I posted here a while back with interference problems. Finally at the end of getting those figured out. Two neighbors with 900MHz phones and 1 bad phone line causing interference.
Anyways my question now is this. What should the setup look like for a WISP. My connection now is very eratic. I have the SM tuned in and everything is good there. My ISP is saying me and one other customer are experienceing the same troubles. My bandwidth will drop to almost nothing like say 200-300 down and 350 or so up. I was getting 1.5 down and 1.0 up. Started happening a week ago. My ISP says its because we are issued IP’s via DHCP and he is getting Static IP’s for everyone. I have a concearn because my IP I am getting is the same setup as my local router. 192.168.1.xx . I have never had an IP like this from a ISP. He was explaining that he also only has one router for all his AP on the tower. Is this normal. He says he is also going to put a router per AP. I am just wondering if this is a normal setup. I asked a few of my neighbors who have the service to perform speed tests adn they are all in the 1.0-1.5 down and 350 up area. Their down is normal but the up speeds are all down from what we were getting. But my speeds are wacked.
I am just looking for ideas as to why this may be happening. Right now there is only 1 tower with I believe 30-40 customers. Soon to be alot more with 2 more towers going up.
Thanks in advance.
I’m guessing that:
a. Interference
b. Duplicate IP
c. Marginal link
a. and c. can be combatted with a higher gain antenna
b. can be handled by having them assign you a fresh IP
My ISP said that we were probably getting duplicate IP’s. If we are on DHCP can he assign me a different IP? Also I hooked my second PC tonight directly to the line in and it gave me a different IP than the router had but the speed was still down from what it was. Could that have been a duplicate as well. I think there possibly is more customers haveing this issue that just dont realize it.
We have checked my connection and my jitter is 4-5 and downlink efficency is right at 80%. I am not sure if the downlink is good. Anyways he said he has ordered Static IP’s and when he gets them he will assign us these.
What are your thoughts on this?
I am going to guess that you need a high gain antenna.
A connectorized radio with an 18db yagi should solve all of your problems.
I talked with him earlier today and he said give him two weeks to get everything in order as far as the IP’s and seperate routers for each AP. He is setting up 1 tower in this time frame as welll. I hate to keep calling him as I have called him numerous times in the last 3 months because of trying to figure out the interference issues that I ended up figuring out on my own.
I almost feel that I have called him way too much in past few months but on the other hand I feel that this is a service I am paying for and I just want it to work correctly. He did have a Yagi out here before that he tested when when we were having the total loss of signal problem. Maybe I can get him back out here now that the signal is constant and try the Yagi again.
Do you think that 2 weeks is fair or should I call and see if he will swing by and try the Yagi again? My WISP is new to the internet side of RF so I am trying to be patient while he gets it up and running and maybe help a little in the process
Thanks for you input, I appreciate it.
I forgot to mention that this speed problem started happening 1 week ago Sunday. Also I dont know if this is important or not but I went into my router and input a IPin Static manually and use the DNS I got from the DHCP and it didnt change anything. I tried a few different IP’s . I was kinda surprised it worked. Didnt think it would.
Whan you say you put in a static IP manually, where did you come up with the IP to use? If that IP is assigned elsewhere on the network you will have issues, and the person who is assigned that IP will also have issues. Switch the router back to DHCP, unplug it and plug it back in to pull a new IP. The DCHP server at the other end will give you a new IP from the DHCP pool
I can almost guarantee the problems you are experiencing are signal related.
You need a connectorized with a yagi. As far as bugging him, you do pay for a service, and you do need it to work correctly. Unfortunately you are in an area where the installation is “Non-Standard” and requires an antenna upgrade. We would charge you 299 for the standard install, and 99 to 199 for the antenna upgrade.
From the ISP perspective, the radios cost 300, the yagi is 100, and the install costs another 50 to 100 for a total cost to deploy of almost 500. If you are paying 40 per month that’s about 18 months to break even. I don’t know what you paid for your install or what you pay for the service. Since the guy is just starting out, and you want to make sure he is going to be around in the coming months/years you may want to offer him a hundred bucks for the Yagi upgrade.
If your current setup is an Integrated radio/antenna you will probably need a connectorized with an 18dB yagi.
I pulled the IP out of my head. Just looked at the IP’s I have had and just made up a number to see if it would work. I tried a few and same thing. Maybe the changing seasons and colder weather have brought upon the new problems. He told me that the SM cost him almost $1000 and when he ordered the Yagi he said it cost him the same. I will give him a shout and see if he will work with me and try to reinstall the Yagi. I have no problem paying for an upgrade if it makes it work. I have bought 2 new phones for my neighbors and installed a new phone line so far. I can pay for an antenna upgrade.
