How Stable is your Signal?

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jrussell88
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 22:16    Post subject: Reply with quote
I replaced the Linksys power supply on my WRT-300n v1 with a switched 90W model, and bumped the power up to 500mW.

Neither InSSIDer nor Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector show a significant change in RSSI, which stays around -70dbi. It also looks like throughput is maximised around 125mW.

Can anyone explain why the signal strength doesn't increase with power?

Thanks!
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Radioman193
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:32    Post subject: Reply with quote
cause dd-wrt support power change on alot of "N" Routers.


and dont know if it EVER will?
it dont matter if you set the power to 0mW
it will not change with dd-wrt
Dont fool your self in thinking that it wotks better @ 125mW over 0mW , 1mW or 251mW Cause it dont change.

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DoesItMatter
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 12:14    Post subject: Reply with quote
Has this changed recently or with newer builds?

Or does it depend on the router itself?

On my 2 - WNDR3300's, I increased from default 71mw to 131mw

They are setup as an Access Point and Repeater Bridge configuration

Signal strength on both of them went from 30-30% up to 40-42%

I didn't see noise increase any significant amount.

Both of them have upgraded replacement power supplies,
they are not using the stock netgear ones that came with the routers.

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jrussell88
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 13:28    Post subject: Reply with quote
So dd-wrt won't let me change the power output on my WRT-300n?

That explains why I don't see much difference in measured signal at the laptop!

But in that case how does dd-wrt adjust the power?

It seems to step up and down according to some algorithm. When the broadcast signal is strong I get a good connection, but unfortunately there are other times when it broadcasts at such low power - up to 30dB lower - that I can barely connect.

And I can't find a reliable way to overcome it, other than to move much closer to the router. That is really frustrating!

I'd really like to be able to control the power.

By the way, there wasn't any observable noise on the WRT 300n signal before upgrading the power supply, and there still isn't any. I didn't detect any noticeable improvements over the Linksys model.



WRT-300n v1 Signal2 + InSSIDer.JPG
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30dB difference... why?
 Filesize:  111.45 KB
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WRT-300n v1 Signal2 + InSSIDer.JPG


barryware
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 13:40    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think the power supply thing came mainly from the work being done on the 610. The 610, the xmit power setting work on both radios. On the 600, xmit works on wl1 (5ghz) but not wl0 (2.4ghz). The power settings work on the older wrt54g series routers but do not seem to work on the newer ones. The 300, 350, etc.
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jrussell88
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 16:08    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the explanation!

Does anyone know what is causing the signal strength received at my laptop to vary so much - 30dB?

It looks very like the WRT 300n is adjusting its signal. If so I really want to stop this as it's wreaking havoc with my wi-fi!
Radioman193
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Location: New York

PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 19:00    Post subject: Reply with quote
and in windows 7 ssider will show only up to -50
Unless you play with the settings "driver".
but on some pc's you cant get it to get over -50
DHC_DarkShadow
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 0:59    Post subject: Reply with quote
hardwarewizard wrote:
Radioman193 wrote:
hardwarewizard wrote:
interesting i am having trouble finding a 12v supply with the correct size end it should be 2.1mm, 5.5mm, 12mm

most i find are 2.5mm

You would Think It shuld be Easy for a "hardwarewizard" to change a plug Rolling Eyes



it is but doesn't look as good as a molded connector Smile


The power connector for the WRT54G series routers, are they 5.5mm? I don't have a metric measuring tape or ruler. Laughing

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squibT
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 3:27    Post subject: Reply with quote
DHC_DarkShadow wrote:
hardwarewizard wrote:
Radioman193 wrote:
hardwarewizard wrote:
interesting i am having trouble finding a 12v supply with the correct size end it should be 2.1mm, 5.5mm, 12mm

most i find are 2.5mm

You would Think It shuld be Easy for a "hardwarewizard" to change a plug Rolling Eyes



it is but doesn't look as good as a molded connector Smile


The power connector for the WRT54G series routers, are they 5.5mm? I don't have a metric measuring tape or ruler. Laughing


5.5 looks right to me and my tape

I changed my WRT54G ps to 12v 5a and what a difference in the signal stability....signal used to jump all over and now it is pretty tight (looking at inSSIDer)

squibt

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mac913
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 13:41    Post subject: Reply with quote
dellsweig wrote:
dellsweig wrote:
greekstile wrote:
Blazian wrote:
Thanks for making your Pictures smaller. I'm tired of scrolling side to side to see all of this. Very Happy Shocked Laughing


Dude, get a bigger monitor! Wink


well - my 12V 5A power supplies came yesterday....

