Ubiquiti super range wireless card - weak signal problem!!!

Hi all,
Like many other, I love to have strong signals for wifi connection. I spent a fortune to buy the super range Ubiquiti card + antenna kit from the USA (it's alot more expensive in Australia). Well, it arrived in 1 week (impressive). I set it up, installed the driver and utilities and got rid of my mini PCI wireless card. To my disappointment, I recieved less stations and weaker signals comparing to the standard mini pci card. Gosh, what a waste of money!
I was wondering if anyone out there having the same situation or a solution for this.
Thanks heaps
Van

I've had nothing but luck with the Ubiquiti SR series, in fact I prefer them over Senao and regularly use them with Mikrotik gear.

Admittedly I've never tried them in Windows, so YMMV. Try downloading the latest drivers from Ubiquiti Networks under the SR Cardbus support link.

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Jeremy

Marlborough WiFi Project

You probably didn't push the antenna all the way in. The mmcx connectors are very hard to push in when new. Be careful with them to keep it that way.

Thanks guys. I tried downloading and installing the new driver and pushed the antenna in very hard. Well it seems to pick up some new access points today. However, the signals still be very weak. My own access point in the house has weaker signal using this card comparing with the standard Intel Mini PCI card I had before (3 bars vs full bars) Hummmmm! any more suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Van

Thanks.

The Ubiquiti has worked for me, but I am starting to think that it may not be ALL that. Consider that a $100 pc card from Asus has an as good or better receive sensitivity than the Ubiquiti.

A wireless nic has to be impedance tuned with its antenna, so buying a nic without an antenna is asking for not so good performance. The card would have to be sold with a matching antenna direct from Ubiquiti.

I have hooked up this card to an 18dbi yagi, with good results. I wish I knew the first thing about impedance tuning, but it sounds pretty complicated and I don't have that kind of time. If anyone knows how to do this easily, or can explain clearly... would love to hear from you.

Most brands of card do not have specifically tuned antennas, they simply grab one off the shelf so to speak. Wireless equipment is generally designed so that as long as you stick with 50 Ohm gear there shouldn't be a problem.

Have you tried a different MMCX pigtail? Some suppliers seem to provide dodgy ones and they can contribute to poor receive sensitivity.

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Jeremy

Marlborough WiFi Project

"Wireless equipment is generally designed so that as long as you stick with 50 Ohm gear there shouldn't be a problem."
Oh, ok... that makes sense.

"Have you tried a different MMCX pigtail? Some suppliers seem to provide dodgy ones and they can contribute to poor receive sensitivity."
Actually, I said I got GOOD results. No complaints... I guess I should have started a new paragraph after "good results".

I do suspect that my MMCX is really doggy and have bought a new one + 15dBi Omni antenna from eBay. It should arrive soon. I could not find a good antenna with the MMCX pigtail (from physical stores/online stores). Most of the antenna I found advertised online come with a few connectors/adapters e.g. MMCX --> RP SMA --> N type. I worry that these can result in further loss of signal.

To the lucky ones who got the working Ubiquiti SR cards, could you please give me a rough estimation in terms of signal strength and distance of your card's performance. I am very curious about that. In fact, I never successfully owned a working claimed-to-be long range card before. I used to have a Long Range Senao card but soon got rid of it too

I've used an SR2 and SR5 to 20km with no worries, with roughly 22-24dBi antennae at each end. I usually use a short (200mm) u.Fl or MMCX to N pigtail, then attach the antenna via a short run (up to 1m where possible) of LMR400 with an N connector at each end.

Some people I know down south achieved a reliable 80km link using 2x SR5 cards, although I'm not sure on the exact RSSI.

One thing I've noticed with the SR2 in particular is that it does not seem very tolerant of very high noise environments, or badly constructed cables/antennas. While the RSSI can be quite good in these sitations (e.g. -60dBm) the throughput and latency is shocking.

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Jeremy

Marlborough WiFi Project

Holly ...lamb, 80km! I would be a very happy cow if my cards could reach signals that are about 8km away. In fact I am struggling to connect to my friend's network that is located ....across the road

I was also wondering where to find these powerfull antenna. The best one I found on eBay has 18dBi (very dear too). I was wondering if one could use a bi-directional wireless booster/amplifier just on the receiver end to improve the signal?

Thanks again!