Thanks
lol…
He said it cost him 2k for a yagi+SM?
Chas wrote: lol...
He said it cost him 2k for a yagi+SM?
Obviously this ISP is buying everything in signles and not in bulk... :?
Yeah - that might make me kind of worried as a customer =P
Even one at a time the price should not be more than 300 for an SM - the ISP is getting hosed by his supplier.
Jerry Richardson wrote: Even one at a time the price should not be more than 300 for an SM - the ISP is getting hosed by his supplier.
Yah, your right just checked my price sheets, even buying everything as singles and with shipping, it would still be under $1000.00. Ouch!!! :twisted:
Well today I got a Username and Password from my ISP to check the SM. One big issue is I cannot check the SM while it has a signal. I can only get in when it dont have a signal. I was going to try to tune it in but as soon as I moved it over to where it had a signal I lost connection to the SM. I have to manually input a IP into the Properties tab just to get into the module. I was here when he tuned it in originally and I know he tuned it in and then put it to obtain IP automatically after he made his adjustments. As soon as I move it to signal I get booted. Is it possible that I input a IP that was already in use on the network and it created a conflict?
On to another note. I am getting a 30ft Antenna Tower this weekend and I am going to install it on the tower. I guess I should call my ISP again and ask how I can tune it in when I get it up there. I cant tune it if I get booted when it sees a signal
Your ISP is really taking the P***… $2k he is off his trolley…
post the config that you see when you are able to get in.
I can’t see any reason why you shouldn’t be able to get in when it is connected… although I don’t use 900M kit, it can’t be much diff in terms of management software…
I did end up getting in. I didint take a screenshot because it was before I seen your post. I can tell you the jitter will stay good at 4-5 then start bouncing up the scale and back down again. I cant run a link test or use the spectrum analyzer since it requires full admin rights.
As far as what my ISP is paying for his SM. It may be high but he may not have known any better. I got some contact info from a member here and I am going to pass it on to him so maybe he can get a better deal. My ultimate goal here is to get my service up to par and in the process help my ISP hopefully. I mentioned to him today about checking out the forums and he didnt seem to keen on the idea. He gets his help from someone else I guess. A different pool of folks that are helping him.
What is weird to me is that during the summer I had a great connection when I wasnt dropping my signal because of the neighbors using their 900MHz phones( hopefully we got that taken care of with 3 new phones and a phone line repair). About a week and a half ago my speeds started getting eratic and my pings times as well. It is gettign colder here in MI and we got a fair amount of rain in the last week but its been dry for a few days and it still hasnt come back.
I check my speeds in the morning and I am right at 1.0 down and 385 up but after that it can vary from about 200-600 down and 200-300 up. When my speeds drop so do my ping times. Kinda wondering if maybe the weather had something to do with it . But now I dont think so. Hopefully I can get my antenna tower up this weekend and get a direct LOS to his tower.
Just an update. My ISP installed a filter last night and he improved everyones signal but me. I could register with the AP but not pull and IP. Anyways he came out this morning and we tuned the SM in and pulled a Spectrum Analysis and seen there was nothing in the low 900’s so he changed the AP to the 908. I am up and running with my download speed back, jitter of 3 and power of -78. Looks like I am back in business except for the upload speed. He is fixing that this week.
Signed
Happy once again
Well that’s good news. Way to keep after him.
From an ISP perspective, there are two ways to deal with a problematic install.
1. Pull it and move on. Less pain, but nothing learned
2. Figure out a way to make it work. Lots of pain, but it makes us better ISP’s.
I think that your upload speeds will be fixed with more elevation.
Well I agree on the ways to deal with the problem. He is a little slow but I never thought him a quiter. As far as I am conearned there would never be a good reason to pull equipment unless all avenues were tried and failed. A happy customer like me after this will get him business. I have 2 neighbors that want the service but were waiting for me to get thekinks worked out. Both are setting up site Evals this week now.
I am going to move the SM up on the tower soon but he said that the upload is effecting everyone not just me. He is redoing his network this week with the new tower install along with a new router install and Static IP’s for some of us. Its getting better slowly but surely.
One good thing out of all this is I am learning a ton. Its been painful but almost worth it. ALMOST
Thanks all, Especially you Jerry for your time.