Rogers now offers outdoor modem for portable internet

[Occulas]

Well After months of trying this and that to get this wireless internet working properly ive come up with some tips for those who are about to purchase.

I use the outdoor modem with the green LEDS on the bottem.

These modems are HIGHLY weather and LOS sensitive.(take ur time pointing and adjusting the tilt and choose a day to do the pointing to get best location)
I would recommend at least 3 green bars to be able to use the internet through snow/rain/bad weather as it will drop ur signal strength.

Packetloss seems to be an issue where heavy obstructions.

Latency is an issue and I believe is mainly based on distance from tower and the direction in which the tower is pointed.
Some days latency is low 70ms, to high as 2100ms

#1 Do your research Phone rogers and ask where towers are located and in which direction do they point and are they omni directional.

I have pointed as far as 25km away to a tower with 1 bar signal and as long as the signal was there the service worked(not reccomended at all! signal is very weak) BUT have pointed to other towers closer(<12km) and have had very HIGH latency and slow speeds(not all the time but more bad then good) yet a good signal strength.

I have a hacked outdoor modem and yes the Investment in the 24DB dish was worth it in my case. It Decreased packetloss and gave me one more extra LED i needed to attain a solid 3 bars(tower is 5km away). IT DOES NOT INCREASE SPEEDS! The Outdoor modem uses an MCX connector to attach its antenna and RadioLABS has a nice selection of antennas / wires / connectors and are easy to deal with. Im at a happy median of Excellent speeds/latency some days and sometimes slow and high but more often speeds are as advertised.

Ill post some pics of my setup later
Enjoy all!

[Occulas]

[mrjcleaver]

Hi,

Great thread, this.

Does anyone know a way to get the GPS locations for the towers? The rogers/rogers password no longer works for http://inukshukjv.mapanswer.com/Rogers/main/index.do so I am stuck with the public version which shows I have coverage but is useless for setting direction.

On a $50 plan, $250 outdoor modem I get 0.5mb/s. Sucky.

I only use it during the summer months.


Thanks,
Martin.

[i1699]

I have the exactly same modem as the picture above.

Do you know how to access the Status Page on that modem? It would be nice to sit near the computer and see how modem is doing, without going outside and climbing to the roof to count the lights.

Thanks!

[waynem]

If you've got a solid, consistent signal then changes in latency are quite likely a reflection of congestion on the tower.

My local tower (Metcalfe, Ontario) has in excess of 90 users (I don't think the techs see both Bell and Rogers stats so it might be as much as double that number). This evening my latency was well over 3000ms, clear skies, 5 bars of signal.... 93 "users" connected according to the Bell tech I spoke with and that's more than double what they consider acceptable.

Of course, they have no idea when they might upgrade the tower but they keep adding customers ! Even if they do upgrade the hardware, I shudder to think that they might not increase the backhaul as well.

[z3tech]

Occulas - did you go wth a 2.4ghz grid antenna? Radiolabs does not have a 2.5ghz.

[i1699]

Just so that you know, Rogers doesn't include LinkMonitor software with the modem. They only give you a CD with their crap browser and other garbage - LinkMonitor is NOT on the CD.

I was using an IP scanner all day today searching for the web interface of the modem in 192.168.x.x zone - no luck.

[HamGuy]

Hi all, I have been using Rogers Portable Internet in the rural Peterborough/Kawartha area for more than two years. Initially, it was wonderful. I expect the popularity, and previously excellent speeds, brought many rural customers to the system.

Lately (past year) the service is too slow. Too slow is defined as pings above 1000ms, consistently every afternoon and evening.

Until I find an alternate provider, I will continue to work on the Rogers issue.

If there are others using the same tower (N. Peterborough – Tower Hill) I would like to hear about your performance, and if you have attempted to have the situation rectified?

Tech Support is of no assistance saying that Rogers Network Services will only address slow connection issues for customers within 9 KM of a tower (6 KM of a tower for the indoor modem) regardless of having full signal strength. That makes a nice filter to reduce the number of tickets to service, but has minimal technical merit. I doubt the Product Managers or Internet Business Managers are aware of that limitation on customer support... yet. It certainly does not align with the coverage maps or the 32KM rated Motorloa modem.

I have the outdoor modem on a 70 foot tower 14 KM west of a Rogers tower at the north end of Peterborough, Ont. The modem has full signal strength. Apparently, I am too far from the tower.

So, who else has attempted to have this resolved? (or did you just abandon Rogers for an alternate provider?)

[skaughtEE]

Hello Occulas,

I am quite interested in attempting to hook this alternate antenna up to my outdoor modem. Would you happen to have the shopping list of parts that you used? If so it would be greatly appreciated if you could pass it along.

Thanks...

[bjjspence]

Hello Occulas,

I am also interested in adding a high gain dish to my outdoor modem, very similar if not actually the same as yours and was wondering if you could take me through the steps and parts required.

