by "Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
Published 11/27/2017 at 15:28
by "Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
Published 11/27/2017 at 15:28
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I don’t want to use my work WiFi because Oppo, et cetera, and their I.T. and all of that. There is an xfinity network within range, but it’s weak. Is there a gadget that would have an antenna and serve as a repeater both to receive the signal from the hotspot and amplify my laptop’s signal back to it?
"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
11/27/2017 at 15:37, STARS: 1
If it was anything other than a hotspot, yes. However because of how a hotspot will attempt to verify your identity, probably not. It’s looking to verify the MAC address of the device connected to it and most routers/repeaters won’t properly forward the log-in page to a connected device.
Also, if you could get it to work, you’d need to place it halfway between the hotspot and you in order to do anything meaningful. Just having the repeater in the same room as you is only going to get you the same signal as you already have.
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/27/2017 at 15:39, STARS: 0
Agreed, I have access to all xfinity wifi hotspots because I have xfinity internet. It does indeed have a login page. So if that kills the deal right there, you are dead in the water.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
11/27/2017 at 15:39, STARS: 0
it talks to the wifi(xfinity) and you and your wifi talk to it.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/27/2017 at 15:40, STARS: 0
We’d be talking about the wifi router in someone’s living room from xfinity that’s making their wifi available to other customers, right?
I can log on, barely; is there a way to amplify the signals?
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/27/2017 at 15:40, STARS: 0
Would you be able to get an external wifi antenna (via a usb interface), like on top of your overhead bins, or some other place up high or towards the direction of the signal?
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/27/2017 at 15:41, STARS: 2
as e36jeff mentioned, the xfinity login page could pose a problem with this setup.
"user314" (user314)
11/27/2017 at 15:47, STARS: 0
Dumb question though, do you have a mobile phone that can act as a hotspot instead?
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/27/2017 at 15:52, STARS: 0
Yes. I could probably even place it outside the building. Do you think such a thing would exist that would let me connect to it via wifi ad hoc on my end so no USB cable?
I wouldn’t even know how to refer to such a device, though I could probably configure it and use it.
My thing is, I don’t want my IT department running some report showing that some IP address on their network loaded oppo.kinja.com 4 million times in a given month. As well, I am kept from uploading photos and other things.
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/27/2017 at 15:56, STARS: 0
I am not sure if that can be done, it would have to be some kind of device capable of passing along the login page info.
I was just speaking from personal experience, I have an external/usb wifi antenna in my upstairs office that works quite nicely.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/27/2017 at 16:05, STARS: 0
Could you pass me a link to something similar at maybe Amazon as a reference?
"Wacko" (wacko--)
11/27/2017 at 16:09, STARS: 1
as other said this with a usb extension cord
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/27/2017 at 16:11, STARS: 0
https://www.amazon.com/BENGIX-Wireless-Adapter-AC600Mbps-High-gain/dp/B076WKVP84
I have something much older than this one, but same concept. I run it through a 6ft usb extension to get it closer/past a wall to the base station.
"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
11/27/2017 at 16:15, STARS: 1
Unless you work in a residential area you are probably looking at a commercial hotspot, which are leaps and bounds above the house hotspots. Wifi signal in general can be amplified, but you’d need a repeater, and the repeater needs to be somewhere halfway between you and the router. The problem with that is, if you are in an office setting you’d need to plug the repeater in outside of your general area, which is questionable at best, and due to how the hotspots verify devices connected to them are supposed to have access it may not recognize the repeater at all.
"404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
11/27/2017 at 16:53, STARS: 0
Older router with DD-WRT set in Client Repeater, or some out of the box repeater.. TP-Link makes them, they connect once then clones the network name.
Though I don’t know how your IT feel about rogue Wi-Fi networks.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/27/2017 at 17:22, STARS: 0
I actually have one of those... It’s a Rosewill several years old. How long do you think a USB extension cable can be?
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/27/2017 at 17:24, STARS: 0
I’m at a middle school in a residential area.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/27/2017 at 17:35, STARS: 0
If it’s entirely independent of their network, then they’d probably never notice it.
But where is the older router getting it’s uplink?
"404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
11/27/2017 at 18:26, STARS: 0
Through Wi-Fi. The router acts at both a client AND an AP.
https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Repeater_Bridge
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
11/27/2017 at 18:46, STARS: 0
I did some testing with a USB WiFi adapter and a metal colander put together to make a directional antenna. I was able to get connected to a router about half a mile down the road. Now I see that they sell antennas for less than $20.
