Blue Angel XDA IIs WI-FI Performance - MDA III, XDA III, PDA2k, 9090 General

I was just wondering on what peoples comments where on the wi-fi performance of the blue angel? I borrowed a friends Dell X30 to test with my wireless access point the other day and the range and performance where excellent. In fact the range was almost as good as my laptop! How does the Blue Angel Wi-Fi compare?

I tested the Siemens SX66 which is the Blue Angle without the camera and I saw very poor signal strength when more than 20 feet from the access point. In comparison, my HP6315 had good signal strength and my laptop has excellent signal strength (internal antenna).
The negotiated rate was 2 Mbps on the SX66, which is fine for most things, so I wasn't too upset. I'm returning the unit due to GSM signal problems, so I didn't have a chance to test the range while driving around.

It sucks
I tested the XDA2-Socket SDIO vs the XDA2s, and the XDA2s wifi range was truly inferior, so I sent it back....

Blue Angel Wi-Fi Performance
Do you know if there are still issues with the Sandisk or Socket SD Wi-Fi card and Dlink access points? Also what's the performance of the Socker SD card like? I heard they're limited to about 500kbps?

Related

WiFi Signal Quality

Hi
I have just got my XDAIIs and the Wifi works, however the signal quality is poor i.e 30-40% and the TX rate is only 2M. This is with power save mode setting set to best performance and I am within 1 metre from the wireless router.
ANy ideas
mine is the same
What wireless router are you guys using? I've noticed it varies with different brands. At home I've got an Apple Airport Extreme and I get about the same as you guys, whereas at work we use 3COM wireless routers and at a distance of a few meters I get about 75-80% reception.
Dimitri
I'm using a 3com and reception is around 60% anywhere. Whether I'm stood next to it or upstairs and in the opposit corner of the house (i.e. lots of bricks in the way). It's not until I go outside and start walking away from the house that I get a sudden drop off.
In other words, I think the connection software is more at fault in how it reports the signal strength than the reception.
Real Wifi transmission rate
I read back a while ago here that the maximum transmission rate on the O2 xda II, not IIs, was limited to a throughput of 256K, eventhough reception was at 2mb etc, is this true for the IIs? This was was to internal systems of the xda etc, nothing to do with wifi card etc?
I've got a netgear and a buffalo and both are the same sort of reception
Thanks for the feedback guys.
I am using a Belkin WIreless router
Hi
Mines a Draytek 2600G complete with 2 high gain (5dBi antennae), same issues, poor wifi signal when not standing next to AP. Laptop with pcicma 54G card shows full signal at same location where XDA barely registers a signal.
This causes loads of problems with skype, which drops the call and takes the wifi connection with it (soft restart required to restore).
Nigel
Are you all using Bluetooth while trying to communicate with an 802.11 network?
Bluetooth and 802.11 both operate in the 2.4 GHz band, and because of Bluetooth's frequency hopping, it can seriously impair 802.11 performance.
Some devices with integrated Bluetooth and 802.11 have proprietary mechanisms to deal with this problem, but not all as it's not mandatory.
Hi
Nope, thought of that. Killed Bluetooth on handset, other bluetooth gadgets in house, other wifi stuff bar the AP and DECT phone, and I am not running the microwave!!
Same result, poor wifi range. Also tried with 3 separate AP's now same result each time.
Went to PC world this morning connected a couple of their demo IPAQ jobbies to their btopenzone AP, got the meters up and held mine next to ipaqs. Without fail, the IPAQ's were reading 3/4 signal and my XDA was barely registering a signal. Staff must have thought I was a nutter, but I wanted to prove the sh1te wifi issue to myself!
Nigel
Anyone got an SDIO wifi card that they can test with - i'd be interested to know now much better that performed.
Nigel
i'm sure it would perform mucho better. I get the 40% signal with my buffalo router... no matter where i stand. you'd think little things like this would have been discovered during the qa cycle.
I get a much better reception around the house with my XDA 2 with an SDIO sandisk Wi-Fi card than I do with my XDA IIs with built in Wi-Fi
I don't have a Blue Angel yet, as I'm waiting to see if many of the reported issues (like this one) get resolved. However, I have a few comments/questions/suggestions:
Does anyone here know where the 802.11 antenna is inside the Blue Angel's case?
Being a software engineer who develops device drivers for 802.11 hardware, I've worked with a fair amount of WiFi devices. Chances are, the problem everyone is experiencing with WiFi is almost sure to be due to a REALLY BAD internal WiFi antenna design. The antenna is either being shielded by something inside the enclosure or picking up interference from another component.
If it's possible to shut off the internal WiFi card, one way to test the above theory is to try an SDIO WiFi card in the Blue Angel. If anyone can try this, please post your results.
If we can get information about where the antenna is in the case, it might be possible to reroute the internal antenna, or (less desirable) attach an external antenna to improve reception.
In addition, improving WiFi reception will almost surely improve battery life as well as a side effect.
It amazes me that customers of a $900 device have to jury-rig solutions to so many problems...
I use an USB Wifi dongle by Asus, reception is good arround the house, even through a lot of walls
I agree with poster above wifi on blue Angel sucks
I have both Blue Angel and XDA2 +Socket SDIO, and there is no doubt that the Socket sdio XDA2 combo has noticeably better reception, having done tests (ie trying them both from a distant spot, XDA2 can maintain connection, XDA2s can't). I'm shipping the XDA2s back and waiting for the Mini/Magician. Reception is the key to this when trying to hop on random hotpsots in the streets...so sayonara Blue Angel, too bad though...
Also, FYI on XDA, speed limit is 256K, not 2mb, due to buffers etc. routers do not prefer either system and WEP works fine on both.
Has anyone managed to get the XDA2 and socket or sandisk SD wifi card working with a dling 54g access point namely the dwl2000ap+?
I've heard of a few issues with DLINK 54g access points and these cards?
Cheers
I have the SX66 / same as PDA2k but built like XDA IIs, I use the built in wifi alot but I also Have the SDIO Socket Card also and run it when a need longer distance. No conflicts of any kind that I have seen, works well with my D-Link Router but reception is not so good with built in.
Have a Linksys WAG54G 54mb, and have tried on Dlink 108Mb running both on mixed mode. One thing I will suggest that others have mentioned but cant be explained enough, as most people place their DECT phone next to their wireless router. There needs to be at least 2M distance between the two antenna's otherwise interference will kill signal dramatically, even on different channels.
With this said, have tried XDA Mini with combo wifi card, XDA2 with wifi card, and XDAIIs with builtin, and the power management turned off to give maximum power. Yes the IIs consumes the most amount of juice, followed by the XDA2, then the Mini.
On a quick scan, drive home using wififofum, with the 3 of them mounted on the dash, came up with the following results on drive to and from work.
Access points discovered
XDA2 - 78
XDAIIs - 89
XDA Mini - 82
I might also mention, that half of these have no encryption at all, or have left noobie default settings on routers - thanks guys ;-)
Overall like the IIs, except heats up too quick and loses battery life, especially using the wireless. XDA Mini rocks, just because the size and I can place the wifi card in when i need it, and the XDA 2 is just the stable toy I have had for the last 12 months.
where did you get the XDA mini?
I didn't know that it was out in the UK yet?

