TP Link MR3020/3040 range

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SAdata

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Hi

I recently purchased the TP Link MR3040 3g wifi router. I am highly disappointed with the range of this router. I had intended for it to share wifi between at least mine and my faltmatesroom, if not most of the house. I put it on top of a 1.4m high bookshelf which is right next to a window in my room. My flatmates room is directly accross from this window - about 2m, and his laptop is about 1m inside the room. The windows don't quite line up though. In this situation it just works - if you ping the router from his laptop it will occasionally request time out but mostly work. However if I move the router 1m inside my room, there is no throughput on his laptop even though it says 3 bars of signal. Whats up with this? Is the router maybe faulty or what? I know it is packaged as a mobile hotspot but a 3m range is pretty pathetic even forr that

Thank you so much
 
How many walls needs to pass? And wall material/thickness is an issue. Don't think, signal will go out of window and go back to another one, Eventually it will go out, bounce from couple objects and go back from these objects, but you don't want receive such signals.
 
When you say "3 bars" is that the indicator from the laptop? Is the maximum 4 bars?

It could also be an incompatibility with wireless n. Switch the router to wireless b&g only.

Also, may help a tad, the router antenna has a little bit of gain (EDIT: I have the 3040). Try rotating the router by say 45 degrees at a time and see if the received signal improves. Wifi analyzer on an Android device is awesome as it gives a graph of the signal. Not available on Apple AFAIK.
 
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@SAjunky none just 2 windows.

@ajax yes its 3 bars on the laptop and if i do a pingtest to the router (192.168.0.1) it request times out even though it picks up the network and has 3 bars of signal. I switched it to b&g only no change. I mean just now, the router is sitting on a table in my room, which is next to the lounge. Its barely 5m and although I pick up 1 or 2 bars on my samsung galaxy s2 there is no throughput!!

What sort of range do you get on your 3040?
 
This is wrong, no question. Switch off router. How is signal and thoughput between Galaxy in the place of router and flatmates laptop? Ad hoc connection need to be setup.
 
sajunky said:
This is wrong, no question. Switch off router. How is signal and thoughput between Galaxy in the place of router and flatmates laptop? Ad hoc connection need to be setup.
Click to expand...

It can go much further. The strange thing is when connected to the router (on my galaxy) it picks up 1-2 bars and the link speed is 1mbps but there is no throughput at all. If i connect to the laptop through ad hoc, it still picks up 1-2 bars and the link speed is also 1mbps but there is throughput and you can use it. Ive attached a diagram of our building and the green is where i can use the wifi from the router and the ad hoc connection. The yellow is where the router/laptop is. Unfortunately I have to place it there as that is the strongest 3g signal in the house by a mile. So i cant put it in the lounge as the 3g speed suffers severely.

Ad hoc
zxo0mf.jpg


Router
nogbuu.jpg
 
My router has a 3G modem plugged into it and I share that via wifi.

Just checked the range again. As the crow flies 15 meters, through an outside wall (which is a double brick wall), depending on how I rotate my phone I can get -75 dBm to -85 dBm with wifi analyzer. This displayed on the signal strength icon on my phone as 1 bar or just the small "."
I was able to browse with the signal hovering between these values.

What you can also try is disable security on the router and see if how the speed is then.
 
Ok I did turn off security - the link speed increased a bit, but there was still no throughput. Using wifi analyser it seems that past -60 dbm (so anything worse) there is no throughput. I try to access the router admin page at -60dbm and it request times out. I can pick up the wifi signal throughout the entire building actually but anything past -60dbm just does not work?? Is there maybe interference or could the device be faulty? I did choose channel 6 other wifi networks in the area are using channel 1. It is like this on 2 laptops and my galaxy so its not the phone
 
SAdata said:
Ok I did turn off security - the link speed increased a bit, but there was still no throughput. Using wifi analyser it seems that past -60 dbm (so anything worse) there is no throughput. I try to access the router admin page at -60dbm and it request times out. I can pick up the wifi signal throughout the entire building actually but anything past -60dbm just does not work?? Is there maybe interference or could the device be faulty? I did choose channel 6 other wifi networks in the area are using channel 1. It is like this on 2 laptops and my galaxy so its not the phone
Click to expand...

Send me a pm, then I will give you my email address. Send me then your router setup pages. I will duplicate yours with my router and then we can compare performance.
 
ajax said:
Send me a pm, then I will give you my email address. Send me then your router setup pages. I will duplicate yours with my router and then we can compare performance.
Click to expand...

Sweet will do. Just don't know why it cuts out after -60dbm
 
sajunky said:
Noisy input amplifiers will produce such effect. In other words you will have to replace router in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Ok i think im going to take it back to the store. hopefully they can switch it out. Really dont feel like sending it in and waiting a month for it to come back
 
Just an update. I returned the unit to the store they switched it out with another. I pinged the router when I got home, the range was a lot better - covered the whole house. However once I plugged the 3g stick in it went back to the old ones range. So I'm guessing the 3g stick chows power which reduces the wifi output?
 
SAdata said:
Just an update. I returned the unit to the store they switched it out with another. I pinged the router when I got home, the range was a lot better - covered the whole house. However once I plugged the 3g stick in it went back to the old ones range. So I'm guessing the 3g stick chows power which reduces the wifi output?
Click to expand...

Maybe try to test using a powered USB hub ? Use short USB cables.
 
Question:
1. Do you experience the same -60dBm issue? or
2. When using Wifi analyzer do you see changes in signal strenght when you plug modem in? I understand you also have to switch router to 3G mode. On which event signal strenght changes?
 
The stick is plugged directly into the router. I might one day try the usb power things.

@sajunky 1. With the 3g stick in yes it cuts out at -60. but if i unplug the stick dont fiddle with any settings i can ping the router at -85dbm.

2. Just checked I can pick up the signal at the same strengths at the same locations with the dongle plugged in or out.

So it must be something to do with the 3g stick plugged in? Its an 8ta branded e173.. dunno if that helps at all

Besides this its a great router. Hasn't dropped the connection, lagged, disconnected or anything once! When the stick was plugged directly into my computer it disconnected occasionally.
 
It looks like modem cause interference with Wifi receivers. I don't think modem is faulty, but if you can borrow a different one, it would be worth to try. However more likely my assessment is correct, and changing Wifi channel should help.
If you can't find another free channel, then other solution is possible. I don't like USB extension cables, as it can cause power delivery problems, but in this case it might help. Use 20cm extension cable for the modem. It will help separate radio receivers.
Alternatively self-powered USB 2.0 hub (assuming router can work with hubs) with modem inserted in the hub. In this case cable between hub and router can be much longer.
 
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I have tried all the channels its the same. I will try it with a cable sometime. Look the router covers the computers that need it, just would be nicer to have a bigger range. But I will try it with a cable to seperate them and let you know what happens
 
Other option would be swap for MR34020 with higher gain antennaes, but you then are losing advantage of internal battery. It might need to reset from time to time.

Your findings is very interesting. Can anyone with this router confirm that plugging 3G modem cause similiar -60dBm syndrome?
 
sajunky said:
Your findings is very interesting. Can anyone with this router confirm that plugging 3G modem cause similiar -60dBm syndrome?
Click to expand...

We have multiple AP's at the office. Pinging the 3040 stops working at about -75 dBm regardless of whether my E1820 is plugged it or not
 
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