►TURTLE RACING LEAGUE l Saturday Night Enduro Series l Accepting New Members Everyday!Open 

  • Thread starter Ph1sh
  • 7,202 comments
  • 245,577 views
Status
Not open for further replies.
Severn
Don't panic... just grab a towel, soak it in water, hang it on your front door, and then let me win on Saturday and you'll be fine.

On to some actual jury-rigging tips:
Fun fact about running on Wifi, if you think you are experiencing issues with signal strength and other wifi issues and you are literally unable to go wired, or relocate your router or PS3 to a more optimal location, a simple parabolic antenna made out of a metal mixing bowl (or a tin foil lined mixing bowl, or whatever round-ish shaped object you have that you can then line with tin foil) positioned around the router and pointed in the direction of your PS3 (or any wifi device really) can drastically improve your signal strength and availability. Your family may think you've gone crazy, but it will actually help (No correcting my physics here, tzracer :lol:)

Also, since the whole "DMZ" thing has been mentioned before, another option (one which I actually use personally) is many of the cable modems provided by your ISP are built-in modems/router combos, if you are then running a hard line from your modem to a separate router that you then use for wireless or your home network... you can connect your PS3 straight to your modem, bypassing your internal network and avoiding the extra layer of NAT'ing that would be setup by default in a scenario like that. (Basically, if your modem has more than one LAN-out port, and you use another router off of the modem, you can run your PS3 straight to the modem and bypass your usual router.)

Finally: if you are really trying to pinch every bit of bandwidth out of your connection, make sure you use as few coaxial splitters as possible between your modem and the telephone pole (or whatever point is officially no longer on your property).
A normal 2-way coaxial splitter reduces signal strength by -3.5dB, and a 3-way is even worse (up to -7dB because it stacks) depending on how many TVs, or just cable jacks you have in your house alone (nothing needs to be plugged into them or even running, the splitters reduce signal strength regardless), this can really start to add up. When I first moved into my place, I noticed that the cable provider set up a horrible configuration where as soon as the line got into my basement it connected to a 3-way splitter, and then from there would go on to split over and over again before actually reaching a wall-jack. (I guess the previous owner reeeeally liked having options on where they could plug in their cable boxes and modems) Basically, if I had used another 2-way splitter just to connect my modem and a cable box into a single wall jack, my connection would've hit 4-5 splitters total before getting out to the world. Not even counting the extra noise from a 3-way splitter, I would be looking at -14 to -17.5dB right off my signal strength before I even tried to start tuning my internal network to figure out where my lag is... which is BAD... and borderline Impossible.

Don't quote me on this, but if I remember correctly, the ideal signal strength for a cable modem is between -6dB and +3dB. Unless your ISP is crap or you're in a large apartment complex, or some other location where they may boost the signal strength, the signal strength initially running into your house should be right at 0dB (which is considered the sweet spot). Outside the ideal signal strength range you will begin to experience dropped packets, wide variations in bandwidth speeds, and possibly even complete disconnects from your ISP. What I ended up doing was re-routing the cable jack in my office all the way back to that first splitter and plugging it straight into there (on 3 way splitters, one of the jacks will still be a -3.5dB and two will be -7dB) and then letting the rest of my house run off the other lines.

If you log into your router, or modem interface, you can usually find your signal strength somewhere in the Connection information... hopefully it is as close to 0dB as possible (might appear as dBmV). If you are running really low, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to clear the line then call your ISP. There are Coaxial signal amplifiers available, but last time I checked they do not work for modems... and will actually cause your modem to not connect at all (this may have changed). Regardless, if you've verified that you have the cleanest route out possible but you're still having really low signal strength, calling your ISP and giving them the exact numbers should get them to your door.

Really, really, really, long story short, if you're not afraid of getting your hands dirty and tracing the coax cables around your house, you can pinch every last drop of juice from your connection by simply making sure your modem has the most direct route to the world as possible.

