Wind

[Jhbgirl]

My signal is weak at the best of times, even with a dish outside. Now with the wind we've been having lately, when the signal drops it completely disappears. I can't stay connected for more than a few seconds at a time. Does anyone have the same problem and have any tips for me. I'd hate to be without the internet for the whole of august. I've tried a different tower with a pringles can an although that worked for a while, that keeps dropping too lately.


: 256k : 110 Helderkruin JHB : 10% :

 

[Donovan]

Hi JHBGIRL.

I have the same problem - I used to have 20% signal with 3 lights, then Sentech optimised the tower and now I get 10% signal with 2 lights. Whenever the wind blows, the signal varies from 3 to 7%, and when it really REALLY blows then the signal disappears completely and the modem has to find it again.

Unfortunately, it seems that it is really caused by trees and the like moving and disrupting the signal, so short of cutting down your trees (or waiting for the August winds to pass), you're stuck with this problem. Thankfully, where I stay the wind only blows from 11:30ish to 17:30ish...

 

[kickass72za]

This just reminded me that during the Wardrive, we had a MODEM on the Windscreen and that the connection held up when in range of a tower and didn't start scanning when doing 60-80Km/h

So not sure the wind theory is accurate..... more likely a network issue

Just a thought

 

[Jhbgirl]

Maybe it's not the wind where the modem is. Maybe it's wind at the towers? Maybe their panels are flapping in the wind?

: 256k : 110 Helderkruin JHB : 10% :

 

[kickass72za]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Jhbgirl</i>
<br />Maybe it's wind at the towers? Maybe their panels are flapping in the wind?

: 256k : 110 Helderkruin JHB : 10% :

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

More likely the whole network flapping in the wind !!!!!

 

[Headend]

LOL

 

[arf9999]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Jhbgirl</i>
<br />My signal is weak at the best of times, even with a dish outside. Now with the wind we've been having lately, when the signal drops it completely disappears. I can't stay connected for more than a few seconds at a time. Does anyone have the same problem and have any tips for me. I'd hate to be without the internet for the whole of august. I've tried a different tower with a pringles can an although that worked for a while, that keeps dropping too lately.


: 256k : 110 Helderkruin JHB : 10% :

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Are you sure that your dish is 100% secure? Not meaning to state the obvious but if the dish (or your antenna) is moving in the wind, you will lose signal. If the signal is low to begin with, it is easier to lose connection completely.

MW128, Tower 50 (Northpark Plaza), Signal:12%,S-N-L: 5, BER: 40%

 

[Robone]

We have discussed this before. What you find is the dense foliage on the trees in Jhb attenuate the signal.

You should try and get your signal above 14% so that when it does drop it does not disconnect, and can afford to up and down. I find my signal fluctuates by about 10% when the wind blows (moves the trees)

 

[Donovan]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Robone</i>
<br />We have discussed this before. What you find is the dense foliage on the trees in Jhb attenuate the signal.

You should try and get your signal above 14% so that when it does drop it does not disconnect, and can afford to up and down. I find my signal fluctuates by about 10% when the wind blows (moves the trees)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

You hit the nail on the head... for those of us that don't get 14%+ signal, we're screwed.

 

[Brolloks]

I find it hard to believe that the wind would influence a radio based signal. Would we not loose all radio stations when travelling at 120Km/h in a car then as well? Maybe I'm missing something?

I've got a patch antenna on a steel bar outside wiggling in the wind (not whispering) with the occasional Hadida trying to do a crash land on it and the signal stays the same. It does seem to drop a bit at night though. Temperature related perhaps since I understand the modem has a temperature sensor?

 

[Brolloks]

We could also change the slogan "What's whispering in the wind?" to "What's whispering in the wind? NOTHING!" (slight recall for the older ppl on the list to the Fresca ad)
"When the wind blows, so does our service"
I also thought about the big Sentech billboard close to William Nicol offramp on the N1 with the slogan "It's astonishing" Indeed it is!

