Wireless Wiki - Recent changes [en]

Wi-Fi on a Boat

2012-05-13T02:37:35Z

Thanks Andy. Yes, believe it or not, HiveAPs can acluatly handle 200 clients per AP (100 clients per radio, and there are 2 radios per AP). While I would not recommend designing a network around such client density numbers, the capability is still

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:37, May 13, 2012
Line 85:		Line 85:
	* Moisture in the marine environment can result in electronic failures.		* Moisture in the marine environment can result in electronic failures.

-	== Improving Wi-Fi ==	+	Thanks Andy. Yes, believe it or not, HiveAPs can acluatly handle 200 clients per AP (100 clients per radio, and there are 2 radios per AP). While I would not recommend designing a network around such client density numbers, the capability is still there. There are a significant number of high-density scenarios (libraries, conference centers, stadiums, etc) where this type of client density is the norm…so we need to be able to support browsing, email, IM, and other basic Wi-Fi functions at super-high densities.
-	===Range===	+	Thanks Andy. Yes, believe it or not, HiveAPs can acluatly handle 200 clients per AP (100 clients per radio, and there are 2 radios per AP). While I would not recommend designing a network around such client density numbers, the capability is still there. There are a significant number of high-density scenarios (libraries, conference centers, stadiums, etc) where this type of client density is the norm…so we need to be able to support browsing, email, IM, and other basic Wi-Fi functions at super-high densities.
-
-
-	On the Internet you can find Wi-Fi systems suggesting that 3 miles, 5 miles, or even longer ranges are possible between your boat and a shore side Wi-Fi signal. Is this possible? It depends on the equipment being used on shore. Much over 5 miles is not realistic however, unless you own and control the equipment on shore as well.
-
-	To get that type of range may require a very high gain parabolic or yagi antennas which focus the signal into a very narrow beam pointed directly at the other end of the link. A boat at anchor, on a mooring, or even tied to a dock is not stable enough to use such an antenna as any movement at all would drop the connection.
-
-	On a boat we must use an omni-directional antenna that can send and receive signals in all directions as we swing at anchor or on our moorings. There are good high gain omni directional antennas (don't want higher than 9dBi on an boat however, see below). Getting longer ranges with an omni-directional antenna is certainly possible, however you are much more dependent on the equipment on shore to be of high power.
-
-	The range of the connection and the quality of the connection depends entirely on the two way conversation between the equipment on your boat, and the equipment being used on shore. If better equipment is in use on both sides, ranges of 5 miles are certainly possible. However, this is not what is to be expected from a normal access point on shore. A mile range is a more realistic and common expectation of what you will see with good equipment on your boat and average equipment on shore.
-
-	Even after establishing a long distance connection to shore, the quality of the connection will stll be influenced by many factors: other signal noise (other WiFi and telecommunications equipment) in the area, obstructions and obstacles between the access point ( i.e. in a basement vs the front porch) and your boat, and type of equipment on shore. Sometimes VOIP (Skype) will work for miles, and sometimes it won't work at less than 1/2 mile.
-
-	=== Higher Power ===
-
-
-
-
-	[[Image:Alligator.jpg\|thumb\|American Alligator]]
-
-	While it may seem that higher power Wi-Fi might help to improve your range, that's ''not'' necessarily true, since higher power only helps on ''transmit'', not ''receive''. Thus it's only likely to help if the other end of your connection is using higher power as well, which is often not the case. In other words, what you may well wind up with is an ''alligator'', big mouth but small ears. Also, unnecessarily high transmit power will tend to increase your interference with other Wi-Fi users, making you a bad neighbor. ''It's usually much better to just improve your antenna, which helps both transmit and receive.''
-
-	=== Better Antenna ===
-
-
-
-
-	[[Image:Wireless ap outdoor.jpg\|thumb\|Outdoor wireless access point with high-gain omnidirectional antenna.]]
-
-	Usually the best way to improve range is to use a ''better antenna'' (or ''[[wikipedia:Reflector (antenna) \|reflector]]'' with a standard antenna), which helps both transmit and receive.
-
-	Better antennas work by being ''[[wikipedia:Directional antenna \|directional]]'':
-	* ''concentrating radio energy/sensitivity'' to/from the desired direction instead of wasting it in pointless directions, and
-	* ''reducing [[wikipedia:Co-channel interference \|interference]]'' from other radio sources not in the desired direction (path).
