AP selection

[orien]

Hi everyone, hope I'm doing this right!

We've been experiencing a lot of problems with our Smart connection, and I took a peek into the AP list earlier once connection was restored to see if shifting base stations would help.

Only one other choice appeared, and it's not looking stellar

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Current entry index: 0

*********************************************

Index: 0 Frequency: 5755.00 MHz ESN: 0a-00-3e-f2-3a-bd

Jitter: 6 RSSI: 400 Power Level: -78 Beacon Count: 29 BRcvW: 1 DFSEn: 0 FECEn: 0

Type: Multipoint Avail: 1 Age: 0 Lockout: 0 RegFail 37 Range: 5733 feet TxBER: 1 EBcast: 1

Session Count: 86 NoLUIDS: 0 OutOfRange: 0 AuthFail: 0 EncryptFail: 0 Rescan Req: 0

FrameNumber: 309 SectorID: 4 Color Code: 130 BeaconVersion: 1 SectorUserCount: 91

NumULHalfSlots: 18 NumDLHalfSlots: 55 NumULContSlots: 3

*********************************************

Index: 1 Frequency: 5795.00 MHz ESN: 0a-00-3e-f2-3a-b1

Jitter: 14 RSSI: 345 Power Level: -79 Beacon Count: 1 BRcvW: 1 DFSEn: 0 FECEn: 0

Type: Multipoint Avail: 1 Age: 0 Lockout: 0 RegFail 0 Range: 0 feet TxBER: 1 EBcast: 1

Session Count: 0 NoLUIDS: 0 OutOfRange: 0 AuthFail: 0 EncryptFail: 0 Rescan Req: 0

FrameNumber: 1468 SectorID: 5 Color Code: 131 BeaconVersion: 1 SectorUserCount: 79

NumULHalfSlots: 18 NumDLHalfSlots: 55 NumULContSlots: 3

===

The connection we're on right now (color code 130) is extremely flimsy - when it's connected, I'm all right with the speed (35kbps d/l), but the problem is it gets disconnected so often that  we can't even download a 5mb file without it getting cut off. It's extremely frustrating. My job involves transferring extremely large .PSD files (even when zipped) and it's basically impossible to do with this kind of conn. Add to that, my passion for online gaming . However, I'm iffy on trying out the second base station (Range: 0 feet?  how is that possible? ). The high Jitter and low RSSI figures are making me uneasy, but it does have a lower usercount.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[fr0stbound]

Have you tried calling smart to realign your antenna?

[orien]

Yes, the techs have been here five times in the past two weeks First time, they extended our antenna by 10 feet, making it 17 feet, for P400. Second time, they replaced the antenna. Third, fourth, and fifth times they twisted the antenna around 'cause they said it was facing the wrong direction.

Fifth time was actually earlier today, and while connection was restored we still experience massive disconnections in-between. I'm still waiting to see if the connection will last the day at all - it hasn't so far within the month of May. We lose our connection entirely after a few hours.

[ianonline]

as i can see it, the jitter is sooo high for the AP 130.. you got 6 when the max should only be around 3.. the channel is too noisy for the connection no wonder why you get disconnected many times. Here's what you can do for the meantime,

1. Try clearing the line of sight of your canopy to the base station, this includes removing any branches, leaves, that could be obstructing the signals... thus causing high jitter.

2. If it's impossible for you to remove this, you can actually transfer the canopy to a more suitable position, a higher less obstructed area. just make sure that it still faces the same direction, this can actually help...

3. Call the CS and have your canopy realigned or if deemed necessary you can ask them to have your canopy registered to a different AP. this is being done by changing the color code.

However, I'm iffy on trying out the second base station (Range: 0 feet?  shocked how is that possible? ). The high Jitter and low RSSI figures are making me uneasy, but it does have a lower usercount.

This is a false result, you will only get the measurement once you point your canopy to this particular AP... (point means changing the color code to that of the AP)

JITTER means fluctuation or interference level. HIGH JITTER means HIGH degree of interference. thus decreasing the level of RSSI which literally means RECEIVED SIGNAL STRENGTH INDICATOR... 

an ideal connection should have a low jitter and a high RSSI..

