iBurst Antennas

N

native

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Since iBurst have already realeased their directional antennas [http://www.iburst.co.za/accessories.php] I was just wondering,

1. How are they working up to so far?
1.1 For both UT-C and UT-D
2. In terms of percentage how how have it improved signal?
3. As for speed are there any improvements?
3.1 Apart form the speed issues they have been having these past
 
Not meaning to hijack here, but it seems so strange to me that "wireless" networking seems to end up half the time requiring additional wires !

Then there's the whole idea that it's mobile - I'm not sure what's mobile about a bracket mounted directional antenna.

The same applied with MyWireLess - people were spending small fortunes on antenna solutions to try get more reliable and faster connectivity on what was supposed to be a mobile wireless solution.

Granted, if your on the edge of a coverage area, it can make sense as a temporary measure, because hopefully the coverage area will increase rapidly. But if you in a place that's supposed to have good coverage and you have to fork out another R600 on an Antenna, then there's something seriously wrong !

So far, the only wireless service that seems to be truly mobile is Vodacom3g - the rest are "partially" mobile - hmmm.

To be fair, the desktop iBurst modem is stated as being Fixed/Portable.

Just observations folks. Could be wrong, could be right.

native, maybe do a search in the MyWireless section of the forum if you don't get much help - I'm not sure how similar the technology is, but there's a lot of info on antennas in that section, from the totally crazy Pringles can stuck on top the modem arial, to the more advanced Cantennas right through to commercial solutions.

You may, for instance, have more luck building a cantenna than forking out R600 for WBS's antenna.
 
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Sure bb_matt,
I do agree with you.
I think WBS will get it right if they have more b/s
 
Just looked at the installation and specs on the antennae . I thought thses were omni directional meaning that you dont have to point it anywhere specific. Also they claim a 10db gain "not" counting co-ax cable loss. !
A grid type directinal line of sight aerial with 24dB gain costs about R700-00
how they do they justify this price ? People on wireless links build their on using pringle can/tube and get 8 - 10 dB ....makes you think...? :cool:
 
Ya - GuRu - that's what I thought !

You could probably get better action from a pringles can stuck on an iburst modem than the R600 piece of **** WBS are trying to tout to people.
 
WTF , i thaught they where getting them from kyosera...from japan, thats wot they kept saying , "we've ordered them, etc" .... bunch of idiots .. and their only 10db lol
 
That EARB (ExternalAntennaRectangleBox) is the one I collected from WBS last month, I found that it has a humungously long cable (and I did wonder about the loss in the cable at the time...:rolleyes: ), in my situation I found that it made no noticeable difference. I will be returning it next time I travel all the way through to RadioPark.

Another thing to note - the UTD [probably UTC as well] end of the pigtail that screws into the EARB cable, has to be held in place (around the UTD) by an elastic band (iz true - that's how it was when I collected it - had it's own builtin elastic band). I think the reason for this, is that the TS5 (UTC) & TS6 (UTD) connectors that should be used (according to Skeeve) are still not available - just like the fact that these EARBz are all directional when we have been waiting for omni-directionals since November [2004].

I really wish WBS would just tell us some story here that appears to explain it - doesn't really matter what the story is, or even if it is true/false - it could be something like the Japanese customs agent's dog chowed all the connectors & antennas after getting high on some crack that it sniffed out in another container...
 
Anyone know how far you need to be from the base station for the Antennas to actually work and get some Signal... I'm thinking of buying it but ive 100 % signal, no issue what so ever but when i go away on business Trip, I might need it.

If someone knows the Radious/KM from the base station plz give input.
 
RichardG said:
Anyone know how far you need to be from the base station for the Antennas to actually work and get some Signal... I'm thinking of buying it but ive 100 % signal, no issue what so ever but when i go away on business Trip, I might need it.

If someone knows the Radious/KM from the base station plz give input.
Click to expand...
RichardG, I think you would totally be wasting your money on these EARBz, IMO make yourself a little parabolic reflector thingy [assuming you have a UTD] and just use that, if you have a UTC then methinks better to spend that R600 on an omni-directional antenna - like they use with iBurst in Oz, as to when or if we will ever get omni-antennas & the proper TS5 & TS6 connectors - I think we will have to import them ourselves as WBS seem incapable of doing it.
 
I've 100 % signal, I don't need an Antenna, I just want something where i can get the base station from 20 km or so, then ill be happy but u righ its waist of money untill something new comes out that where you can actully get some Freq, if u far away from the base station like I said 20km but im sure there is no Antenna reaching 20 km if there is its going to cost about R1-3 k about or more.

Thanks IC, for the post.

ic said:
RichardG, I think you would totally be wasting your money on these EARBz, IMO make yourself a little parabolic reflector thingy [assuming you have a UTD] and just use that, if you have a UTC then methinks better to spend that R600 on an omni-directional antenna - like they use with iBurst in Oz, as to when or if we will ever get omni-antennas & the proper TS5 & TS6 connectors - I think we will have to import them ourselves as WBS seem incapable of doing it.
Click to expand...
 
If you want more info/comments from when I got the EARB I posted in one of those iBurst Speed Updates threads - it was sometime early last month.

All I can say is I was expecting an omni-directional external antenna, and got a directional box that didn't seem to do much at all, needed to be wall mounted (although I used double-sided tape & stuck it on a window pane), then there's the issue of WBS not having the correct pigtail connectors, the one they supplied had to be held in place with an elastic band around the UTD - it is dodgy to say the least, and really unprofessional. When your base-station goes down, you either have to disconnect or point the EARB towards another base-station. IMO definitely not worth R600. For a bit more than R600 I would rather get something from Miro or Pointing or whatever, the problem is these pigtail connectors.
 
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