-	The improvement in antenna performance is referred to as ''[[wikipedia:Antenna gain \|gain]]'', where a higher number indicates the amount of performance improvement expressed in ''[[wikipedia:Decibel \|dBi]]''. ''It takes an increase of 6 dBi to double range; e.g.,'' as compared to a typical 2 dBi antenna, an 8 dBi antenna has double the range.
-
-	However, a highly directional antenna can be problematic on a boat, since it must be kept aimed accurately at the remote end of the connection, which can be difficult on a boat floating in the water (even when tied up). The width (angle) of the directional pattern (both vertically and horizontally) can be used to see how accurately the antenna must be aimed.
-
-	The simplest and easiest improvement is to use a higher-gain [[wikipedia:Omnidirectional antenna \|omnidirectional antenna]] (4-8 dBi), thereby avoiding the need to aim the antenna horizontally (point it at the shore-based wireless access point). Such an antenna works by concentrating energy/sensitivity in the horizontal direction that would otherwise be wasted vertically (up and down). Beyond about 8 dBi the vertical beam angle becomes so narrow that vertical aiming can be problematic on a boat:
-	{\|
-	\|
-
-
-	{\|cellpadding="2" border="1" bgcolor="#ffffcc" style="font-size:90%; line-height:1.1em;"
-	!align="center"\|Omnidirectional<br />Antenna Gain
-	!align="center"\|Example of<br />Vertical Beam Angle
-	\|-
-	\|align="right"\|
-
-
-	{\|width="100%" bgcolor="#ffffcc" style="font-size:90%;"
-	\|align="center"\|4 dBi
-	\|-
-	\|align="center"\|6 dBi
-	\|-
-	\|align="center"\|8 dBi
-	\|-
-	\|align="center"\|10 dBi
-	\|-
-	\|align="center"\|12 dBi
-	\|}
-	\|align="center"\|
-
-
-	{\|width="100%" bgcolor="#ffffcc" style="font-size:90%;"
-	\|align="center"\|50°
-	\|-
-	\|align="center"\|28°
-	\|-
-	\|align="center"\|15°
-	\|-
-	\|align="center"\|11°
-	\|-
-	\|align="center"\|8°
-	\|}
-	\|}
-	\|[[Image:Omni Antenna Patterns.svg]]
-	\|}
-
-
-
-	There is a fair amount of discussion here about beam width and why a boat must have an omni antenna with about 8 dBi or less gain. Let us do a practical test of this. Take your hand bearing compass out and site a location about 1000 feet from your boat. Then slowly turn six degrees and look at that point. Now imagine that distance turned vertically and that is the beam with of an omni antenna with a beam with of 6 degrees at 1000 feet. Repeat this for a point 2000 feet away, then 3000 feet away, then 6000 feet away.<br />
-	<br />
-	This test convinced me to experiment with high gain omni antennas from the practical perspective of a sailing boat. I am not disagreeing that at close proximity that a lower gain antenna is better. But as the distance increases the effective beam width increases. Years of actual experience aboard sailing boats confirms that higher dBi gain omni antennas work well on a boat at anchor as well as at a dock close to the shore side station.
-
-	=== Antenna Location ===
-	Higher antenna locations tend to have less interference from obstructions (''e.g.,'' biminis, dodgers, booms, and other very close proximity boats) than lower locations since there are more obstructions on a boat closer to deck level, so in general, it's a good idea to ''locate the antenna as high as is practical''. WiFi is line of sight, and the use of a medium gain antenna (4dBi-9dBi) will provide a fair amount of flexibility in accessing WiFi access points on shore regardless of the height of the antenna on the boat due to it's wide cone of transmission. Use of a higher gain antenna (12dBi - 15dBI) may cause you to have a need to adjust the height of your antenna based on the access point location since the cone of transmission is significantly smaller than on medium gain antennas. Height is important to get clear of nearby obstacles however mounting the antenna on a mast of a sailboat is typically unnecessary.
-
-	Since signal loss in the cable between the radio unit and the antenna increases rapidly with the length of the cable, it's better to locate the radio unit next to the antenna, and use lossless cable to support the radio unit, either [[wikipedia:Universal Serial Bus \|USB]] or [[wikipedia:Ethernet \|Ethernet]], both of which have advantages and disadvantages (as noted below).
-
-	=== Automatic Tracking ===
-
-	There are products than can be used to keep a directional antenna aimed at an access point as a boat swings or drifts with precision of better than one degree (''e.g.,'' [http://www.track-it-tv.com Track-It-TV]). However, they are relatively expensive, and they only track in the horizontal plane, so it's important that the vertical beam width take into account rolling and pitching of the boat. Usually a vertical beam angle of 10 degrees or so is adequate for all but the roughest conditions, but even beam angles of 20 degrees or more can still result in substantial improvement in gain over an omnidirectional antenna.
-
-	There are [http://letsmakerobots.com/blog/15528 hobby projects] to build an auto-aiming directional antenna capable of staying locked into the best signal while a boat rotates around an anchor line.

