Web Intact (Or intactless service)

[bboy]

In that case, you can request a credit be passed....

And I overlooked the part about you cancelling - why the suggestion of a replacement then?

just a loan unit so i can use the net for the next month

 

[WRX1KNP]

@WRX1KNP

Clearly there is a connection issue - I would say between you and the tower? The disconnections and struggling to make your PPPoE connection are typical of a borderline signal or one experiencing interference.

This is my guess going on your description:

Option 1:
You are too close to the tower and are picking up side lobes/reflections which can vary according to temperature - (inconsistant signal). If the tower is high and you are close to it, this is quite likely.

Option 2:
Someone in your neghbourhood switches on their WiFi device at home at night only, and is on the same channel as the GWI tower. This can be varified by scanning from your bridge and checking for strong or similar signals on the same channel or neighbouring channel as the GWI tower.

Please ask your local rep/tech to help you troubleshoot these possibilities. It can be monitored from our side, and with a little assistance from you, we should be able to nail it.

OK, on your points:

1) Tower is close (about 500 m LOS) and HIGH (on top of Nedbank building, probably at least a 15 story block of flats) and I am in a valley. So I am looking "up" at the tower at probably a 45 Degree angle. I have a small (I think it's about 12 DB gain?) Poynting Yagi an 3m of SENAO Coax. Signal as measured by SENAO WAP is around 38% average, goes down to 32% and up to 41%. But seems pretty stable.

2) I do pick up a "local" WiFi net at night, always around 40% signal - I am sure it's bboy who just happens to be my next door neighbour
If that's a problem (and I suspect it could be for both of us!) why was I not told about this possible pitfall? And how do we solve it? This would explain why my daughter works OK in the afternoons but later at night I get nowhere fast (bboy is at home then). Surely we can co-exist?

At the moment I am considering going ADSL ... I need reliable Internet at night as my current work situation demands a lot of R&D work to be done after hours.

Suggestions?

- R

 

[Web Intact]

My suggestion is to ask bboy if he can change channels on his AP.... if that's not it, then we can change channels on the tower...

802.11b/g spreads the signal over 2 channels either side of the chosen channel, so if a strong signal is transmitting on the same or adjacent channel, it'll cause interference problems for sure.

Which channel are you on, and which channel is the local siganl you detected?

 

[bboy]

my home wlan runs on channel 1.. your tower runs on channel 10.

from all my scans i have done i do not see any other AP's on channel 10 or even close.

 

[bboy]

anyway according to my router that connects to your tower.

i get about 80% successfull transmissions.
about 19% successfull after retry
and about 1% with no ACK


however receiveing i get about 40% success
60% crc errored

which indicates to me that we are not actually in proper line of sight. we may be pointing at the tower, but it is not pointing at us

 

[WRX1KNP]

My suggestion is to ask bboy if he can change channels on his AP.... if that's not it, then we can change channels on the tower...

802.11b/g spreads the signal over 2 channels either side of the chosen channel, so if a strong signal is transmitting on the same or adjacent channel, it'll cause interference problems for sure.

Which channel are you on, and which channel is the local siganl you detected?

@work now, will check tonight. See also bboy's comments about "LOS". I would have expected to have a better than 42% signal ....

 

[WRX1KNP]

Speeds and response time: Work Connection / Eastwood Tower

OK, I have spent the last hour (normally a busy time of day as far as SA Internet goes!) using the Torwood / Eastwood mast connection ...

If ONLY my home setup was this fast ...

Downloading with DAP at 48Kb / sec AND surfing US GIS websites as well ...

Why does my home connection on Nedbank S1 behave so badly?

- This is how it was when I did my testing in September
- I am in the same location
- My antenna is BETER!
- My signal strength is better

What gives on Nedbank S1? Backhaul link problem? Some MEGA BIG Downloader (why no QOS if that's the case) ?

 

[Web Intact]

(why no QOS if that's the case)

There is most definitely QoS controls on every tower, gateway and server in every area...

I would have expected to have a better than 42% signal ....

Unless we have an absolute measurement in dBm, this is impossible to comment or speculate on.

which indicates to me that we are not actually in proper line of sight. we may be pointing at the tower, but it is not pointing at us

See also bboy's comments about "LOS".

See my post of 05-11-2006 01:21 PM, 'Option 1'

Please contact your local representative to see what other options may be available to you. They can also make test tools available to you to varify whether the fault is between you and the tower, or beyond.

 

[WRX1KNP]

Please contact your local representative to see what other options may be available to you. They can also make test tools available to you to varify whether the fault is between you and the tower, or beyond.

We are talking, they are testing

Thanks for the reply.

- R

 

[bboy]

signal is -71dbm
noise is -95dbm
link quality is 61%

 

[Web Intact]

Just another comment on the observations below:

anyway according to my router that connects to your tower.

i get about 80% successfull transmissions.
about 19% successfull after retry
and about 1% with no ACK


however receiveing i get about 40% success
60% crc errored

which indicates to me that we are not actually in proper line of sight. we may be pointing at the tower, but it is not pointing at us

This is also indicative of your receiver hearing the (local) noise, but the tower not.
So your transmissions to the tower would be free of interfering noise, but the tower to you would be bad, giving symptoms as you describe.