 

[TheRoDent]

As I've stated before: My theory is that wind churns up dust, and gunk in the atmosphere, which I believe will interfere with Microwave signals in the range of 2.3-2.5ghz. If you have a borderline signal I can imagine that atmospheric dust and particles may affect your signal adversely, causing the modem to disconnect.



<center><h6> MyWireless <s>Hacks</s> Tweaks & Tech Info || Have you checked the fawking FAQ? <br /> <font color="red">Tired of Sentech's bad service? Want to compare speeds? We at least listen...</font id="red"></h6></center>

 

[KemoSabi]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Brolloks</i>
<br />"When the wind blows, so does our service"
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Rofl...

35% Signal
[36]Scummyside

 

[arf9999]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Brolloks</i>
<br />
I've got a patch antenna on a steel bar outside wiggling in the wind (not whispering) with the occasional Hadida trying to do a crash land on it and the signal stays the same. It does seem to drop a bit at night though. Temperature related perhaps since I understand the modem has a temperature sensor?


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Your patch antenna is not as directional as a dish, the parabolic nature of the dish means that it needs to be pointed directly at the tower. If the wind blows it off by a couple of degrees, the signal will drop off. (and if the signal is low to start with, the modem will lose connection.

IMHO I don't really think that foliage can make that much difference to the signal. Foliage is made up primarily of water, and we don't see massive signal drop off when its raining (well I don't anyhow).

-A



MW128, Tower 50 (Northpark Plaza), Signal:12%,S-N-L: 5, BER: 40%

 

[Wireless2]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Brolloks</i>
<br />

I've got a patch antenna on a steel bar outside wiggling in the wind (not whispering) with the occasional Hadida trying to do a crash land on it and the signal stays the same. It does seem to drop a bit at night though. Temperature related perhaps since I understand the modem has a temperature sensor?


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">


Shure hope its properly earthed to the house

Else its a wonderfull lightning attractor aswell

 

[dorris]

Well, I'm running a Dish, to the best of my knowledge, it has a radius of 7 degrees to play with, even with me sitting next to it , giving it a consistent shake (slightly more powerful than any wind I've experienced), it doesn't move enough to kill mysmokesignal, although it does drop by 5%.
Perhaps you're dish is aligned and picking up the signal at at the end of that radius, you should try ensure its centred correctly, ie can move 3,5 degrees each way.

 

[Brolloks]

[/quote]


Shure hope its properly earthed to the house

Else its a wonderfull lightning attractor aswell
[/quote]

Hehehe It's much lower than the roof. How about Data-via-Lightning, since the topic about data-via-electrical network is going elsewhere

 

[Brolloks]

arf9999

Does that mean a dish is not worth much if you can't see the tower?

As for the dust that blocks out microwave signals? Here comes Armageddon.
The foliage and water theory means the signal should drop when it's completely fogged up like the is morning? Mine is actually on 4 lights on the modem and I can't see much outside. The speed still sucks/blows the same.

 

[arf9999]

Brollocks,

You don't neccessarily have to actually SEE the tower, MyWi is so called NLOS (Near Line of Sight). If you have a signal, even if you can't physically see the tower, a dish will definitely improve it. But the dish has to point towards the origin of the signal as much as possible. I think that the signal arc is around 6-7 degrees (someone else may have better data), but to receive maximum signal you need to point directly at the tower. In practice when setting up the dish it is easier to approximate the position of the tower, then do fine adjustments of the dish to maximise the signal. I think that there are situations where the source of the signal is actually a reflection and not the tower signal, so I suppose in those situations the dish needs to point at the source of the reflection? I'm not an RF engineer, so I don't know.



MW128, Tower <b>60</b>(Northpark Plaza), Signal:16%,S-N-L: 7, BER: 45%

 

[Brolloks]

Thanks. It makes sense. I'm nor RF engineer either, but it's still interesting.