	== Temporary Setup ==		== Temporary Setup ==

2012-05-10T19:13:40Z

Go into your Network Connections and check the status of the Wireless Connection:Try a right-click Repair.And right-click Properties to check your wierless connections. You might have to set up the SSID as your primary site again. And it you had spec

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:13, May 10, 2012
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	icily{{Welcome}}	+	Go into your Network Connections and check the status of the Wireless Connection:Try a right-click Repair.And right-click Properties to check your wierless connections. You might have to set up the SSID as your primary site again. And it you had specialized security settings, you'll need to check those again. Was this answer helpful?
-	{{GoogleSearch}}
-	{{Contributions}}
-
-	== Wireless Internet ==
-
-	'''Practical aspects '''of '''wireless access to the Internet '''via [[wikipedia:radio\|radio]], including setup of various types of wireless networking and solutions to common problems. Although technical knowledge can be helpful, special technical knowledge is not a prerequiste to much of this material, which is '''suitable even for people with little technical skill'''.
-
-	==== Wi-Fi ====
-	[http://www.chilliwave.com WiFi Billing Software]
-
-	* ''[[Wi-Fi\|Main article]]''.
-	* Discussion Group ''[[alt.internet.wireless]]'' (lots of good info and help)
-	Related articles:
-	===== Fast Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems =====
-	* Article ''[[Fast Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems]]''
-	===== Wi-Fi How To =====
-	* Article ''[[Wi-Fi How To]]''
-	===== Wi-Fi on a Boat =====
-	* Article ''[[Wi-Fi on a Boat]]''
-
-	==== WiMAX ====
-
-	* ''[[WiMAX\|WiMAX: Main article]]''
-	* Discussion Group ''[[alt.internet.wireless]]'' (lots of good info and help)
-
-	==== Fixed Terrestial Wireless ====
-
-	* ''[[Fixed Terrestial Wireless\|Fixed Terrestial Wireless: Main article]]''
-	* Discussion Group ''[[alt.internet.wireless]]'' (lots of good info and help)
-
-	==== Cellular ====
-
-	* ''[[Cellular\|Cellular: Main article]]''
-	* Discussion Groups (lots of good info and help)
-	** ''[[alt.internet.wireless]]'' (general discussion)
-	** ''[news:alt.cellular.data alt.cellular.data]'' (cellular data communications)
-	*** ''[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.cellular.data Google access to alt.cellular.data]''
-	** [http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=33557583&hl=en Google access to other cellular groups] (Cingular, Sprint-Nextel, Verizon, ''etc.'')
-	Related articles:
-	===== Cellular on a Boat =====
-	* Article ''[[Cellular on a Boat]]''
-
-	==== Satellite ====
-
-	* ''[[Satellite\|Satellite: Main article]]''
-	* Discussion Groups (lots of good info and help)
-	** ''[[alt.internet.wireless]]'' (general discussion)
-	** [news:alt.satellite.internet alt.satellite.internet] (all Satellite Internet)
-	*** ''[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.satellite.internet Google access to alt.satellite.internet]''
-	** [news:alt.satellite.direcpc alt.satellite.direcpc] (specific to HughesNet/DirecWay/DirecPC)
-	*** ''[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.satellite.direcpc Google access to alt.satellite.direcpc]''
-
-	== Regional Wireless Information ==
-
-	=== Belgium ===
-	==== Liège ====
-	[http://www.free-spot.net freeSpot Liège]: un réseau sans fil à [[wikipedia:Liège (city)\|Liège]] (free Wi-Fi in Liège)
-	* [http://www.eukhost.com/forums/f43/faqs-about-wireless-broadband-routers-5672/#post38742 Limited or no connectivity help]
-
-	=== Singapore ===
-	[[Singapore hotspots]]
-
-	== Wikias ==
-	{{w:computersfooter/base}}

Fast Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems

2012-05-10T18:01:40Z

So, (because I would like to learn) kldload works wituoht needing a reboot but wituoht a permanent result (i.e., it loads the module temporarily) while the command line on loader.conf has a permanent result… OKRegarding the card, I have to report t

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:01, May 10, 2012
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	Is this wireless? if so, the key is in the rtuoer, you need to go into the rtuoer set up and it's probably under a tab like security or wireless, it will depend on the rtuoer. You access the rtuoer by typing 192.168.1.1 in your browser. If that doesn't work, you need to find the rtuoer's IP. go to start>run type cmd then type IPconfig and then whatever the default gateway says, is your rtuoer IP.	+	So, (because I would like to learn) kldload works wituoht needing a reboot but wituoht a permanent result (i.e., it loads the module temporarily) while the command line on loader.conf has a permanent result… OKRegarding the card, I have to report the following:a) In the recent past I have tried many Linux live CD/DVDs (either with Gnome or KDE) and OpenIndiana (with the Gnone legacy by OpenSolaris).Now, the Gnome environments did recognize the WiFi immediately (e.g., Ubuntu, OpenIndiana) –only Fedora did not due to its weird security standards– while the KDE environments didn’t.Thus, because you wrote: “It looks like urtw was not loading so this has been fixed for 9–thanks for letting us know!“I want to say that perhaps, loading of the module is not the only problem; my feeling is that (probably) the problem consists of a combination: 1) the driver urtw is not loaded –as it should2) the KNetworkManager (seems) to be problematicI would like to test (and maybe verify) my assertion, by using (say) WICD but I do not have the knowledge to compile it (?) ina0BSD.Again, many warm thanks for your patience.

Fast Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems

2012-05-10T17:31:49Z

Is this wireless? if so, the key is in the rtuoer, you need to go into the rtuoer set up and it's probably under a tab like security or wireless, it will depend on the rtuoer. You access the rtuoer by typing 192.168.1.1 in your browser. If that doesn

Show changes

Wireless Wiki - Recent changes [en]

Wi-Fi on a Boat

Contents

Fast Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems

Fast Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems