Range Limited to less than 1ft

[xenon149]

As the title says, the range of my Mark 4 is limited to around a foot. It has to be sitting right on top of my laptop for packets to get through (If I ping it) If I move it any further away the signal drops off really fast and Packets dont get through, So I'm assuming that the cable between the antenna port and my Alpha's circuit board are broken? Anyone else had a problem like this?

Regards,

Xenon

[madhak]

Are you using the supplied antenna or one from the shop? some antenna you can buy online have SMA connector while FCC approved WiFi devices use RP-SMA connector specifically to prevent you from connecting an high gain antenna.

Check the little pin inside both connector, one of the 2 (antenna or AP) should have a pin and the other a hole, if they both have a hole then barely no signal will go trough.

[Foxtrot]

Its more than likely your antenna pig tail.

The name of it is a "UF.L to RP-SMA" pigtail. You can get them fairly cheap, and this is a very known issue.

[xenon149]

Are you using the supplied antenna or one from the shop? some antenna you can buy online have SMA connector while FCC approved WiFi devices use RP-SMA connector specifically to prevent you from connecting an high gain antenna.

Check the little pin inside both connector, one of the 2 (antenna or AP) should have a pin and the other a hole, if they both have a hole then barely no signal will go trough.

Yeah I'm using the supplied antenna. There is a Pin on the Pineapple one and a hole on the antenna.

Its more than likely your antenna pig tail.

The name of it is a "UF.L to RP-SMA" pigtail. You can get them fairly cheap, and this is a very known issue.

I might check the pigtail with my multimeter and see if I get any resistance.

Also

Do you know what the TXPower should be set to on the pineapple?

Will report back.

[Foxtrot]

TX power varies via country regulations.

The Mark IV firmwares standard TX power is that of the United States iirc.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Foxtrot

[barry99705]

It may have just come unplugged as well. Open up the pineapple and check to see if it's still connected to the board. The nut that hilds the bulkhead fitting can get loose and the antenna can spin around enough to pull it loose.

[xenon149]

Okay I opened it up and checked the pigtails inner pin, it has no connection at all from one end to the other.

Ordered 2 new pigtails off eBay.

[Foxtrot]

Nice. The new pigtail fix the issue. Be sure you tighten the nut on the RP-SMA connector tightly to prevent it twirling and thus breaking another cable. (Not too tight though, obviously)