NullNull Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 (edited) I am having issues with the wifi signal too. I get -80dbi at 10 feet with eye contact. I changed the channel,i unplugged and replugged the RP-SMA to U.FL cable but nothing helped. So i purchased two of theseI am expecting them this week, i will repost with the results.P.S.I also purchased this which i found interesting, it's male to two 2 RP-SMA female T Connector Adapter EDIT: Changing this cable solved the problem! :D Edited February 12, 2013 by KiatoG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RChadwick Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I can confirm I had this issue as well. Horrible signal. I replaced the pigtail with a new one I happened to have around, and the signal was fine. Also, while I was changing the pigtail, the cable actually pulled out of the SMA connector. Maybe a bad batch? Fortunately, they're cheap on ebay, and easy to replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineDominator Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I noticed that sometimes the antenna is loose and can twist up inside the pineapple, I used 2 wrenches to tighten the nuts;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
durk182 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 My antenna was very loose. I didn't realize it until, the wifi range suddenly got horrible. When I opened the mark4 up the cable was twited into little tiny loops.I straighten the cable out and tighten the nuts. The wifi range went back to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonTon Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Hi, I had the same problem with the wifi range, after reading some posts, i tried to reseat the IPX-RPSMA connector, it was the same thing, until I bought a new one and replace it. Now i have a very good signal with karma an 3g running at the same time. I'm in europe so i didnt buy the pigtail from data-alliance.net but from www.fwt.fr Also be very careful with IPX-RPSMA connector on ebay you can find 10 for 20 box but it's crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
condor Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 P.S. I also purchased this which i found interesting, it's male to two 2 RP-SMA female T Connector Adapter I have one, using it now. It seemed to boost signal a bit, as expected. But it can also be used to put a 'right-angle' on the antennae, leaving a smaller profile.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsm0ld Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) I have one, using it now. It seemed to boost signal a bit, as expected. But it can also be used to put a 'right-angle' on the antennae, leaving a smaller profile.... It seems like using that adapter with two antennas would cause an impedance miss match, any noticeable range improvement? Edited August 28, 2012 by itsm0ld Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
condor Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 It seems like using that adapter with two antennas would cause an impedance miss match, any noticeable range improvement? Not the word I would have used (impedance), but I think it's the word I was looking for. I, too, figured it would cause some kind of 'argument' between the antennae. It does not, afaik, have any trouble tx/rx'ing data. I got an extra bar using wicd in bt5. I've been meaning to mess around with this, as that is what I do (mess around). What about 2 yagi's pointed in diff directions? I've got a 16dbi, and a 9dbi. I just don't think I'm knowledgeable enough to sift through all the variations. One test is never quite the same as the prior, and even prior testing is not always repeatable. I have much to learn, and if I can get these kids to leave me alone, lol, I could learn something.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsm0ld Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Not the word I would have used (impedance), but I think it's the word I was looking for. I, too, figured it would cause some kind of 'argument' between the antennae. It does not, afaik, have any trouble tx/rx'ing data. I got an extra bar using wicd in bt5. I've been meaning to mess around with this, as that is what I do (mess around). What about 2 yagi's pointed in diff directions? I've got a 16dbi, and a 9dbi. I just don't think I'm knowledgeable enough to sift through all the variations. One test is never quite the same as the prior, and even prior testing is not always repeatable. I have much to learn, and if I can get these kids to leave me alone, lol, I could learn something.... I come from the Amateur Radio (HAM) world and this would be a problem for other radio gear. In a nutshell lets say our antenna was 50 ohm, well if I use a spliter and add a second antenna I now have 100+ ohm load on the transmitter. This causes a high SWR (standing wave ratio). Basically the higher the SWR the less signal is radiated from the antenna. At best you are getting less power out, at worst it will damage the transmitter. Found this little snippet that probably describes it better than I can. VSWR: We see that an antenna's impedance is important for minimizing impedance-mismatch loss. A poorly matched antenna will not radiate power. This can be somewhat alleviated via impedance matching, although this doesn't always work over a sufficient bandwidth (bandwidth is the next topic). A common measure of how well matched the antenna is to the transmission line or receiver is known as the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR). VSWR is a real number that is always greater than or equal to 1. A VSWR of 1 indicates no mismatch loss (the antenna is perfectly matched to the tx line). Higher values of VSWR indicate more mismatch loss. As an example of common VSWR values, a VSWR of 3.0 indicates about 75% of the power is delivered to the antenna (1.25 dB of mismatch loss); a VSWR of 7.0 indicates 44% of the power is delivered to the antenna (3.6 dB of mismatch loss). A VSWR of 6 or more is pretty high and will generally need to be improved. Either way the pineapple maybe suck a low output power that it