TP-Link long distance Wifi

Gagetman

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has set up a long distance wireless internet connection using the TP-Link WA5210G. I am using 2 of theses located about 0.5km apart. I am getting a full signal strength indication but the internet speeds are dismal. Has anyone expierence of setting theses up.
Gagetman

Cuddlesworth

Define dismal. I'd be impressed if you got 5Mbps out of them.

Gagetman

I am only getting 200k! Sometimes it just drops out altogether, which or way it is unusable by today's standards. Why do you say you would be surprised if I got 5M?

Cuddlesworth

Right. It shouldnt be dropping like that.

Is there a direct line of sight? No trees or anything else in the way.

Are you using a directional antenna? Have you aligned both perfectly?

Any interference sources? WiFi between or power lines?

White Heart Loon

Have the devices clear line of sight? What signal and noise level are you seeing? Have you tried other channels? Have you scanned for other channels in use nearby. Are your ping times consistent.

Also, need a little more info on how you have them configured? Are they in bridge mode or routing? Are you using a layer 2 protocol (WDS) etc?

Gagetman

Yes there is clear line of sight view. Both units are facing each other, I am not using separate antennas. I have them configured for point to point connection, one AP the other client. I am using channel one, not sure how to check signal to noise levels. I will check the ping times.

advertsfox

What's the internal network transfer rates between AP's? What's your default broadband connection speed? Was it always this slow?

Cuddlesworth

Since my post disappeared, you should look at getting two of these.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000Q69L1C/?tag=ho01f-21

White Heart Loon

Mine disappeared too.

You should have no problem with 500m with those devices if configured correctly without interference, Ubiquiti Nanostations can easily do more than twice that and get decent bandwidth. Ok Ubiquiti are better, but I've used those Tp Link devices and they are not bad, they work as they should.

You could have problems if you are in a built up area, but if it's green fields or open space between them you shouldn't have any problems as long as you find the right channel

Merl1n

Ubiquiti as said by white heart lon at great kit

I have TP link units setup in a similar config as you have over a 500m distance and they work ok

I set them up on b instead of the default g
I checked what channels were free and picked the best and set the distance setting of each unit to .5
Installed the latest firmware on the two units and I think that was it

White Heart Loon

Setting to b only will limit them to 11mbit (which is about 6mbit actual throughput when not in a lab environment), g will allow up to 54mbit (~30mbit actual). Set them to g, but do a scan to see what channels are in use nearby and pick one well away from them

Merl1n

I couldn't get the units to work right on g I had the same problem as the op

Gagetman

Great advice there guys, thanks, I have some things to work on there. Two questions: how do I check if a channel is clear? If I put the channel setting on automatic will the units scan for the best channel and stay on that?