Signal booster

Is there anyway that I can improve the reception that I get at home. I am not talking about those signal booster stickers, but something like a signal repeater.
Does anyone know if such a device exists
Ashby
never heard of it
you could try googling for
gsm transciever or gsm repeater or something
I don't know how it work, but my O2 XDA II mini have something behind like antena connector. It should be better if using this external antena instead of internal antena.
Best regards,
Arto
Do a search on google... they do have repeaters for buildings, but they can be expensive. You essentially, mount an antenna on the roof our your building, and a repeater amplifies to another antenna somewhere in your house. I was looking into amplifying the GSM signal into my basement...
Signal Booster???
I haven't tried this, but is this for what you were looking?
http://www.criterioncellular.com/amplifiers/index.html
This is what I was looking into:
http://www.cellantenna.com/repeater/building_repeater.htm

General BT question.

I do not post a lot but I do read and I love this site. You all have great information.
My question is: Why is the BT such a problem? How come the BT works so well on regular phones but on these divices it is an issue.
I hope this is not a dumb quetion I am just trying to understand.
Thanks.
The general consensus, as I've read here & at HoFo, seems to be that some part of the BA's hardware isn't up to par. ISTR reading that the placement of the BA's antenna is a bit problematic; since both BT & WiFi use the same 2.4 GHz frequency, they could conceivably use the same antenna. Thus a poorly designed 2.4 GHz antenna could explain the BA's substandard WiFi and BT performance.
My BA's WLAN isn't bad at all. I can easily get a fully usable connection to my Netgear WGT 624 accesspoint inside my room on the third floor in a concrete building at a distance of appr. 90 meters.
Also usable inside my car parked on the opposite side of the building!
(See attached images)
[/img]
BT works well at 10 meters with a GPS receiver.
Thanks for the input guys.
Bluetooth to headset range
Has anyone got to the bottom of the issue with the range for the headset. I have had to keep my radio where it is for T-Mobile BB but have updated to the 3900 build.
No matter what the bluetooth build or the radio version it just seems to me that talking on a headset is dreadful if it is more than 4 feet away from the device. If for example you have the device in your pocket I still get a lot of static and scratchy voice quality.
The headset I use is the SE HBH660. Is it the general consensus that we just have the live with this?
All view comments and opinions welcome even if you think I am totally wrong :lol:
i can not even get my device to find my BT handsfree.
any ideas
My BA's WLAN isn't bad at all. I can easily get a fully usable connection to my Netgear WGT 624 accesspoint inside my room on the third floor in a concrete building at a distance of appr. 90 meters
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:O Mine won't even pick up the network in my conservatory 10 meters away. I can get low signal in my bedroom approx 3meters above the router.
Re: Bluetooth to headset range
Jiggy said:
Has anyone got to the bottom of the issue with the range for the headset. I have had to keep my radio where it is for T-Mobile BB but have updated to the 3900 build.
No matter what the bluetooth build or the radio version it just seems to me that talking on a headset is dreadful if it is more than 4 feet away from the device. If for example you have the device in your pocket I still get a lot of static and scratchy voice quality.
The headset I use is the SE HBH660. Is it the general consensus that we just have the live with this?
All view comments and opinions welcome even if you think I am totally wrong :lol:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use a Motorola 850 same thing. I hate this. I am in the car the phone is in the seat next to me. WORKING PERFECT. I get out of the car and put it in the belt holster BAM cracking static etc. Now the distance from the headset to the phone is greater in the car than on my belt.
I mean Jesus tapdancing Christ. I do not get it. I have tried the headset on the same side of the body trick and everything. :x
O well the fun of new technologies.

External GPS Antenna

My Artemis did not come with an external GPS antenna. I've been looking online, but I can't find any sort of specification as to what kind of connector this external GPA antenna jack uses. What kind of antenna should I buy?
The Artemis has a built-in Sirf III GPS antena which work even with cars having a reflective windshield.
Yes, thank you. I would still like an external antenna just in case.
in the Premium version, I bought, there was an external GPS-antenna included.
It has a very long cable.
But sorry, I can't tell you, what kind of connector it has.
