Dissecting WiFi Signal

Not all wifi signal are created equal. Not every wifi subscriber has equal access to bandwidth as his next door neighbor. Knowing your exact geographical location in reference to the wifi antenna helps to secure and assert your right to equal access to what amount of bandwidth your provider guarantees.

Usually the access points or access antennas in wifi enabled cities are made by Tropos. Tropos antennas are those twin antennas you will most likely see perching on the lighting arm or support of a lampost. They are strategically installed there to complete a cell of six sides, as part of a mesh design to cover a so-called wifi coverage area. Theoretically, a wifi cell guarantees that every foot of real estate inside it will be able to receive wifi signal. Each cell is adjacent to each other to cover the wifi city with wifi signal.

However, in the real world, there are much more variables known and yet-to-be known factors and influences that affects the wifi signal. Just following the manufacturing specs is not a sure way of receiving wifi signals. Going back to WiFi 101, finding and connecting to wifi signal is becomming more of an art - an art that requires technical skills. As in music, even if you know the fundamentals, know the chords, keys, tempo, etc., all of these knowledge will not guarantee that you will be able to write or compose a hit song. But certainly it helps, and it helps you get ahead. Same thing with finding the best and reliable wifi connection: Know where the access points are, know the characteristics of the antenna that your access points are using, know what kind of bandwidth is available, know your topography, know the type of materials your house or building is made of, i.e. metal, concrete, or walls with mesh stell inside, etc, and know the capabilities/characteristics of your CPE or wifi modem. And I should add, know the phone number of the support person, both of your wifi provider and your CPE vendor.

to be continued...

So how or where do you really find a good wifi signal? Right off, I'll tell you, it is not under that lampost where the access antenna perches.

Divining WiFi Signal

Being a distributor of WiFi CPEs (Customer Premise Equipment) for Google WiFi project, I am becoming an expert of where to find the best Wifi signal. No, I don't use divining rods. I use the CPEs that we sell: PepLink, Ruckus, Buffalo and Wi-Fire. These CPEs are of different breed, not in the league of Linksys, dLink or Netgear. They are far more powerful and reliable.

Finding wifi signal is, yes, an art that requires imagination and a steady hand. You move the CPE quarter of an inch, you lose the signal. The green lights start to dance in Ruckus, while in PepLink, the green status light turns to amber. That means you lose connection.

So what's the secret of knowing where to position your CPE or your wifi modem to get the optimum signal and connect to the wireless access node? You begin with the basic knowledge, the stuff that you learned from the books, or by reading the manual from the CPE manufacturers, i.e. know where the signal is coming from - a line of sight. How about for non-line of sight? Just the same, just imagine you have a line of sight and see the antenna. Point the CPE to that direction. After you have positioned the CPE to where the AP or antenna is, then that's the time that a steady hand is needed. Start moving the CPE, gently, sensually for Ruckus and with authority for PepLink. From doing this everyday in different places and different scenarios for different types of people, you develop a sense of something that you can only sense and tell. Whether it is a hunch, a guess, a feel, or even gut-feel, you become better than the engineers who designed these equipment, of where and how to deploy their creations.

A most interesting situation is the sensitivity of these CPEs to irregular obstuctions: leaves, the type, shape and thickness of leaves may degradate or even kill the signal.

Anyways, this is Divining WiFi Signal 101. More to come. Good day