SectorUserCount should not be a bases of your assumption that this particular AP is the best one, you can still get good connection even if the SectorUserCount is HIGH... in my case there are 64 user connected and i still get an average of 400Kbps and a burst rate of 800Kbps... Jitter is 2 and RSSI is 478.

WELCOME TO THE FORUM ORIEN!

[coolbuster2007]

a range (approximate distance) of 5733 is far. your jitter of 6 is not even ideal (1-4) for a wireless connection, there's too much noise against a low RSSI (400).

the culprit is your distance. i bet you can't clearly see the base station from the rooftop, can you?

here's mine:

Current entry index: 0

*********************************************

Index: 0 Frequency: 5735.00 MHz ESN: 0a-00-xx-xx-xx-xx

Jitter: 2 RSSI: 1413 Power Level: -52 Beacon Count: 6 BRcvW: 1 FECEn: 0

Type: Multipoint Avail: 1 Age: 0 Lockout: 0 RegFail 0 Range: 2793 feet TxBER: 1 EBcast: 1

Session Count: 1 NoLUIDS: 0 OutOfRange: 0 AuthFail: 0 EncryptFail: 0 Rescan Req: 0

FrameNumber: 42 SectorID: 1 Color Code: 31 BeaconVersion: 1 SectorUserCount: 1

NumULHalfSlots: 18 NumDLHalfSlots: 55 NumULContSlots: 3

[fr0stbound]

Here's what you do. Ask them to realign it, then supervise them on how to do it properly. Have one on the roof rotating the antenna and another one constantly checking the APs available. Watch over and don't let them say it's done until the AP you get is good enough(jitter 1-4, RSSI 600-700+)

[ianonline]

nice suggestion you got there frostbound... and yeah! this people needs martial law.. or else they're just going to rip you off. so go ahead and show them whose the boss.

[fr0stbound]

yeah, sometimes you got to be hard. I still can't forget when I got my connection, all I offered the contractors was water.

Usually, we invite strangers to meals, or at least offer them sandwiches. The plumber, electrician, people from church, anyone who visits.

[ianonline]

offering water is still being kind.. you could have let them produce their own water, like, have a dog chase them...

lol 

[coolbuster2007]

wooo...  that's harse 

what if you do the other way around? befriend them. who knows they might share to you some secrets 

[ianonline]

wooo...  that's harse 

what if you do the other way around? befriend them. who knows they might share to you some secrets 

secrets like how to access the canopy? (not a secret anymore) how bout how to get rid of the customer? how to rip something from someone, like asking for a fee which is supposed to be free? no thanks... 

but yeah, who knows,

[orien]

Thanks so much for the warm welcome!

I appreciate all the advice and explanations, thanks a lot! I'm not very good at being firm with people, so will get my sister to do it for me next time they come over  Distance does seem to be the culprit, but I have no idea how to alleviate that (apart from putting the antenna on my neighbour's roof  ), and sadly I can't reach the antenna myself. This whole thing is odd, because we weren't experiencing problems like this prior to March, so I'm not really sure what changed.

Question though: if the antenna was twisted around, will it have a chance of detecting new APs? Or am I stuck with the two that I listed at the beginning of the thread?

[ianonline]

if you try to face the canopy to another direction there is a tendency that it will find new access point,

with regards to this

This whole thing is odd, because we weren't experiencing problems like this prior to March,

there is a tendency that there are some new constructions such as new buildings, apartments, that could be interfering with your line of sight somewhere in between your distance from your SM to AP.

[orien]

Thanks for the clarification! Learned quite a lot in this thread Oddly enough, the connection recently improved a great deal (with no fiddling from me ^^: ) and Smart even called to ask if we felt any improvements on our end. We're still experiencing disconnections, but it's not as severe as before. I just hope it doesn't degrade like it did during the previous months.

I really appreciate all the great help, thanks for taking the time to answer! Definitely know what I'll try next in case the same problems crop up again.

[ianonline]

exactly, glad to know some things are changing...