Hi all - I hope I can get some help with getting the "hostname" to show up.
I went out "roving" yesterday to a nearby hill to try to connect to the 2.4 GHz AREDN node at my home (a Ubiquiti M2 to a sector antenna). This was my first attempt at a long-range connection. Remote setup is a BaseBox2. Also running an hapac3 in the car with the mesh on 2.4 GHz and regular wifi on 5GHz.
I was able to log on to the BaseBox2 (device name ending in "72") and perform a wifi scan. And I was able to see my home M2 node, device name ending in "6c". But after repeated re-scans over the course of 30 minutes, neither the BaseBox2 nor the M2 node ever showed a hostname. And the M2 node never showed up for me on the mesh.
What should I try next?
73 de K1ZK
I went out "roving" yesterday to a nearby hill to try to connect to the 2.4 GHz AREDN node at my home (a Ubiquiti M2 to a sector antenna). This was my first attempt at a long-range connection. Remote setup is a BaseBox2. Also running an hapac3 in the car with the mesh on 2.4 GHz and regular wifi on 5GHz.
I was able to log on to the BaseBox2 (device name ending in "72") and perform a wifi scan. And I was able to see my home M2 node, device name ending in "6c". But after repeated re-scans over the course of 30 minutes, neither the BaseBox2 nor the M2 node ever showed a hostname. And the M2 node never showed up for me on the mesh.
What should I try next?
73 de K1ZK
I have a Rocket M2 XW with 90-deg sector antenna at 75 ft. On 18 Dec at about 2343 local time, its Neighborhood Nodes list had two node names and five MAC addrs (or BSSIDs?) all beginning with 68:72:51. The WiFi scan showed eight entries, four with node names and four with BSSIDs only. One of the BSSIDs, the strongest signal of all, had a different BSSID, the other three began with 68:72:51. I've been seeing these 68:72:51 things since at least 10 Dec.
By probing around our local mesh, I have been able to put Node Names with all the BSSIDs except the one that is "diffferent".
--Tim K5RA
Remember the 2 GHz band is generally massively congested, so DX performance is gonna suck.
Check:
- Maximum Distance
- Both stations are in proper mode (Mesh, PtMP<>Mesh Station, Point-to-point)?
- Both ends are stationary for ~15 minutes?
- Both ends maximum power?
73, ChuckDistance to farthest neighbor in miles
The attempted distance was 7 miles. See "Path Profiler" below. Almost totally unobstructed path.
The "M2" node is on my home QTH tower (it better be stationary!). The remote BB2 node was on a 10-foot portable mast and stationary for 30 minutes.
Both nodes are on "Mesh" mode, both running 3.25.10.0. (I had to read up about those other new experimental modes.)
The "M2" node is set for 29dBm. The "remote" BB2 node is set for 30dBm. (Both at max power.)
I set up the "remote" node once I got back home and it happily connected to my other mesh nodes.
The M2 max distance was set for 30 miles. The "remote" BB2 node was set for 25 miles max distance. I will set both for 10 miles max and see if that helps next time.
Maybe it was interference? I thought maybe being on channel "-2" might keep me clear of any interference?
Any other ideas for troubleshooting? 73 de K1ZK
At 6 miles out your image indicates that the LOS is ~20 feet a.g.l.
If there are any building or trees at 6 miles out, your signal is obstructed.
What is the gain of the antenna on the BB2?
I suspect that you do not have sufficient gain to achieve a link.
Image of one of our local links attached.
The LOS stays mostly 100' a.g.l.
LHG-5nD-XL: 28 dBm+27dBi at each end.
73, Chuck
And I'm starting to get the idea that 5.8 GHz is going to be better -- more gain is available & there are more consumer options on that band. I already have a 5.8 GHz node back-to-back at the top of my tower with the M2 2.4 GHz node. Can I put two 5.8 GHz nodes back-to-back or will they interfere with each other?
Sorry for having so many questions! I am still really new at this.
73 de K1ZK
Almost.
"or will they interfere with each other?"
Not if their bandwidths do not overlap.
73, Chuck