If you really think you need an external aerial for the GPS unit in your device (which I doubt to be honest) have a search for the part number 36H00352-00M it transpires that the same aerial was supplied for the I-Mate PDA-n, you can purchase one from http://www.expansys.com/p.aspx?i=129590 (at least I can improve the reception on my PDA-n now I know that! and I have found a use for the external GPS aerial that was supplied with my Arte) - Mike
... there is one also available here.
PavelR.
I was thinking of this as well.
It may be necessary to get an ext antenae, because it takes a about 1 - 5 minutes sometimes for the handset to pick up (or connect as it shows in grey) a GPS signal
AD10 said:
I was thinking of this as well.
It may be necessary to get an ext antenae, because it takes a about 1 - 5 minutes sometimes for the handset to pick up (or connect as it shows in grey) a GPS signal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the new update of Navigator 6 on the TomTom site before buying. Maybe there is some goodies there
I upgraded to the 6.03 and it still takes a very long time for it to get a valid signal.
I inquired about HTC P3300 external antenna GPS signal booster but they are out of stock and have no ETA when they are going to get them in.
Anybody have a source on where to get the above product from?
Ext Aerial
The HTC 3300 uses the same external aerial as i-Mate PDA-n. I got mine through Expansys. It really boosts the signal, but makes no real difference to TTFF. It is much better in the concrete jungle though.
How much from Expansys? I'm in melb too so AUD is no problem for me. My last city trip saw signal drop out nicely!
good thing i was testing and knew where i was going!
jdl1306 said:
How much from Expansys? I'm in melb too so AUD is no problem for me. My last city trip saw signal drop out nicely!
good thing i was testing and knew where i was going!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW - Lucky you.
Imagine nto knowing your way.
@Camstech - How long does it take before you get a valid GPS signal with the ext antenna connected ?
Rgds
O2 Orbit Aerial
Hi. Having used an Exec running the same version of CoPilot, but with a Holux GPSlim 236 BT, the Orbit is definitely slower to TTFF, and sometimes gets a little 'lost'. For a few seconds, it will jump to a street maybe a 100m away, then come back, and recalculate the route again. I feel that an aerial might just improve matters a bit. I have read the previous posts, and am still finding great difficulty in finding an external aerial to fit the Orbit. O2 have no information at all, and when I've contacted the suppliers listed above, they have all said that they don't carry aerials that fit. One suggested that they suspect that the connector for the Orbit is now actually different from the original Artemis - although that seems rather unlikely. Have now tried MMCX, MCX,and lastly SSMB - none of which fit. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Hiznibz54 said:
Have now tried MMCX, MCX,and lastly SSMB - none of which fit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_details.php?id=5887 it's a mini-MMCX.
Aerial
Yes, I know, but when I rang them today, they were the ones who said that it wasn't the MMCX, that the O2 may be now different from the Artemis, and they had been asked quite a few times for a suitable aerial, but they definitely didn't have anything that fitted, nor did they know what it was.. The plot thickens.. The connector looks exactly the same as in the phone socket beside it, but a few phone companies I've shown it to don't know either.
I just picked up a BT-359W Bluetooth GPS Receiver for 85- Euro new.
The only difference between the BT-359W & BT-359S is the design on the top.
I made sure the battery was 100% charged before I turned it on (old habits die hard) and after spending 5-10 minutes trying to configure the Bluetooth on the HTC P3300 - I am a newbie when it comes to this new technology - it was able to get 3 satellites while I was in the house right away.
The thing is very small also - 82 mm x 41 mm x 13.4 mm (Inches: 3.22" x 1.61" x 0.52").
I would have to say that this is a great alternative to a wired antenna.
Here is a review I read before making my final decision: GlobalSat BT-359 Bluetooth GPS receiver review
I tried my BT Holux GPSlim 236, which I'd previously used with my XDA Exec, with the Orbit. It paired up automatically in about 20 secs, and the reception, and TTFF is MUCH better. Without 236, in my office, I was struggling to get more than 4 satellites, and a fix was at least 5 mins. Admittedly this was deliberately in a poor reception area. Swapping to the 236, by the time it had registered with the Orbit - as I said, only about 20 seconds - when I checked satellite status, it had already found 11, and had a 3D fix!! I had hoped for the simple life, with just the Orbit in an active car cradle, but I think if I can't get a simple plug-in aerial, it'll have to be back to the BT 236, and its charger.

