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Author Topic: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???  (Read 22627 times)

Debbie Dunkley

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Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« on: March 11, 2015, 08:59:25 PM »

I have had very few dropouts when using my iPad to mix shows so it is probably not worth investing in anything to improve on what I have to overcome any wifi issues that may come my way.
However, I have always been intrigued by the Ubiquiti Bullet thingy and could be tempted IF….. set up is simple. I'm not that clever when it comes to the whole IP address, security, wifi language thing and I need to be able to get things up and running without too much of a headache.
I am good at listening to directions if that is all it will take.

How simple would set up be ?
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John L Nobile

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2015, 01:23:54 AM »

How far are you from the access point and how many dropouts do you have? With a decent access point you should have zero dropouts unless you're in an environment with lots of interference.
If you get a phone app that scans wireless channels like wifi analyzer for Android, you can see what space you have and set your AP /router for an open channel.
Keep in mind that channels overlap. Channel 1 and 11 are what I usually use as channel 6 seems to be the default for most units. If I'm unsure and it's available I'll use the find best channel option.
If you really need an extender, Netgear makes a great unit. I've gotten a dozen for the resort as part of my day gig and they have great range and are so easy to setup that I have to pinch myself to see if I'm dreaming.
If you need more info I can give you the model number tomorrow when I get back to the office.
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Jonathan Johnson

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2015, 01:41:20 AM »

Keep in mind that WiFi extenders (also known as repeaters) do have a bottleneck effect; each hop reduces speed and increases latency.

I remember one customer I had who had a huge, old house, probably with lead paint and metal lath in the plaster walls. Rather than paying to run Ethernet cables from the DSL modem in the office at one end of the house to the bedroom on a different floor at the other end of the house, she had us install several repeaters. (We warned her about the issues, but she figured she'd be OK with that.)

After 3 or 4 hops, the 5 Mbit DSL was turned into dialup modem speeds up in the bedroom.

In another installation, the customer was getting terrible reception with a repeater when the PC should have been close enough to the access point. Further investigation identified both an upright piano and a huge plate glass mirror between the access point and the repeater. Repositioning things helped somewhat, but they eventually figured out how to run a wire between the DSL modem and the PC.

In your situation, you may be running into WiFi congestion due to other neighborhood wifi, or audience members with phones set to allow tethering. If you have a laptop with a tool to identify nearby networks and channels in use, you may be able to switch your devices to a clearer channel. I use inSSIDer Home (an archived product: http://www.metageek.com/support/downloads/archives/ ). Of course, you can't check for congestion caused by the audience when the audience isn't there!
« Last Edit: March 12, 2015, 01:45:24 AM by Jonathan Johnson »
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Brian Bolly

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2015, 07:21:03 AM »

The Ubiquiti Bullet is a great AP, and with a good antenna - unless you are in a building with lots of walls in between your main AP - it's all you should need.  Outdoors I can be 300-400 feet away from it (I use an L-com 8 dBi antenna) and still have rock solid signal.

The Ubiquiti will take a bit of setup.  Most of the settings you can likely copy over from your current router or AP.  However, if you're the type of person that just plugged in your current AP and didn't really do any configuring, you may want to ask your favorite IT guru for a little guidance.

If you are going to buy one, I recommend the M5HP and not the M5Ti.  Although the Ti comes with the POE adapter, the HP has status lights on the side, which are nice to see.  And regardless of which one you buy, it fits in a Shure wireless mic clip, so it's easy to deploy and then stash back in the rack/doghouse when you're done with the gig.
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Bob Charest

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2015, 09:11:26 AM »

...
I am good at listening to directions if that is all it will take.

How simple would set up be ?
Hi Debbie,

I use the Ubiquiti Bullet M5HP. As Brian mentioned, you'll need to buy the Power over Ethernet unit separately. This unit operates at 5GHz. I left the IP address of the bullet as it came from the factory (192.168.1.20) and plugged it into my router. To configure it, one has to start up a session in a web browser with 192.168.1.20 as the target. The default id & password are ubnt and ubnt. I left the SSID as ubnt, and the following steps are what I did to complete the configuration:

1.) disable AirMax (This is on the 1st tab after login - it has an AirMax logo on the tab)
2.) set the wireless mode to Access Point (This is on the Wireless tab)
3.) if you want to change the SSID you can do it here as well (On the Wireless tab)
3.) set the channel width to 20Hz (Also on the Wireless tab - the default is 40Hz)
4.) set your security to whatever type you use and set the key (Also on the Wireless tab)
5.) set the Network Mode to Bridge (This is on the Network tab)
6.) if you want to change the IP address, you can do that on the Network tab.