@WRX1KNP - did you do the scan from your home & check the channels of other devices seen?

 

[WRX1KNP]

@work now, will check tonight. See also bboy's comments about "LOS". I would have expected to have a better than 42% signal ....

=>

Wireless Site Survey
This page provides tool to scan the wireless network. If any Access Point or IBSS is found, you could choose to connect it manually when client mode is enabled.

--------------------------------------------------------------


SSID BSSID Channel Type Encrypt Signal Select
gwi-ned-s1-0333429387 00:0b:6b:4d:f9:89 10 (B+G) AP no 41
gwi-ned-s3-0333429387 00:0b:6b:4d:fc:0c 1 (B+G) AP no 30
zlatenkon 00:02:6f:37:68:fb 11 (B) AP WEP 12
gwi-ned-s2-0333429387 00:0b:6b:4d:fb:e1 8 (B+G) AP no 7
marconi 00:02:6f:40:ff:92 6 (B) AP WEP 7

================================================

I'm on gwi-ned-s1 Channel 10 41% Signal.

Don't know if the PMB GWI guys have found something this afternoon / evening but things are pretty good tonight - much the same as my work connection. And the (shaped) P2P is running as well ...

Let's hope it stays this way!

- R

 

[bboy]

i wonder who zlatenkon is

 

[WRX1KNP]

i wonder who zlatenkon is

Telkom undercover

 

[Toby]

I have heard horrible support stories about WISPS.

However, It seems that WebIntact is at least attempting to find the problem, then I presume will be implementing a solution.

This is encouraging, from a WISP Service point of view.

 

[wcbrd]

Signal

Hi all

I work for large Wisp in the Western Cape. Not to take anyone side but the problems bboy and WRX1KNP are having are purely signal related problems. Either there CPE/YAGI/Grids have been moved by wind or they are faulty. I doubt a router in someones house on the same channel can cause that amount of interference if the unit is mounted outside and LOS to the AP. OR the AP of GWI could be the problem for a number of reasons.(one which happens often on Omni Directional antennae´s is static which damages the card in the router boards and all the bridges signal drops by up to 10dbm) WRX1KNP your distance from the AP could influence your signal, but the reading on the bridge is not very accurate as mentioned before so find out what it is in dbm (sometimes pointing the antennae to the left or right of the AP helps or above or below for that matter). Those 3m coax cables also tend to give problems as the connectors get wet etc, for that reason a CPE is a much better option.

And finally for all the guys who bash the Wisps, there are some Users who could not even use Dial-up, others had 4 ISDN lines on there farms just to do simple Internet banking and email, but with almost everything you always hear the complaints and very seldom a compliment.

Cheers

 

[WRX1KNP]

Hi wcbrd

Thanks for the comprehensive reply and welcome to the Forums (as a poster, you might have been lurking for a long time )

I also have this feeling that it could be a signal related problem. However, when I did my initial test the 2nd HAND / OLD Yagi was lying flat on a cardboard box on the top of a STEEL cupboard INSIDE ... And after some initial setup problems things settled down very nicely, speed was more than acceptable, there were the usual I/S latency issues but it worked ...

Now I have a BRAND NEW Yagi (let's say it's two weeks old) with BRAND NEW SENAO supplied COAX cable, the COAX connector that is outside is UNDER a plastic (or is it thin fibre glass?) verandah awning AND it has been heavily wrapped in water proof rubber tape. So no moisture in there. The Yagi lies flat [in between the corrugations, very secure] on the top side of this same roof. Signal is basically constant at 38% average. Remember, I am like 500m from the tower. My work setup is 6KM from the tower, flat panel POE antenna, signal is also around 35% average but I have seen it connect with the signal as low as 11%

So I don't know. And tonight (second in a row, see last nights post), things are good. No disconnects (been connected for six hours now), decent response, downloads acceptably fast.

I don't know who fixed what - I certainly have not changed anything - but lets hope it stays this way.

Thanks again for your input.

- R

 

[wcbrd]

Hi

Thanks for the welcome I have been lurking around here for a while...

Is the polarity correct? Horizontal or Vertical?

The Yagi lies flat [in between the corrugations, very secure] on the top side of this same roof

Anyway it seems the problem was at the AP then or their Backhaul link.


Cheers

 

[Web Intact]

I'll have an answer on what was fixed/changed for you tomorrow...

I doubt a router in someones house on the same channel can cause that amount of interference

@ wcbrd:

You'd be surpised - I've corrected this more than once at peoples homes who have setup their own wireless device on the back of ours; and its especially bad when the offending AP has a 5dBi omni clamped onto it...

 

[wcbrd]

I can believe that it will happen if the AP is in the same house(fixed a few myself), but not really a neighbour or someone down the road...