[Q] How to increase mobile signal

I have a very strong network signal outside my house or near my window. But inside my house the signal strength is very poor. Is there any external antenna to recieve strong signals.?? ( other than cell phone repeaters)
I live in india. Network- TATA DOCOMO
Sent from my MT27i using xda app-developers app
Week Signal
ommon4u said:
I have a very strong network signal outside my house or near my window. But inside my house the signal strength is very poor. Is there any external antenna to recieve strong signals.?? ( other than cell phone repeaters)
I live in india. Network- TATA DOCOMO
Sent from my MT27i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know much about it but I think you need external devices to detect the slow range
some Siemens phones had on the back an antenna jack, with those yes you could enhance the signal with only an external antenna
Increase Signal?
5 Quick Ways to Boost Your Cell Phone:
1. A simple piece of wire
Very simple and cheap method using insulated wire.
2. Major boost using empty cans
This one got me from zero bars to three bars, in an area I never get a signal in. I keep this one in the trunk when the weather sucks. The additional wires I got on eBay for a few bucks each. Takes less than five minutes, looks stupid but works well.
3. The paper clip booster
This one didn't work as well as I had hoped, but it did give me an extra bar (which is great when you have zero bars). Good if you're in the office and need to use your cell, maybe for making one of those "personal" calls.
4. The Tesla coil effect
Hands down the easiest one I found. All you need is tape and those little twisty-ties you get with cheap garbage/sandwich bags. Worked better than the paper clip for me.
5. An old radio antenna
this year the mobile signal is weeker than ever. When I wanna upload an picture or share sth with friends. it is not available. uhhh
Did you try to root your phone and check any cutom ROM? In my case custom ROM gave me much better signal on my SGS3
Good luck!
How to increase signal i9001
Hey everyone ..
How to increase mobile signal Samsung Galaxy S plus i9001 CyanogenMod 9.
Thank you,
Thank you
is it possible that the surrounding houses are aluminum sided."
if so the signal is getting bounced rather than absorbed. this creates whats called "signal bounce confusion"
I have try this trick with the cable.the phone choose the best signal between internal and external antenna.and of course it will get better signal from external antenna. it works but you must use a soft wire...the second time I did it I try to use a wire from ethernet cable...I broke the clips inside and the internal antenna is broken..now I use the external antenna with a soft wire from usb cable. So becarefully when try thinks like that.
It's great for your method, thank you.

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