Does having multiple RJ45 jacks degrade the Internet signal a lot?

It's helpful to have a checklist of the things you need to change, probably following one of Jeff's cited pages correctly.

I'd done it a few times, and did it again recently, but I had to do it several times from hard reset because I kept cutting off my own communication from the new box before finalizing the config. Gotta do the steps in the right order, or you'll need the weird cabling that Jeff posted a long time ago to get admin access to the box.

Since the WAN port is unused, I've thought of enabling "remote admin" and then I could plug a laptop in to that port, but the idea of remote admin being live bugs me.

Reply to
dold
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Need a new cell phone, apparently.

My Thinkpad W510 (Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6200 AGN) will only connect to my Netgear WNR3500L WPA2-PSK [AES] at 54MBps. It connects to other routers at up to 240Mbps, and other devices connect to the Netgear at 65Mbps, none higher.

Reply to
dold

This thread is so long, I didn't go back and look: If you just need a little signal boost, maybe a reflector is the right solution.

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But now I prefer the Windsurfer from the same site.
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on photo paper for thick stock, with aluminum foil glued to the sail, provides a substantial boost in signal. Leave the "tabs" longer than indicated on the drawing, for easier assembly.

Reply to
dold

In some of my installations there's a use for 5 LAN ports rather than the usual 4, so I assign the WAN port to the LAN switch. (dd-wrt) No need to enable remote admin when you're coming in on the LAN side.

Reply to
Char Jackson

Just stock here (except for the SamKnows special. No DD-WRT. I think I have a little tiny GigE 100BaseT switch in the garage somewhere. The Netgear was easier to find, and put WiFi two feet from the Nintendo, instead of 50 feet.

Reply to
dold

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is a handy Windows tool for watching for interference from neighbors.

My neighbors apparently turn off their routers when they aren't using them (leftover habit from dialup days?), since I see them sometimes and not others.

Reply to
dold

It *is* a new cell phone (Moto Droid Razr).

It is *not* a new ThinkPad (T61P).

Reply to
krw

UPDATE: Last night was a 'storm' (in California terms, which isn't much of a 'real' storm after all) ... but nonetheless, I heard a crashing shaking the roof and thought it was thunder. Turns out a roof tile fell down from one roofline to another! :)

In addition, the antenna, which is just stuck into the ground into an abs plastic 2"-to-3" bushing reducer, twisted a bit in the storm - so my reception dropped from -64dBm to -88dBm. Yuck.

I twisted it back into place (about a half inch of twist) but now I know I need to better secure the antenna base so it doesn't twist (we get

I watched the antenna in the wind & rain last night, and it didn't 'bend' the 2" thick water pipe at all. I don't think I need guy wires at all as it's pretty sturdy. The only problem is that it's a 2" pipe stuck three feet into a 3.5" hole!

Here's a picture this morning (in the early morning light) of the antenna.

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Notice the oak tree probably twisted it more so than the wind did:

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And, here's a picture of the 2" mast stuck three feet in a 3" hole with a

2"-to-3" abs plastic reducer at the top attempting to keep it from twisting in the wind.

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I'm surprised that flimsy bushing works at all given how heavy the mast is. So, the only engineering problem left is to prevent the mast from twisting in the wind from the wind or more likely the trees.

BTW, do you think this slight sidewise tilt of the planar antenna matters?

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Reply to
Chuck Banshee

Attach some kind of radial arm to the base of the pipe that is long enough to clear the concrete base. Unistrut and several hose clamps will suffice. Pound a spike into the ground at the end of the radial arm. How much good that will do against the force of the oak tree branches hitting the panel antenna is dubious. Having the pipe twist when the oak branches hit the antenna probably saved your antenna from destruction (as seems evident by the antenna tilt). If the pipe were secured in place, I'm fairly sure that the sheet metal mounting contrivance on the back of the panel antenna would now be twisted into a pretzel.

Incidentally, I would NOT pound a wooden wedge into the base bushing as it's like to split or deform the bushing.

Trim the trees.

Nope. It's fine (but ugly). The loss caused by polarization mismatch is fairly minor until you approach 90 degrees. Polarization Mismatch Loss in dB = 20 log (cos angle) For a 15 degree tilt, that's only 0.3dB. Even 45 degrees will only cause a 3dB drop.

Ummm... is that the Home Despot CAT5 on the ground? What happened to the waterproof direct burial CAT5? It will probably last through the winter, but all it takes is for you to walk on the cable, or some critter to chew on it, and water will get in. After that, it's just a matter of time before the copper corrodes into an intermittent.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

I forgot to post the picture I took in the morning of the broken roof!

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Now I have yet another repair item to learn how to fix!

:)

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

The trick is not to slip off the roof. Walking on tile is also a problem. You'll need some plywood or boards to distribute your mass. I've helped with a tile roof repair, but that was 30 years ago.

etc. Plenty more found with Google.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the suggestions! You're a kind heart.

Since the antenna is 16 feet high, I need to research the cost/ versatility of having either a 20 foot (or so) orchard ladder versus a 20 foot (or so) chainsaw-on-a-pole for tree trimming overall.

I would think the home-repair guys would know which is best, from a cost/ utility standpoint since many of them probably have one or the other (or both). I can't afford both so I'll have to choose one of the two, always planning more for general use than for the specific one-time application.

Now that's very interesting! Yes, this tilt is minor, so, all it does, based on your calculation result, is look ugly! Thanks for the edification!

I made a big mistake when I first spec'd out this job.

I bought 500 feet of uv-outdoor cat5e from Home Depot for $75. Turns out I 'should' have bought about 100 feet of waterproof, and then another 100 feet of interior cat5e. That would have been cheaper, better, and easier!

If only I knew then what (you've taught me) I know now!

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

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