best firmware for long range transmission?

[kvic]

She suggested the Nanostation Loco M5 set as a repeater in my apartment. Again, no antenna, but rave reviews and they're running about $65 on Amazon right now. Going to do a little research and will probably go with that (unless anyone has a better idea?).

I had LocoM2 in mind when I suggested the third option in #13. lol. M2 does over 2.4GHz. If ubnt says M5 could do (a bit more expensive but higher throughput? can't recall exactly), why not. Also I thought you need a pair but if they say one will do..even better.

Deploying point to point link is though like firing machine guns through cardboards in your situation. I thought it's overkill but maybe you have a challenging situation. Why not try from the cheapest solution that will do (if you can return the stuff not performing well). A cheap extender (plus additionally replace it with a high gain antenna) shall solve your problem IMO.

 

[dlandiss]

Want to see something weird - look at the 2.4GHz antenna patterns for most smartphones - since the radiated elements are shared with both Bluetooth and WiFi, and with SAR concerns, along with positions - they end up being this blobby looking thing in 3-d...

And I am glad that they do! Think how rough it would be if you had to hold your mobile at a certain angle for it to work.

 

[ColinTaylor]

And I am glad that they do! Think how rough it would be if you had to hold your mobile at a certain angle for it to work.

What, like an iPhone4 you mean? Sorry, I've been dying to say that.

 

[dlandiss]

Sorry to the experts posting here, but I've absorbed the info here (and elsewhere) better; we're talking about high gain directional antenna, right? Understanding that and the article linked above, it doesn't look like it would benefit us, where we are on different floors. Gotcha (I think).

The favored direction of a directional antenna can be changed just by tilting it. Think of the vertical dipole "donut" pattern--just tip the antenna, the donut will tip too and the strongest part of the radiation pattern will still be at right angles to the antenna. Think of the satellite dishes on rooftops, aimed up at angles dependent on the latitude.

People used to try to bounce 2-meter ham transmissions off the moon by pointing the antennas at it. I don't know if they ever got it to work or not. This suggests that they did!

 

[anoukaimee]

Deploying point to point link is though like firing machine guns through cardboards in your situation. I thought it's overkill but maybe you have a challenging situation. Why not try from the cheapest solution that will do (if you can return the stuff not performing well). A cheap extender (plus additionally replace it with a high gain antenna) shall solve your problem IMO.

Overkill is fine (so long as I don't kill it with too high a dBi and overshoot or something--will take some destroyed cardboard!) if the price of a unit is $65 and I just need one! In effect, it's cheaper than a cheap extender right now. My cheapest option would be to trot down to Goodwill and put up an N series with antenna for $8, but I'm hoping to get dual band, especially in an apartment building downtown.

I think the RT-AC56U will be fine upstairs, even without antenna, with beamforming and such (don't you?).

You've been really helpful!

 

[kvic]

I think the RT-AC56U will be fine upstairs, even without antenna, with beamforming and such (don't you?).

I happen to be a RT-AC56U owner too. Some of its 2.4GHz signal gets bounced off the ceiling, out the window and down to the ground (no line of sight) where an area of a marry-go-round ..within I get strong signal and can surf the web. The router is on 18th floor!

You have good suggestions from various people. Hard to tell which will perform well enough without trying. Perhaps time for you to action and let us know what works out best

 

[anoukaimee]

I happen to be a RT-AC56U owner too. Some of its 2.4GHz signal gets bounced off the ceiling, out the window and down to the ground (no line of sight) where an area of a marry-go-round ..within I get strong signal and can surf the web. The router is on 18th floor!
You have good suggestions from various people. Hard to tell which will perform well enough without trying. Perhaps time for you to action and let us know what works out best

True. Bought a Nanostation Loco m5 and going to configure it as a wifi access spot tomorrow. Will post back (hopefully with info re how it worked, but beware: possibly more questions! Thanks for all of your patience). Still not entirely sure on whether the 5ghz or 2.4ghz, but I posted in various spots and since all of my devices (except my printer, but that's not a dealbreaker) are 5ghz compatible and I'm in a congested neighborhood, all but one said 5ghz best to try first.

BTW: Ubiquiti's customer service can REALLY suck! I've chatted with four and two of them were great, two were absolutely horrible. The guy today wouldn't give any suggestions, just responded to my questions regarding various products, and as I'm sure you know they have a ton. Just "yep, might work;" "nope, won't work;" no explanations. Not very helpful if you have to go through 20 devices that can be configured in a dozen+ different ways, and you know next to nothing about networking.

So after two hours I was like "look: just tell me what you think a good configuration would be given my constraints!" he was all sullen, and I asked for his supervisor, who answered my questions in fifteen minutes.

Plus they're all trained to stick to the party line that "you MUST have a total LOS, no obstructions." I've read almost everywhere that while it isn't optimal not to have a CLOS, it still works better than range extenders, etc. I know they need to CYA, but I'm buying it from a 3rd party (Amazon) and said I'm assuming the risk and won't hold it against them if it doesn't work. The good techs (including the supervisor) were able to respond appropriately, not just parroting "LOS... LOS... LOS" like zombies.

Maybe they're good for ppl who know what they're doing, but if they're expanding into the consumer market, they gotta up their game.

Will repost! Thanks to you and everyone who had patience with this noob; learned a lot!

 

[sfx2000]

What, like an iPhone4 you mean? Sorry, I've been dying to say that.

Giggle - if one watched the apple video where "the Steve" said you're holding it wrong, and then said, fine, we'll buy you a phone case... classic

 

[kvic]

BTW: Ubiquiti's customer service can REALLY suck! I've chatted with four and two of them were great, two were absolutely horrible. The guy today wouldn't give any suggestions, just responded to my questions regarding various products, and as I'm sure you know they have a ton. Just "yep, might work;" "nope, won't work;" no explanations. Not very helpful if you have to go through 20 devices that can be configured in a dozen+ different ways, and you know next to nothing about networking.

ubiquiti is aiming at value-added resellers/distributors to sell/install/service their products. Less so directly at end-users/consumers. You might have better luck by posting questions to ubiquiti's user forums..

 

[anoukaimee]

ubiquiti is aiming at value-added resellers/distributors to sell/install/service their products. Less so directly at end-users/consumers. You might have better luck by posting questions to ubiquiti's user forums..

Yeah, well they're clearly trying to expand into the consumer market (selling on Amazon is a clear mark of this), and if they don't get it together on the CS, they're going to have some problems.

I take your point tho.