Is there a way to fix a good signal—but no speed—on my long distance Wi-Fi?

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I am currently using an “amplified” USB Wi-Fi Adapter. The reason I quote “amplified” is because even though I am able to connect to my neighbor’s ap from 0.4 miles away, with a good signal, the Internet is basically unusable most of the time even though their plan is a fast 5 to 10 mbps.

The problem is I cannot get over 1Mbps most of the time. I can get two if I am lucky, but this doesn’t last long. Speed test on a bad day show upload speeds as slow as 0.01Mbps and downloads as slow as 0.08-0.15Mbps.

I have tried the following with no real luck.

  • Moving my adapter and mounting it on my outside window.
  • Limiting the Wi-Fi speed to 802.11b mode (11Mbps)
  • Checking wireless channels for interference and cannot find any interference.
  • Fixing my extended USB 3.0 rig.

I have a couple theories but I can’t be certain.

  • My USB 3.0 cable: It’s is made up of three other cables that are kept together with electrical tape so I thought that it had something to do with it. However, using the cable that came with the device did not improve things.
  • The negotiated link speed needs to stay at 2Mbps: I have 4 bar signal with a 54Mbps link speed. When the Wi-Fi works rather well—and I can watch YouTube without stuttering interruptions—I notice the link speed is usually at 2Mbps and when my download speeds reach 0—and when YouTube dies—the link speed is back to 54Mbps. I want to keep it at 2Mbps.

The short version is I would like to know:

  • If there are any ways to fix my Wi-Fi and prevent dead download speeds
  • If any of the theories presented are valid.
  • If anything can be done without spending money I do not have on paying a monthly bill for dedicated Internet.
  • And if any of this can be done without ripping my house from the foundation and move closer to my neighbors.

Ryan McCurry

Posted 2015-03-10T12:30:30.963

Reputation: 91

2Do you have your neighbours permission to use their wifi conection? – DavidPostill – 2015-03-10T12:35:33.577

@ryanmccurry Do you know that the throughput is actually much lower than you think it is.....So regardless of what you are getting, it will always be roughly 60% of the the advertised ones. – hagubear – 2015-03-10T12:36:50.033

@DavidPostill Yes I do :) their AP is secured. they gave me the password. – Ryan McCurry – 2015-03-10T12:36:51.463

@hagubear I figured it would be. it's just I spent $25 for the adapter :( – Ryan McCurry – 2015-03-10T12:39:26.520

@RyanMcCurry Also, as you mentioned already your USB 2 cord (USB 2 right? or 1) can only go as far as 60 MBps theoretically....However, this is well within the high-speed (expected) internet throughput...so shouldn't cause any problems. – hagubear – 2015-03-10T12:46:27.810

Opps, I should have mentioned that. It's actually USB 3.0. Does distance affect that? – Ryan McCurry – 2015-03-10T12:47:36.090

Do you only have an "amplified" USB adaptor on your end? IMHO, you should have a long-range WiFi link consisting of two dedicated adaptors/routers with directional antennas. – Colin 't Hart – 2015-03-10T12:49:29.527

@Colin'tHart I am not sure actually if they have an amplifier. I have to doubt it since it rarely works. – Ryan McCurry – 2015-03-10T12:54:03.250

Got the budget for a wok? Some folk use them as a parabolic dish ;p – Journeyman Geek – 2015-03-10T13:58:06.153

Something else worth considering is, while you are picking up signals from the other side well, they might not be picking up your signals. – Journeyman Geek – 2015-03-10T14:27:04.913

@JourneymanGeek Hmm.... Well, Is there a way I can boost my transmitting power? – Ryan McCurry – 2015-03-10T15:22:25.820

Do yourself a favor and get some decent equipment. The Ubiquiti PBE-M2-400 is less than $100 and can do this kind of thing very, very well. Many other manufacturers make similar products. You need a very good antenna and you need to connect using Ethernet if the antenna is far away. All other considerations are secondary.

– David Schwartz – 2015-03-11T20:23:49.643

You need to check various points in your setup. 1st - its there a clear path between your antenna and your neighboors antenna ? 2nd - are you using outdoor antennas set up on masts etc ? If not, no power in the world will get your signal into your neighboors house and vice versa. 3rd - are the antennas properly aligned ? 4th - what protocol are you using ? 2.4GHz B ? G ? N ? 5.8GHz A ? N ? What you are trying to do is usually not possible without proper equipment and knowledge. – Jorge Aldo – 2015-03-27T04:50:46.780

Answers

1

Do they really qualify to be called neighbors if they stay half a mile away? :P

About your question, this is due to with the lower power transmitted from your USB Wi-Fi adapter. When signal sent from the AP reaches your USB Wi-Fi adapter properly then USB adapter needs to send an ACK back to AP.

USB devices are low powered, so signal sent from it does not have enough power to reach AP properly, consequently lot of those packets are dropped. Without an ACK the AP keeps re-transmitting, that is why you are getting lower overall throughput.

This also explains why your upload is so low. An externally powered (aka: amplified) antenna should do a better job. Having said that with all the packet losses which will happen for this kind of distance, you wont ever reach 10Mbps, also yours AP seems to be 802.11b/802.11g (54 Mbps) which doesnt do enough error correction, thus higher packet loss.

Get directional antennas if you really want to see 10Mbps else for minor improvement upgrading AP to 802.11n and using an externally powered Wi-Fi adapter will help.

Get Splashed

Posted 2015-03-10T12:30:30.963

Reputation: 172

“Do they really qualify to be called neighbors if they stay half a mile away?” To be fair, some rural Internet connectivity options are limited, costly and just plain horrible to deal with. There is a very valid reason there are strong tweaking communities filled with people attempting to extend their connectivity to nearby Wi-Fi/4G/3G spots. – JakeGould – 2015-03-11T20:23:54.037

A search for 'Pringles can directional antenna' will yield very interesting results. – blaughw – 2015-03-11T20:39:24.410

What is an externally powered antenna? – None – 2015-03-11T20:43:42.217

1@Saeed, Where you use a different power source for the antenna, such as a power outlet or battery. I would assume – Ryan McCurry – 2015-03-11T21:42:22.683

1@JakeGould Thank you for understanding the pain of being a "country boyh" LOL – Ryan McCurry – 2015-03-11T21:46:18.870

@RyanMcCurry No problem! Born in the city but know/respect your scenario. Far more common than people understand. – JakeGould – 2015-03-11T22:24:31.297

@RyanMcCurry Can you please show me one of those antennas? i'm really interested to try them. – None – 2015-03-12T07:34:18.467

@Saeed look-up wireless repeater like Netgear WN3000RP-200PES – Get Splashed – 2015-03-12T08:05:44.807

@GetSplashed Oh, but that's not good for him for distances up to half a mile. i thought you mean something like a Wireless network adapter that can use batteries to give more power to the antenna to make its output power up to 30 dBm so that he could use a 20 dBi directional antenna to have a great link quality even for 1 mile distances. – None – 2015-03-12T08:52:22.273

@Saeed That will be better, but those things get costly. If OP is getting some signal with a normal USB adapter, a simple repeater will be a huge improvement. – Get Splashed – 2015-03-12T09:32:23.253

@GetSplashed then the most suitable, powerful and cheapest option will be an Alfa Wireless network adapter with 1W or 2W chipset that will cost only 35$. – None – 2015-03-12T10:32:26.883

Asked: 2015-03-10T12:30:30.963

Viewed: 227 times

Active: 2015-03-12T00:00:09.903