Piste Basher wrote:
I have often pondered orientation of the aerials as cross-polarisation can certainly reduce signal strength (assuming that the orientation of the Draytek aerials corresponds to the direction of polarisation, which may be a rash assumption), but I have ended up just leaving them all vertical.
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Interestingly, the signal now (1730) is at 20% again, from 7% this morning, and nothing has been moved inside the garage or kitchen, although it is somewhat warmer. Puzzling.

I'd not even considered Polarisation - I was thinking more about "directionality". Mine at both at 45°... but I can't justify that decision

7% (-97dbm?) seems exceedingly low - is it real? ... I don't think any device of mine would connect at such a low signal level.

I had a play with the "Diagnostics >> Interference Monitor" on both my AP903 and AP802 - from the results, you wouldn't think they were both in the same building!
They are wired, with the AP903 on channel 44 and the AP802 on channel 36 - (something it won't let you do unless they're wired) - it just seemed sensible to have them on different channels.

The Interference Monitor's both agree that channel 136 is the answer - but I'm loathe to go there (because it will trigger the 10 minute radar-scanning stuff)

AP903 - Mesh Root


AP802 - Mesh Node

Interesting - my signal is showing at 18% (0900) this morning - I have no idea how "real" this is, just that the root and node agree on the figure.

I have the root set on 5GHz "auto select" and it has chosen Channel 36. However, the interference monitor shows Channel 36 to have the largest number of active "APs" - depending on which node I check it on this is between 9 and 14 ! On what basis does "auto select" choose a channel then?

All AP903's are suggesting 140 as the recommended channel. I don't know if I'll encounter the "radar" problem (reminds me of the old LORAN over-the-horizon days!) but I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Edit - if I change the channel to 140 and then run the interference monitor again on the root it now shows only 1 AP on channel 36 and 6 on channel 140. So what happened to all those APs on channel 36?

Edit 2 - with all APs on channel 140 the root-garage link is now showing as 0% (-127dBm) ! It's still connecting though - I have 2 IP cameras running through that link.

Edit 3 - and despite having band steering enabled none of my i-devices seem to be connecting on 5GHz as they did before. Think I'll revert to 36...…

Edit 4 - changing back to 36 and my i-devices immediately re-connect. 140 wasn't popular for some reason. The root - garage link is now showing as 52% !! These things clearly have minds of their own...

Edit 5 - yes directionality is one of the many factors, not only in transmission between APs but also between APs and clients. I guess multiple reflections come into the latter. Without knowing the construction of the Draytek aerials I have assumed that keeping them vertical might give the best chance of "omni-directionality".

I have also seen odd effects in terms of signal strength. I have 3 AP903s in a wireless mesh and have experimented a lot with placement to get the best signal - it is absolutely NOT what you would expect in terms of straight line of sight. Also tiny things, like moving the units 3 cm from the wall can improve signal by 10-20%. I will say though that there is not a direct correlation between signal strength and connection speed - the latter seems a lot more constant (I get between 200-250 Mbits for mine, which in the real world of an 80/20 service, is more than enough).
Steve

In a similar vein, have you tried the "Diagnostics >> Speed Test" function?

You can execute the speed test at different places of the building and select the best location for it.

I've definitely got the AP903 in the best spot - it's currently achieving 215 Terabits/sec download :o :lol:



(The much less capable AP802 can only manage 113Tbps :? )

Yes I had noticed the warp speeds achievable by these APs :lol:

After my fiddling around the backhaul was being reported at 55 % for a few days, today it's 23%. As everything still works I guess it's one of those Draytek things...

(Interesting to note admin's comment re turning off band steering on another thread :? I've never tried that one)