Turns out the connector (size and polarity) is a perfect match so no cutting and soldering for me!! (wrt310N)

Immediately, I picked up a 10% improvement in my overall signal between my WRT310N AP and WRT310N CB - from 40% to 44-46%. My signal strength increased and my noise number decreased.

During file transfers I no longer see any chopiness in the dd-wrt or the IPERF graphs. Almost perfect straight lines.

Both units are running fine - no extra heat has been noticed.

This is the supply I bought:
http://www.12vadapters.com/adapter/power-supply/12v/5-amp-5a.html


I did not have any reboot issues before so I cant comment on this.


More information

I tried increasing my transmit power on my WRT310N's from the 40Mw I had been using back to the default of 70Mw.

Note: I had been using 40Mw as this gave me the most stable connection. Signal was not that strong but it gave the best throughput - I assume due to the cleaner signal.

With both my AP and CB ( both wrt310n's) set at 70Mw - I am getting the best signal strength I have ever seen as well as the best SNR and signal numbers I have ever seen with this device. The units are running slightly warmer (to the touch) but I dont see cause for concern here.

My guess is the radio is now able to generate a clean signal (no clipping or distortion) at the higher settings.

Another note: The stock PSU that came with the WRT310N was 1.0A

At this point I would highly reccomend to anyone to try a better power supply


I received my wrt320n routers with crappy 1.0 Amp power adapters and ordered the 5Amp units that you bought for your 310. Thanks for your input. Very Happy

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mrg666
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 22:17    Post subject: Reply with quote
The output voltage on the power adapter of my WRT54GL-1.1 was 17v (17v is not a typo) which is specified to be 12v/1A. I modded a microATX Seasonic PSU (12v/10A) to use with my WRT54GL which has exactly 12v output using the same multimeter. I used the power-plug/cable from an old 3Com cable modem and connected to the 12v output on the mATX PSU. It is working perfect and I think there is improvement on the signal quality as well as temperature. I use 50mW TX power parabolic reflectors with default antennas and overclock the CPU to 250 MHz. Now I will eliminate the other power supplies from cable modem and WHR-G300N. I think 10A of Seasonic is sufficient for all of them. It is a fairly easy mod. You can find the most important detail here.
http://modtown.co.uk/mt/article2.php?id=psumod
After that just use yellow/black cable pair on any connector for 12v output.

By the way, This is my first post after following this forum for a long time. Hi everyone Smile

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prophetizer
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 20:18    Post subject: Reply with quote
Radioman193 wrote:
The Router is a wrt300n V1.0
the caps that i used were 35v 200uF layed on there sides i dont have pictures now but will when i get my new camera.
the powersupply that i have on it is a
HP F1140A 12v 5A switching power supply
you can get them here for $14.00+
http://www.alancomputech.com/f1140a.html
you can controle the voltage from like 8 to 16+ volt
Other Power supplys
you can use are
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6256

http://www.12vadapters.com/adapter/power-supply/12v/5-amp-5a.html


will these work on a 610nv2?
Radioman193
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 13:13    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes.
scullen
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 0:49    Post subject: Reply with quote
Radioman193 wrote:
Yes.

I picked up the F1140A for my wrt610n v2 and the router will not power on with it connected. The light on the adapter goes dim and flickers. I RMA'd the first one thinking the supply was bad, and the second one does the same.

Is it because I'm running stock firmware?

Thanks
edward78
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Joined: 26 Jan 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 6:53    Post subject: Reply with quote
What issues does this fix?
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