The attached screenshots are from the PicoStation that I use at home, but the contents are the same except for the SSID & IP address, which I did change for home use. I didn't include the system tab in the screenshots, but that is where you can give the device a different name, set your current timezone, and change the administrator username and password (the password change button is just after the admin username and isn't labeled - hover over the button and a little message box pops up informing that this is where you can change the password.)

Like Brian, I also use an L-Com antenna, and my results, like his, are excellent.

Best regards,
Bob Charest
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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2015, 10:00:11 AM »

However, if you're the type of person that just plugged in your current AP and didn't really do any configuring, you may want to ask your favorite IT guru for a little guidance.



Yes- that is me.  :-\
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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2015, 10:02:40 AM »

Hi Debbie,

I use the Ubiquiti Bullet M5HP. As Brian mentioned, you'll need to buy the Power over Ethernet unit separately. This unit operates at 5GHz. I left the IP address of the bullet as it came from the factory (192.168.1.20) and plugged it into my router. To configure it, one has to start up a session in a web browser with 192.168.1.20 as the target. The default id & password are ubnt and ubnt. I left the SSID as ubnt, and the following steps are what I did to complete the configuration:

1.) disable AirMax (This is on the 1st tab after login - it has an AirMax logo on the tab)
2.) set the wireless mode to Access Point (This is on the Wireless tab)
3.) if you want to change the SSID you can do it here as well (On the Wireless tab)
3.) set the channel width to 20Hz (Also on the Wireless tab - the default is 40Hz)
4.) set your security to whatever type you use and set the key (Also on the Wireless tab)
5.) set the Network Mode to Bridge (This is on the Network tab)
6.) if you want to change the IP address, you can do that on the Network tab.

The attached screenshots are from the PicoStation that I use at home, but the contents are the same except for the SSID & IP address, which I did change for home use. I didn't include the system tab in the screenshots, but that is where you can give the device a different name, set your current timezone, and change the administrator username and password (the password change button is just after the admin username and isn't labeled - hover over the button and a little message box pops up informing that this is where you can change the password.)

Like Brian, I also use an L-Com antenna, and my results, like his, are excellent.

Best regards,
Bob Charest

Thanks for taking the time to explain things to me Bob. I have an outside show on Saturday where I have had some loss of connectivity in the past so I'll see how it goes this time.
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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2015, 10:14:52 AM »

I am confused between extenders and antenna.  For about 2 years I have been using a extender bridge in my house in a room furthest from the main router and it has been great. I just used the provided wizard that came with the product to set it up and it was a breeze.
However, isn't the Ubiquiti more of an antenna so I can get better line of sight between me and the wifi network?
It has been suggested to me before to scan for frequencies but I have no idea really what that means as I installed my router in the first place by plug and play.
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Stephen Swaffer

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2015, 10:46:09 AM »

Not to be silly, but you did at least set it up as a secured network requiring a password?  We were having trouble at church with connectivity-everything worked great until people showed up-turns out too many people had the password-same can happen if you have an open network with devices grabbing any open network.
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Brian Bolly

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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2015, 10:47:13 AM »

I am confused between extenders and antenna.  For about 2 years I have been using a extender bridge in my house in a room furthest from the main router and it has been great. I just used the provided wizard that came with the product to set it up and it was a breeze.
However, isn't the Ubiquiti more of an antenna so I can get better line of sight between me and the wifi network?
It has been suggested to me before to scan for frequencies but I have no idea really what that means as I installed my router in the first place by plug and play.

The Ubiquiti Bullet is an access point - you still need to attach an antenna to it, sold separately.  The Ubiquiti can be configured as a router or a bridge (see Bob's instructions)

An "extender" as you describe is an access point with antenna built in or otherwise attached.  It is likely permanently set up as a bridge.

There are many applications that can help you do a frequency scan with just your laptop - iStumbler, InSSIDer, etc.  They use the wireless adapter in your laptop to tell you what frequency nearby APs are on, what channel they're broadcasting, the MAC address, etc.  If there are two different APs (or extenders) on the same channel/frequency, it's just like having 2 RF mics on the same frequency - they will fight against each other, and the strongest signal at the receiver wins.  If that signal isn't the network you're trying to connect to, you'll get dropouts.

If you're deploying any wireless network gear as part of a portable setup, doing a frequency scan at the venue - just as you would with any RF audio gear - is always a good idea.  If you're trying to broadcast on the same channel as some of the venue's network gear (i.e. - POS equipment), you'll likely lose and/or cause the house network problems.

Best practices for wireless networking for what we do as AudioFolk aren't much different than what we need to do for our audio gear - scan first before turning on any transmitters, adjust frequency/channels as necessary, use the lowest power Tx you can get away with, and for the network side I'm a fan of static IPs and password protecting your access to keep all the idiots out. Hiding your SSID doesn't mean much if someone is looking for it.
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Re: Wifi extender set-up simple enough for a non wifi expert???
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2015, 10:47:13 AM »


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