How to increase the bandwidth and signal power

RouterOS General
1

CASE I:
I have installed RB333 with 2.4Ghz Freq. with a 15dBI Dlink OMNI Antenna in a point to Multipoint Link with two NanoStations one at a distance of 350meters and other at 250meters from the RB333. But the signal strength i am getting is -95dBm on 350m and -100 on 250m distance. I am afraid of getting such a low speed from this powerful link.

CASE II:
I have installed two RB333 with 2.4Ghz Freq. both with 21dBI Dlink Directional Antenna in a point to point link with a distance of 5KMs .But the signal strength i am getting is -85dBm which is two low as compared to the equipment used.

In Both these cases pls help me out how can i achieve link of greater speed by changing any setting or any configuration

Thanks in advance.

2

for Case 1.

Both -95 and -100 signal levels are unacceptable. You can also see that you have got highest signal in the longest link. Anyway those links are everything but OK. So you have to check:

  1. Interference (maybe you are transmitting in a high crowded area so scan for lowest frequency usage from the RB333 and then use that channel)
  2. Antenna alignment. (Are the stations in the line of sight with the omni??. Please keep in mind that the 15Dbi omni has a very narrow signal vertical angle).

for Case 2

In this link also the signal is to low. Try to solve something with the same ways for Case 1. In this case also check the cables (i.e pigtails, low loss etc)


Anyway post here the full config you got in MikroTik so we can give a more exact suggestion.

3

The area where the equipment is installed is an Agriculture farm,there is no hassle and no crowd. Only there is a tower of telephone line of our TelCo near one Nano Station in the Pt-MPt Connection.

I will send you the screen shots of the configuration shortly…

4

Pls Check the configuration of Mikrotik AP’s in the attachments.And Pls advice me if i am doing any thing wrong.

Thanks in advance.
PMP Mikrotik AP With OMNI.pdf (936 KB)
AP2(5KM)PtP(Directional).pdf (726 KB)
AP1(5KM)PtP(Directional).pdf (837 KB)

5

This is the configuation of the Nano stations which ae acting as clients of Mikrotik RB333 with 15dBi Omni Antenna.I you have any queries pls dont hesitate to ask…
PMP (UBNT-NanoStation2).pdf (428 KB)

6

Dubaiboy..

Please do a scan of wireless networks in your area… Wireless → Interface Wlan1 → Wireless → Scan…
And send a screenshot. Also Wireless → Interface Wlan1 → Wireless → Freq. Usage…
KEEP IN MIND TO DO THIS ONLY IF YOU ARE CONNECTED THROUGH CABLE, NOT WIRELESS, WITH THE AP.


From the screenshots you sent you are transmiting in the same channel in both APs so if they are nearby each other please change the channel of one of them to something else.

7

Hello GuJack20 .Thanks for your help .As you said the transmitting and receiving end should not work on the same channel i.e. if one is working on G the other should be on B.
I will check the link after doing this and send you the required screenshots shortly.

Thanks Again.


8

Do you have the pigtails on the right antenna jack? @ 300m the signals should be no where near as low as they are unless your shooting through a lead wall..

Even with heavy interference you should be able to get a higher signal level you just need a higher signal to achieve throughput… (better signal to noise).

it sounds like you just have the antenna pigtails plugged into the wrong antenna port on the R52H’s… in the wireless configuration switch from antenna-a to antenna-b and see if signals improve.

Another way to check would be to try and connect your laptop standing relatively close to the AP and see if it associates and check the signal.. Could be bad hardware… or like i said before just the wrong antenna port. but @ 250-300m you should have relatively good signals, but then again i don’t know the environment and antennas you’re using.

9

Dear Mr Wild Bill
I will check the antenna or switch btw A or B. But pls let me know does Mikrotik have a built-in-Antenna so if the Pigtail is wrongly connected then its built-in-Antenna is giving me a signal strength of 95-100dBm.

10

No…You can’t call it a build in antenna…but the card can send that much a signal if connected wrongly..

11

I use the Mikrotik AP and nanostation combination too. I have fallen in to a trap quite often on the nanostations.

They often default to having the built in antenna to work in Horizontal Polarization. Be sure to set this to vertical in the advanced page of the web interface.

Also note that there are some bugs in the 3.2 version of nanostation software, especially with the WPA type of encryption.

So I recommend the 3.1.1 version of nanostation software.

Rgds

Alex

12

Dubaiboy, you have correctly identified that there is a problem. Your numbers are totally wrong.
-Check your pigtail connection to the radio card. They ussually have 2 connectors and if you are connected to the wrong one you would barelly have a signal.
-Check your antenna connection. If your cable doesnt connect to the omni correctly your cable would be the only antenna.

  • are you using a commercial omni?
  • Check the polarization of the antenna on the NS2. They tend to go to h-pol on their own.
  • what size radio card are you using? A laptop card (56 mw) is not the correct card. Get an XR2.

At those ranges you should be getting -50’ish signal strengths.

13

Hi

My Antenna polarization is set to vertical it is not a problem with this selection.

14

Dear Mr Wild Bill

I have shifted the antenna from A to B and got improvement of -10dBm i.e now its working on -71dBmon the Omni set and -80dBm on the 5Km range set.
Both links are active and transferring data.

Thanks