Have the antenna

w1z4rd

w1z4rd

Karmic Sangoma
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Hey there all,

Went into WBS today and got an antenna. Currently it has made no difference to my connection at work (Illovo), and all I am getting are disco lights or 20-40% signal.

A note to the iburst people. The connector at the back is really dodgy, with the silly thing falling out all the time. (and yes, i got that little convertor small black wire thingy as well)

I phoned wbs, and was informed, that they are working on the Sandton and rosebank towers with firmware upgrades, which could have something to do with my signal degredation.

Will let you know how further tests pan out.
 
Pan said:
Went into WBS today and got an antenna.
Click to expand...

Cost?

Pan said:
I phoned wbs, and was informed, that they are working on the Sandton and rosebank towers with firmware upgrades, which could have something to do with my signal degredation.
Click to expand...

If that is the case, I wonder why haven't they put it on the incident report and changed their network status?

I'm connected to Sandton, so I'll check at lunchtime.
 
Pan, keep in mind because you're using the antenna you need to point it to the tower somewhat, just plugging it in and hoping it works won't do anything for your signal, it could even make it worse.

Good luck
 
didnt cost me anything, just walked into their and voila.

noone, have pointed it in every direction possible.

If you want to know what it looks like. Well, its something about the size and shape of an ice hockey puk, with a cable coming out of it, into a little connctor which in turn connects to your modem
 
They have 2 antennae's that they are testing ..

2 DB db and 6 DB..

The 6DB is a directional whereas the 2DB isnt.

None of them are up for sale yet (or werent last week) , but I can also say that my tests with the 6DB one arent conclusive. The connector is very dodgy.
 
Pan, thanks for the info, please could you post some pics?

Also, is it definitely an omnidirectional antenna?
 
Pan - did you get this as a test user and hence no charge for the antenna? Or is it that they are going to give it to all users for free? hahaha
 
Mayh3m, no idea, Our dsl was down at work, and I am trying to use iburst as a back up system, the signal was dodgy, so I asked them if I could fetch an antenna. The said sure. Went in, asked if I had to pay for it. The woman said no. Told them I would send them reports on how it is operating.

Report 1)

Connection did not improve. However instead of getting a constant 20-30% signal, it would spike from full 100% signal, to 0% signal. Classic disco lights. Pulled antenna out, went back to a constant 20-30% signal.

IC: will post pictures tonight, dont have a camera handy here at work. As for been omnidirectional.... well, I have no idea. Its round, its grey, in big red letters it has IBU-4000 on it, then what looks like a company name, " DISTCOM ANTENAS,S.L" Then, Fecha: 7/02/05 No de serie: 00283, and the word: Verificado: (and a signature)

On what looks like the bottem of it, theres a sticker with a red arrow point in the direction that the cable comes into the device.

Thats it. Nothing else
 
Thanks Pan, please could you include close-ups of the connector that goes into the UT, I want to see if Skeeve thinks they are the same TS5/6 connectors, or if WBS got cheap Nigerian knockoffs...
 
What ever happened to the antenna that Source mentioned Poynting ( http://www.poynting.co.za/antennas/gsm.shtml ) were going to manufacture for the iBurst modem???

Thanks for the info Pan - pls post pics when u have a chance..

Went to DISTCOM ANTENAS site (http://www.distcomantenas.com), didn't manage to get in tho - kept on timing out. Apparently the cable for the external antenna is only 1 metre short. I had plans to mount it on my roof..
 
Just received an email from Poynting regards to their Antenna for the iBurst modem:

Dear Nic

Some news on the iBurst Connector:-

We are not able to get this "proprietory" connector for the iBurst unit. We have had contact with the manufacturers of the iBurst modem who also are not able to get the connector.

Thus, they are now going to manufacture this modem with a standard connector for which we can then supply cable assemblies.

If you have an iBurst modem, I suggest you contact them with regards to getting a new modem or getting the connector changed to a standard connector.

Kind regards
Jacqui Botha
Sales
Click to expand...

New modem?? Standard connector? Why wasn't a standard connector installed in the first place?
 
okay, have taken the pictures. Only had a camera phone, so now sure about the quality. However, i left my bluetooth dongle at home, so will upload the pics tomorrow.

And yeah, the cable it about a meter short. However, when I was purchasing a wireless access point with a four port switch and braodband router today at a company, I spoke to the guy there, and he said all they needed was the 'pigtail'. You get that with Iburst, so yeah, have also taken a picture of that.

Anyone seriously interested in it, can give me a shout if they wish to see it in real life.
 
Pan said:
Mayh3m, no idea, Our dsl was down at work, and I am trying to use iburst as a back up system, the signal was dodgy, so I asked them if I could fetch an antenna. The said sure. Went in, asked if I had to pay for it. The woman said no. Told them I would send them reports on how it is operating.

Report 1)

Connection did not improve. However instead of getting a constant 20-30% signal, it would spike from full 100% signal, to 0% signal. Classic disco lights. Pulled antenna out, went back to a constant 20-30% signal.

IC: will post pictures tonight, dont have a camera handy here at work. As for been omnidirectional.... well, I have no idea. Its round, its grey, in big red letters it has IBU-4000 on it, then what looks like a company name, " DISTCOM ANTENAS,S.L" Then, Fecha: 7/02/05 No de serie: 00283, and the word: Verificado: (and a signature)

On what looks like the bottem of it, theres a sticker with a red arrow point in the direction that the cable comes into the device.

Thats it. Nothing else
Click to expand...

You have a directional one . The arrow needs to point in the direction of the tower ....
 
Okay... I will confirm this 100%. My boss spoke to a company called wifi online today. According to the head sales guy, they have I-burst antennae.

http://www.wifionline.co.za

Approx R500 each.

The Wifi Online guys sell Iburst, Sentech contracts plus they do wireless lan equipment and installations (Indoor, Outdoor, Enterprise etc).

Before you go rushing for to check the website... there isn't anything there about the antennae for iburst. I will have a chat to the guy tomorrow. His name is Donald.
 
Crash said:
...
Before you go rushing for to check the website... there isn't anything there about the antennae for iburst...
Click to expand...
Crash, too late - I already clicked the link - did I mention that I'm actually a new human-magpie hybrid species...:)
 
lol ....... They definately have them.... they are testing them at the moment. Need to find out what they look like, and make sure they are a proper antennae and not that crap antennae WBS are giving us now.
 
Hmmm...

I think there is a bigger problem here, and it is NOT the antennae - it's the UT connectors that don't appear to be available anywhere, if these TS5/6 connectors were available you could connect up just about any antenna.
 
bb_matt said:
about a year ago, threads so similar to this were bandying about on the MyWireless section.
Click to expand...

Two seperate wireless services and two seperate antenna threads. OMG! What a mad, crazy coincidence!!!

Imagine if another wireless service comes along, we'll have Deja-three...
 
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