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Do gas-filled windows block wireless signal?

Wireless broadband was always marginal here (at least one mile from the tower, with trees in the line of sight ) and became impossible the day the windows were replaced with modern "Energy Star" units, double-pane sealed units filled with gas (either argon or krypton, I forget which.) I could not be sure of the cause, but managed to reach an ISP engineer. One of his suggestions was to try the directional wireless modem at an open window, i.e. no glass -- which immediately provided a satisfactory signal. I have instructions for various tests thus will quantify the difference if I can.

The engineer said he had never heard of either window structure (aluminum here with steel magnets that hold the fly screens in place) or gas-filled sealed panes obstructing wireless signals. Has anyone else?

Reply to
Don Phillipson
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The likely cause is window coating, which typically metal film.

Reply to
John Navas

It isn't the gas, or the glass (itself) or the framing.

Window glass often has coatings or 'components' in or on the glass that cause the problem, especially metallic ones.

Some of the same features/characteristics that prevent/deter infrared radiation penetration of glass, are obstructive to wireless radio.

Reply to
Mike Easter

If the windows were touted as "low e" you found your problem. Various metal oxide coatings are either in the glass or coating the glass to lower the emissivity. Metal is also great for shielding RF.

Reply to
George

"Don Phillipson" wrote in news:i0b3ar$gpq$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

Yes, that is what I told you the other day.

The engineer needs to get up to speed.

Reply to
DanS

The glass probably has a low-emissivity TiN (Titanium Nitride) coating. That's about 35 ohms per square sheet resistance, which is as good as a dead short at RF frequencies.

(422 KBytes) Although the tests did not extend to RF frequencies, a look at Fig 4 shows that TiN transmission is totally blocked (

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

I've been building Wireless ISP's and installing wireless for about 10 years commercially. I've had numerous times that the client had tinted glass on an outside window, could see the wireless access point from the window and couldn't connect with a laptop because of the glass tinting. Open the window and the connect happens.

Other times the window has a metal screen, great to keep the bugs out and the let in the air, but hell on Wireless, it act like a shield.

On other problem with laptops is that the radio is mounted inside the laptop body beneath the keyboard. The antenna points down at the table the laptop is sitting on. sometimes by holding the laptop up and pointing the bottom of the laptop at the access point you can get a connect also.

oh, Hi Jeff, it's been a while,

Gud luck,

Bob Robert Smith Consulting

Reply to
na6t

Permit me to offer my sympathies. I lasted about 8 years and gave up.

I've replaced those with fiberglass bug screening. Unlike aluminum, it does not corrode, dent, or unravel. Unfortunately, it will not support a small cat with sharp claws.

I haven't seen too many of those. When wireless cards were retrofited into existing models, some IBM Thinkpads and Compaq Presario laptops were installed with antennas under the keyboard. That went away with the next model.

My favorite is Compaq cramming the antenna on the laptop hinge:

Not only did it not work very well, but the coax also tended to get crunched in the hinge.

Hello. I was wondering where you've been hiding.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

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