may not be a real problem with high enough gain antennas it may benefit. Either way I think its pretty cool that your trying it out =) best way to find out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DyFukA Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 My signal strength start sucking about 2 weeks after I owned my pineapple. I know that I upgraded and downgraded my firmware a few times and there might have been a few minutes that I had my wifi radio on without an antenna plugeed in but i really can't pinpoint what caused the signal to stop working properly. With my 5dbi dipole antenna I get about 5 feet. With my 7dbi afla panel antenna i get about 10 feet. with my 16dbi Yagi antenna I get about 20 feet. I just purchased http://cgi.ebay.com/...ar=560159335608 hoping that it will fix the problem. Any updates or suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neworld Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Here's where I got mine.... Haven't had a problem with it yet... ( Pigtail is a little long but it fits fine.) http://www.amazon.com/20cm-U-fl-IPEX-RP-SMA-Pigtail/dp/B007XVLO4U/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1349465971&sr=1-1&keywords=20cm+U.fl%2FIPEX+to+RP-SMA+Pigtail+for+Mini+PCIe+Wifi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DyFukA Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I was about to get that one. Well i guess if the one I ordered doesn't work out then I will go for that one. thanks for the fast reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betote Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 same problem here on my new brand pineapple :( how can I change between channels? as you can imagine im big a noob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineDominator Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I just had a bumb antenna and swaping it to a known good one fixed it, could not connect from 12 feet away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DyFukA Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Ok, just installed my new pigtail and it fixed the range issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aPices Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 My range...I can throw a car farther than it. Thanks for the info DyFukA, just placed the order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaizoku0506 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I'd definitely grab a few spare RP-SMA to U.FL cables if you find a good shop. These suckers are really fragile from what I've seen / read. It looks like Alpha doesn't do a good job of tightening the nuts on their connector when they put the unit together. Mine got all kinked up just from me adding and removing antennas over the last few days. Opening it up and straightening the cable worked somewhat, but it seems like its still having some issues. I've got four new cables on their way just to be safe ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineDominator Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I'd definitely grab a few spare RP-SMA to U.FL cables if you find a good shop. These suckers are really fragile from what I've seen / read. It looks like Alpha doesn't do a good job of tightening the nuts on their connector when they put the unit together. Mine got all kinked up just from me adding and removing antennas over the last few days. Opening it up and straightening the cable worked somewhat, but it seems like its still having some issues. I've got four new cables on their way just to be safe ;-) I noticed that too and now I make sure to open it up and tighten the two nuts, anyone reading this might want to do this if theres spins somewhat freely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splicer Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I'm happy to say that my range is finally back to where it should be after getting a SECOND RP-SMA to U.FL cable. The first one I ordered was borked right out of the box. I just received a second one from a different manufacturer today and I'm pleased to say it is working. Woop woop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bountyhunter50 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 If it's worth noting: I've had my Pineapple MKIV for a few days now, and I've kind of noticed a little weak of a wifi signal. However, I have yet to SSH in and issued txpower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aPices Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 After replacing the RP-SMA my range improved significantly. I hope this issue gets addressed on HakShop level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russeld Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 hi. i solved this problem. i opened up the router. removed the the antenna cable cut the ipex. and soldered to the board the cable. perfect!cheap way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khaotic57 Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I have the same issue. Hak5 should fix these issues. It is sad this is the second time i will have to return my pineapple due to poor workmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RChadwick Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I wouldn't be quick to blame Hak5 too harshly. They didn't design or build the hardware. However, with all the failures, it might be prudent for them to buy a bunch of pigtails (Dirt cheap in quantity I'm sure), and add one in the package, just in case there is a future problem. Sending the whole unit back just for the pigtail seems like a waste, considering it's pretty easy to replace. Hackers tend to be comfortable with such things. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineDominator Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 I have the same issue. Hak5 should fix these issues. It is sad this is the second time i will have to return my pineapple due to poor workmanship. I've had a bad antenna on my last hornet ub. I could try a different one if u have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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