A, A before Z. If you have a signal strength meter installed, open it, walk around. You'll see AAA is stronger than BBB. Then BBB is stronger than AAA, etc. How would your device know which to pick? There are places you can stand, where it will go back and forth. If you've been following the 3G/4G discussions at all, or going from a wifi area to no wifi area (and leaving wifi activated), you'll know these are real battery killers.
Net - I don't think it can be smartly done for these reasons. My solution? I have a signal widget and a selector widget. When I know I should be on BBB, I hit selector and pick it. If I'm in public area searching, I let the device search, look at all the signals and then pick the one that is best. If I know I'll be back to an area often, I pick the other signals and "ignore" them, so I'll hit the strong one when I come back.
Maybe not what you're looking for, the automated solution, but I think I've learned the device isn't smart enough to pick the best signal. You have to do it, and then train the device using tools that are out there. I've found apps that claim to do this, my experience with them is the switching issue, back and forth, and the battery impact. YMMV.
newskate9 said:
Wahoo - a chance to give back for all I've learned here! So here goes.
This is MY experience asking the very same question. There may be a better answer of course. So, here's what I think I know:
Background - I have a XOOM and smart phones all over the house. My signal sucked in one part of the house, so I set up a repeater. I wanted to connect to the repeater when near it - and connect to my home router, when near it. I knew this had to be good because my signal meter said it would be. But, when I cycled the wifi on/off, no matter where I was standing, it would connect to AAA, before BBB. Even if BBB signal was 10 times the AAA. As long as it could see it, it would connect. Nuts.
My learning: Your device seeks in alpha number order = 1 before A, A before Z. If you have a signal strength meter installed, open it, walk around. You'll see AAA is stronger than BBB. Then BBB is stronger than AAA, etc. How would your device know which to pick? There are places you can stand, where it will go back and forth. If you've been following the 3G/4G discussions at all, or going from a wifi area to no wifi area (and leaving wifi activated), you'll know these are real battery killers.
Net - I don't think it can be smartly done for these reasons. My solution? I have a signal widget and a selector widget. When I know I should be on BBB, I hit selector and pick it. If I'm in public area searching, I let the device search, look at all the signals and then pick the one that is best. If I know I'll be back to an area often, I pick the other signals and "ignore" them, so I'll hit the strong one when I come back.
Maybe not what you're looking for, the automated solution, but I think I've learned the device isn't smart enough to pick the best signal. You have to do it, and then train the device using tools that are out there. I've found apps that claim to do this, my experience with them is the switching issue, back and forth, and the battery impact. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you...really good information, and very well presented.
From my experience, android will always try to (re)connect to the last wifi it was connected. For example, if you have 2 wifis at home and you are connected on wifi1, if you go out and come back it will try to connect to wifi1 even if wifi2 is better.
I installed an app from the Play store called "Best WIFI" seems to working well.
wifi
Park82 said:
I installed an app from the Play store called "Best WIFI" seems to working well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good choice

Getting Wifi from hotspots far away?

I've got a starbucks near me,not super far anyways. About a block away.
What sort of antenna would I need to be able to connect to their free wifi?
I've read and watched videos about the homemade satellite antennas and seem some parabolic antennas being sold on new-egg and other sites.
Any ideas?
If I could connect to their free wifi,it would save me some money since I dont use the net for much besides reading and watching a few videos.
Are you trying to connect from your computer? Or are you using a phone/tablet?
If you're trying to connect with a computer, a lot of people get an external USB wifi adapter and make a "satellite dish" with foil and other crazy things to try and extend range.
I've also seen some people who make their own signal receivers. I would say it might be possible (though couldn't say how reliable it would be). Keep in mind the signal strength also depends on the router that the starbucks is using. If they're using some cheap router where the signal will barely reach you, might not be worth the trouble.

[Q] Connection goes up and down after replacing screen

Hi everyone,
I have recently cracked my screen and replaced it myself using youtube tutorials. I have (somehow) completed the task although I had many problems with the two side cables (black and white antenna cables, I hope you know what I mean as I don't know their proper names). Specifically, I wasn't able to slide them down the channels intended for that and at the same time I wasn't able to connect them properly in the jacks were they need to be plugged in. I thought I have somehow did it but it seems I did not do it properly as I do have frequent ups and downs with the network signal, I lose it constantly in places where I used to have full network signal and I can't reach LTE at all, there's no connection at all when switched to LTE. There's signal only when 3G is ticked in settings and internet signal remains to E, rarely if ever moves to H.
At the same time, Wi-Fi is good although I feel it worked better previously, but that can only be my imagination working.
So, I think it has something to do with those cables, as those were my main issue during reassembly. Is there any advice anyone can give me. They don't seem broken, but I can't fit them in the channels and in the jacks properly. Would it work if I put something like a sticky paper in the channels to hold the cables down. Also, is there any trick for connecting them in the jacks or I just need to be precise?
Or, is the problem something completely different?
Any advice would be much appreciated as my phone is rather new and I absolutely love it.
Thanks in advance
Those mini-coaxial sockets can be a bit harder to push in at times - just get a pair of good quality tweezers , get a good grip on the connector and push it down with some other tool. I can guarantee it is going to go in . If they don't make good contact you are either going to get intermitent network , or a very week network signal .

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