"CB" (jrcb)
11/27/2017 at 19:43, STARS: 0
Dude, just wait a few hours until you get home to go on Oppo. Problem solved.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 08:41, STARS: 0
Thanks. I need something smaller than a colander, if possible.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 08:42, STARS: 0
What fun is
that
? Besides: at home, I have more important things to do.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
11/28/2017 at 09:38, STARS: 0
Anything that can focus the signal should work. I ended up with a colander, but a small mixing bowl worked well too.
To be more discrete, you will probably need to go with a small directional antenna.
https://www.amazon.com/USB-Yagi-directional-Antenna-802-11n-2200mW/dp/B003LLS5JI
Maybe you could mount it under your desk or use the file drawer for something other than files. :)
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 09:48, STARS: 0
Ooh; that’s pricey. I have a USB external antenna I’m going to try out today for starters.
Here’s a question: how long does a USB cable have to be until it’s too long and there’s a voltage drop? Is there a way to “insert” power? A powered USB hub, perhaps?
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
11/28/2017 at 09:59, STARS: 0
T he maximum length for a USB cable is about 16 feet. You can get a repeater, but the powered ones are pretty expensive. There are some cheap ones that use the BUS power to boost the signal, but these will not adequately power a device on the other end.
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/28/2017 at 10:48, STARS: 0
That would depend on the power demand of the wifi adapter as well as the quality/gauge of the cable. There is some power loss over longer runs of USB, I’m just not sure at what point that power loss will be so great that it will diminish signal strength or even stop the adapter from functioning. I’ve had it on as much as a 10ft usb cable without problem though.
Have you identified roughly where the hotspot is located, have you found a place fairly nearby where you can reliably connect to it?
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 10:51, STARS: 1
Thank you.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 10:54, STARS: 0
I’m just warming up to this obsession, so to both questions, “not yet.”
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/28/2017 at 10:59, STARS: 0
Haha, I see. I think that would be your first step.
I just had another idea, if you could get a(n) (old) phone capable of creating a hotspot, that’s a device I believe would be able to pass along the connection, as it would be capable of opening up the login page for you to logon to xfinity.
But again, identify, if there is a spot nearby, perhaps on the other side of some obstruction that gets a good enough signal.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
11/28/2017 at 11:14, STARS: 0
USB spec allows for 16 feet with no loss. Cheap cables may not meet spec. Some “booster” cables use BUS power to boost the signal strength, but at a commensurate power loss.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 11:20, STARS: 0
I get good bandwidth on my cell phone when I tether it, but I don’t have unlimited bandwidth. That would certainly be a simple solution.
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/28/2017 at 13:25, STARS: 0
I’m talking about doing this exclusively via wifi (no data), pass on the xfinity hotspot via the wifi of a cheap phone you can leave in the best possible spot as sort of a repeater.
Although I would think the usb/antenna solution would be preferable, less complexity.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 14:02, STARS: 0
Thank you. I am going to start tethering my cell phone for the time being while I locate an acceptable xfinity hotspot and explore options. But I just can’t keep hitting Oppo all day long on my work internet because I don’t want to be hassled.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 14:21, STARS: 0
I understand all of this just enough to be an annoyance to someone who really does understand it all.
With my Rosewill USB antenna, I can connect to someone’s xfinity hotspot and Windows tells me it’s decent signal strength. But the flow never really begins and my suspicion is that I’m not getting back to the hotspot. Is there some program like Wireshark that would show me more meaningful information about hotspots and which way data is flowing?
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/28/2017 at 14:22, STARS: 0
Run a piece of software that goes to 3 different work related websites randomly picked from a database of 100 websites, set it to do so every time you visit oppo, problem solved! That way it only looks like a quarter of your browsing is non-work related :P
"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
11/28/2017 at 14:24, STARS: 0
Actually tried connecting to a weak xfinity hotspot from my house yesterday, it wouldn’t work either. I suspect it’s due to weak signal. But I am afraid I don’t much more about diagnosing, other than saying: move closer or get stronger antenna, lol.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 14:25, STARS: 0
There’s a thought... I like to be free of them in general. I use a lot of my own gear and that way I have all the administrative rights.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/28/2017 at 14:27, STARS: 0
I’m down. I’ll do some more experimenting.