RE: [BAWUG] WAP11 2.2 tips?

[Kevin Miller]

I estimated that the two nodes are about 7 miles apart.     We verified line of sight by standing on our roofs at night with a 500,000 candlelight power spotlight.  Just to make sure we verified line of sight once again with a 2 foot mirror reflecting at each other.    We initially tried to establish the link using the Pacific Wireless PAWES24-16 ($56) which is a 14dbi solid 10" parabolic dish.  After a few hours of trying to establish the link we decided to give up and go for more powerful antennas.  I did all the calculations and knew that I was pushing it with two 14dbi antennas but wanted to try.  The small dishes looked so much better than a big 24dbi 36" dish.    Next I decided that it may be more difficult than I imagined to line up two highly directional antennas so I started looking around and found an Arc Wireless panel antenna that had a larger horizontal and vertical beam width and also had higher gain (19dbi).  For the other node I went with a 24dbi parabolic grid.    After mounting the 19dbi panel antenna and pointing it in the general direction of the other node, we mounted the 24dbi parabolic grid pointed in the general direction of the other antenna.  We then connected the radios and started a continuous ping to the IP address of the other node's WAP.  We rotated the antenna about 3 degrees and suddenly had replies back from the other WAP!!!  Now this is where things start to get less planned and precise.  Since Linksys decided not to include any kind of signal meter with their WAP11 2.2 we really have no way of knowing when we have the best signal.    We setup an FTP server at one end and tried to download a file from the other node.  We were able to get about 30kB/s which isn't bad (faster than the DSL we will be sharing) but we want it to be faster.      We will be attempting to line the antennas up again this weekend to improve the signal.  I am wondering if there are some settings on the WAP11 that could help to improve the performance?   I noticed that I had the Basic Rate set to 1-2mbps instead of the 1-2-5-11 mode so I will change that.  How about the TRS Threshold? Fragmentation Threshold? Preable Type?        All antennas, pigtails, tripods and poles were purchased at http://www.ecommwireless.com/     2 Reverse TNC Male to N Male 12" pigtails  (RFW-2574-12 from ecommwireless)   WAP11 2.2     Firmware 1.01c WAPs were set to point-to-point bridging mode WEP disabled for now. Antenna set to left antenna only   Node 1: Pacific Wireless PMANT24 24dbi Parabolic Grid Antenna ($75)   Node 2: Arc Wireless (antennas America)  AAI00084 19dbi Flat Panel Antenna ($54)     Any tips would be appreciated.       -----Original Message----- From: Enrique LaRoche [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 4:32 PM To: Kevin Miller; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [BAWUG] WAP11 2.2 tips?   Please describe in detail how you did the link. What antennas cable connectors etc?... this will help others who need to do the same kind of thing. Thanks -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Kevin Miller Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 2:02 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BAWUG] WAP11 2.2 tips? I just setup a 7mile bridge using 2 WAP11 2.2s.  The link is up and working but I want to try to get the signal power as optimized as I can.  Does anyone have any recommendations on how I can do this?  The WAP11 2.2 does not come with a signal meter of any type.  I have asked around and cannot find anyone that I know who has a spectrum analyzer.