When I first installed (about a year ago) the outdoor modem up the old tv antenna I was getting around 3 bars. I when up the tower a couple of days ago to find only 1 bar, I moved it around abit and was able to get it up to 2 bars. I am hoping the dish will help.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/albu...pictureid=1479

As you can see in the picture I am located between two green areas, however, unfortunately I can not get a signal when pointed it eastward, which I am really close to and have to point it westward. I am guessing this is mainly due to the fact that the land slopes east to west and I can not get any higher on the tower. Any Ideas?

[bjjspence]

Here is the picture for above.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/albu...pictureid=1479

[abee]

Hello. I am wondering if you have pictures of how you joined the antenna into the modem. I have a modem on my TV tower, sometimes it is wonderful and most times I can barely get on the internet. I am about 10-15 mins. drive from the tower. I guess it is at peak times, mid morning to after supper and then sometimes it's slow. When I get 2 lights it's great then it just searches until it picks it up, just enought time to check my email. If I knew how to hook the antenna into the modem it should help. Thanks for your time. Abee

[CanadianWeasel]

I've tried reading through, and now my brain hurts.

I had an indoor modem until last week, wherein it keeled over. Previous, I was getting about 2-3 bars and it was still brutally slow.

Now, before I go out and get another modem (why I should have to buy something to pay to use their server is beyond me), if I was getting 2 bars, on average, might I expect a increase in getting an outdoor modem?

Would it be more advantageous to get an indoor modem and add an antennae to it?

Can parabolic dishes be used to help increase reception? I have an oval and a circular dish collecting dust in the garage. Putting them to use would be nice.

If I could find someone with wired high speed and make a point to point that would be great, alas...

[Occulas]

Sorry all for not responding sooner I haven't checked this forum in a month or so.

I ordered everything from radio labs.

I phoned them directly and ordered the 2.4 GHz 24db Directional Parabolic Grid WiFi Antenna and a 12" pigtail with the MCX connector on one end and the other end comes standard with the Antenna connector.
Hooking it all up is simple once you have the parts.

I made my own Mounting bracket seen in the pics using a piece of Slotted Deep Unistrut cut to the pitch of my roof, then welded it too a Unistruct foot bracket to screw it down. Then i used 3/4" EMT piping and some fender washers with Self drilling screws to hold the pipe in place (which fits perfectly inside the slotted stut) then finally topped it off with some flat black paint hehe.

As far as connecting your modem to your antenna basically take it all apart and you will see where the old antenna attaches. Just unplug(very careful and gentle a firm pull with needlenose pliers will work) and coil it up inside(I used electrical tape on the copper connector) then plug your new pigtail in. (i had to drill out my old modem for the cords to slip in and still have a nice seal).

Just use commen sense and dont get rammy!

[markcyoung]

Originally Posted by HamGuy

Hi all, I have been using Rogers Portable Internet in the rural Peterborough/Kawartha area for more than two years. Initially, it was wonderful. I expect the popularity, and previously excellent speeds, brought many rural customers to the system.

Lately (past year) the service is too slow. Too slow is defined as pings above 1000ms, consistently every afternoon and evening.

Until I find an alternate provider, I will continue to work on the Rogers issue.

If there are others using the same tower (N. Peterborough – Tower Hill) I would like to hear about your performance, and if you have attempted to have the situation rectified?

Tech Support is of no assistance saying that Rogers Network Services will only address slow connection issues for customers within 9 KM of a tower (6 KM of a tower for the indoor modem) regardless of having full signal strength. That makes a nice filter to reduce the number of tickets to service, but has minimal technical merit. I doubt the Product Managers or Internet Business Managers are aware of that limitation on customer support... yet. It certainly does not align with the coverage maps or the 32KM rated Motorloa modem.

I have the outdoor modem on a 70 foot tower 14 KM west of a Rogers tower at the north end of Peterborough, Ont. The modem has full signal strength. Apparently, I am too far from the tower.

So, who else has attempted to have this resolved? (or did you just abandon Rogers for an alternate provider?)

Hamguy,

I am in the same situation as you. 10.7 km from tower in the greater Ottawa area.

Purchased the outdoor modem last year based on Rogers coverage map. Got 5 lights when I installed, low ping and stated connection speeds.

Over past couple of months, things have been fluctuating wildly. Still 5 lights on the the modem but ping averages 1500ms and connection speeds are often less than dial-up.

A call to Rogers technical support got the same response as you. I am quite upset because:
1. I am shown on their coverage map
2. If 9km is the limit and they can measure my distance to the tower, why didn't they tell me when I signed up.
3. Why did I get good ping and connection speeds for almost a year then suddenly things drop off.

I'm interested in how you are approaching this and if you have any success. My other high speed internet options are limited. May try to work out a deal on a Rocket Stick.