RT-AC87U High Gain Antennas

[dlandiss]

InSSIDer (and many like this tool) only shows adjacent AP's that are not hidden - a cloaked SSID doesn't show there

That brings up an interesting tangential issue, and perhaps you could enlighten me. In this context are "hidden" and "cloaked" the same?

The reason that I ask is that from my engineering consulting office I am currently seeing 72 signals--42 in the first clip below, and 30 in the second. Three of them display no SSID but happily show me the MAC addresses.

If the activity level of a channel is of interest I have to dig out the WiSpy, and the energy distribution within each channel will be shown, both strength and degree of repetition as function of frequency.

 

[sfx2000]

That brings up an interesting tangential issue, and perhaps you could enlighten me. In this context are "hidden" and "cloaked" the same?

The reason that I ask is that from my engineering consulting office I am currently seeing 72 signals--42 in the first clip below, and 30 in the second. Three of them display no SSID but happily show me the MAC addresses.

If the activity level of a channel is of interest I have to dig out the WiSpy, and the energy distribution within each channel will be shown, both strength and degree of repetition as function of frequency.

I've seen the empty SSID from time to time, they're not "hidden" in the classical sense - not sure what they are, as many times chasing down the OUI for the MAC address reveals them to be unknown - so my guess is that they're things like Chromecasts or other WiFi direct things...

For passive discovery, I really like Kismet, as it does give a good indication of what is out there, and the channel utilization as well (and give it enough time, it'll actually correlate the client stations to the AP, tracking the entire BSS).

WiSPy is awesome - I have one, and it's darn useful for tracking down interference outside of WiFi.

AirMagnet - another invaluable tool, but a bit spendy for casual use.

 

[dlandiss]

I've seen the empty SSID from time to time, they're not "hidden" in the classical sense - not sure what they are, as many times chasing down the OUI for the MAC address reveals them to be unknown - so my guess is that they're things like Chromecasts or other WiFi direct things...

Quite so--I know one of them to be my Roku streaming box, which insists on searching for a WiFi connection even after I have set it up for Wired.

WiSPy is awesome - I have one, and it's darn useful for tracking down interference outside of WiFi.

Once you get used to the three parameters of its display: strength, repetition, and frequency; it also provides a decent picture of channel traffic.

 

[Big_AL]

After seeing the reviews under that Amazon link I wouldn't be too optimistic...

And the description contains a laundry list of seemingly compatible routers but the RT-AC87 isn't even among them.

Hi

Hmm, interested to see what the results are, let us know!


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Hi Veldkornet and fellow contributors!

The High gain antennae arrived today and I swapped them out. Off course, they are slightly greater than double the length of the stock ones that come with the RT-AC87.

So - in the 'trouble spot' where I got ....1/2 to 2 Mbs and sometimes nothing on the 2.4Ghz channel, with the stock antennae - I now get a respectable boost - 25Mbs on average speed so I am really happy with this result! The distance is probably only about 8 metres but this is through several 125 year old, thick Victorian brick walls....on the first floor of my house.

In my son's loft ....probably same line distance away but one less wall to smash through - I see a jump in strength and throughput of about 25% for both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz.

Sitting in the lounge, about 4 meters away behind a big thick fireplace chimney - I get near line speed of my maximum ISP supply (about 155Mbs) on the 5Ghz, where it was just over a 100Mbs on the stock antennae and near 70Mbs on the 2.4Ghz with the high gain ones, where it used to be around 40Mbs on the stock ones.

So......at the bottom of my driveway - about 35 meters as the crow flies - I get 3 bars and 30 Mbs connection....where as before it was only about a half a Mbs. Handy for wifi in the driveway!!

Only drawback is that aesthetically - they are not as stylish ....but build quality is good enough for them to be on display I guess. So....if you can put up with disproportionately long antennae then I think the gain might be worth it for you. It certainly is worth it for me. See pic below