#uplink

canoodle@nerdpol.ch

How to (not) extend Wifi coverage of Starlink (Wifi) Accesspoint

intro:

would the user pay 100€ per month for a super fast uplink (in this case Starlink, x>150MBit/sec!!! (it (of course) fluctuates, also there is a BATTLE going on between SpaecX (StarLink) & Amazon (Project Kuiper) which could lead to turbulanecs)

and then have it all ruined by unreliable and slow Wifi routers & maybe bad (wet?) LAN copper cables?

no of course not!

what works better?

actually an older tp-link router, the former “workhorse” wr841n v10 (!!! WARNING ONLY THE v10 has DETACHABLE ANTENNAS!!!) + outdoor yagi antenna (2.4Ghz only) performs better than the newer TL-WA901ND v5!

https://www.amazon.de/Antenne-2600Mhz-Leistungssteigerung-SMA-Male-Female-FritzBox/dp/B07VP1LYM3/

https://www.amazon.de/Antenne-2600Mhz-Leistungssteigerung-SMA-Male-Female-FritzBox/dp/B07VP1LYM3/

(very minimalistic hardware specs of this router: RAM MB: 32 + single core CPU: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9533-BL3A@650Mhz)

how to best test bandwidth?

in the browser: there are the (obvious notorious) internet bandwidth benchmark test websites

  • https://fast.com/
    • very basic if basic is enough
  • https://www.nperf.com/
    • plots a graph
  • https://www.speedtest.net/
    • speedometer
  • in the GNU Linux bash terminal: via this script:
    • what it does is download a file of exact 100MBytes random data from a (usually) very fast datacenter in Germany
    • the advantage of this: it is very easy and fast to be fired up via press Cursor-Up and ENTER to re-run it again and again and compare the results with past results

https://dwaves.de/2021/01/21/gnu-linux-bash-script-for-troubleshoot-long-term-reliability-ping-and-bandwidth-speed-benchmark-test-testing-network-internet-connection-uplink-connectivity-and-reliability/

Starlink + TP-Link (as wds-bridge or repeater) = does it uplink?

yes it does! the TL-WA901ND hardware v5 has many wifi modes and can confirm they work (but not fast & reliably):

  • TL-WA901ND v5 <-wds-bridge-> TL-WA901ND v5
  • TL-WA901ND <-wds-bridge-> Starlink Original Wifi AP

what is great about this product: it has wifi modes no other product offers (used that bridge with ap mode for years)

this is a screenshot of older firmware: (more green than cyan)

problem: DOES NOT WORK AS FAST & AS RELIABLE AS IT SHOULD!

while Bridge-with-AP seems catastrophic unreliable (outages every few minutes disconnect/reconnect)

what works a bit better is wds-repeater mode, but still not great.

lenovo t440 <-> Starlink AP <-> brick

vs

lenovo t440 <-> TL-WA901ND v5 <-> brick bandwith benchmark:

so when directly connecting to Starlink AP via WIFI the speeds are amazing! 🙂 ~10MBytes/sec!

when going through the wds brige… it is bad (it could also be that something is blocking the wifi signal too much and do not have a 5Ghz yagi antenna here)

https://dwaves.de/2021/08/21/how-to-created-multiple-wifi-accesspoints-connecting-wds-wifi-bridge-to-one-central-internet-wifi-accesspoint-difference-between-tl-wa901n-and-tl-wa901nd/

untested (!) hardware:

TP Link AX1500: https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/jmvvma/best_router_for_starlink/

UNTESTED! this user uses switching out Starlink WIFI Router for ASUS WIFI6 Router did some good on performance…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VBX4eISvtk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VBX4eISvtk

“Last thought: NEVER USE AN EXTENDER! THEY ARE ABSOLUTE GARBAGE! If you need to repeat use a proper mesh setup with a real dedicated backhaul radio!” (src also reddit)

#linux #gnu #gnulinux #opensource #administration #sysops #uplink #internet #starlink #bandwidth #wifi #extend #wlan

Originally posted at: https://dwaves.de/2021/09/01/how-to-not-extend-wifi-coverage-of-starlink-wifi-accesspoint/

canoodle@nerdpol.ch

How to extend Wifi coverage of Starlink (Wifi) Accesspoint

would the user pay 100€ per month for a super fast uplink (in this case Starlink, x>150MBit/sec!!! (it (of course) fluctuates, also there is a BATTLE going on between SpaecX (StarLink) & Amazon (Project Kuiper) which could lead to turbulanecs) and then[...]

#linux #gnu #gnulinux #opensource #administration #sysops #uplink #internet #starlink #bandwidth #wifi #extend #wlan

Originally posted at: https://dwaves.de/2021/09/01/how-to-extend-wifi-coverage-of-starlink-wifi-accesspoint/