I dug around google for a minute and found this little graph showing an ideal configuration for an overloaded house (like mine)... it shows the use of signal amplifiers to the TVs, which I personally don't use, but most importantly note how the modem should be run all the way back to the very first splitter and plugged into the smallest dB loss jack.
View attachment 108433

EDIT: I just wanted to make note that I don't have 8 TVs in my house :P but, like I said, splitters reduce strength regardless of whether or not anything is plugged in at the other end.
Click to expand...

Where the heck were you when I was going through this in school?!

Well, not quite everything, but still...
 
Well, in some courses, we learned about antennas and did some wireless labs in another course. Turns out, the two frequencies most wireless routers use (2.4 and 5 GHz), the 5 GHz, doesn't have the reach the 2.4 GHz has.
 
RacingOtaku86
Well, in some courses, we learned about antennas and did some wireless labs in another course. Turns out, the two frequencies most wireless routers use (2.4 and 5 GHz), the 5 GHz, doesn't have the reach the 2.4 GHz has.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I gotcha. There's a wireless router company called Ruckus that I'm a big fan of because of how they handle maximum signal strength over the greatest distance with the least amount of interference. Unfortunately, they currently only make them for commercial purposes (places like stadiums and large buildings are their bread and butter).

But basically, what makes their products so neat is that they actually have antennas that can change their output shape... Essentially, when a device connects to them they'll cycle through a few hundred different "shapes" (if you imagine a standard wifi antenna putting out a sphere of signal in all directions, these can change that shape) until it finds the shape that is ideal for your device. This allows for 2 things, 1: great signal over a long range and 2: less interference from other devices using the same router (the typical router just cranks up the power to improve signal strength which can actually interfere with devices that would otherwise be fine signal strength-wise)

I just hope they decide to start making personal/home office products... but from what I hear they have absolutely no interest in doing so.
 
And frankly I don't care yet because I'm fine with my set up right now, and I don't have lag. I think.
 
GT_Racer22
And frankly I don't care yet because I'm fine with my set up right now, and I don't have lag. I think.
Click to expand...

Just throwing out some recommendations, albeit long-windedly, for those that do have connection problems.
 
ItsAllAboutWins
Turtle tax time lol
Click to expand...

I'm trying to shop around and see if I can find a sweet deal to afford a G27 AND a decent rig... I'd kill for that... but if forced to choose between one of the other, I'll be taking the rig... the DFGT doesn't cause me physical pain after 2 hours :lol:
 
Severn
I'm trying to shop around and see if I can find a sweet deal to afford a G27 AND a decent rig... I'd kill for that... but if forced to choose between one of the other, I'll be taking the rig... the DFGT doesn't cause me physical pain after 2 hours :lol:
Click to expand...
DIY!
 
LeadFootLiam
DIY!
Click to expand...


While I haven't fully watched this to see if something like this would work, the reason why I've been thinking I'd go with a prefab is because I need something easily adjustable for either my son or myself.
 
I read with great interest GTP_Severn's doctoral thesis on co-axial splitter nuances and then came away from it in the end wondering how any of that applies to my DSL connection ? :rolleyes:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

P
(Suspended) Shark's Muscle Mayhem Series Saturday Races Will run a lobby August 11 about 4pm central time
Replies
7
Views
2K
Cold Warrior
Cold Warrior
Ph1sh
Turtle Racing League :: Friday Night Enduro Racing Series : Thanks for the Memories Turtles!!
22 23 24
Replies
709
Views
32K
Dolph Drago
Dolph Drago
Benny44
Benny's Beer League Racing
Replies
0
Views
903
Benny44
Benny44
Sweaty Palms
Regions Cup Series | Join Us This Friday | VGT Cars
Replies
1
Views
1K
Sweaty Palms
Sweaty Palms
Theufcveteran
TheUFCVeteran's Gran Turismo 7 Custom Career - Classic GT Style Progression (1000+ Races, Motorsport Journey, Missions, More)
2
Replies
37
Views
17K
Theufcveteran
Theufcveteran

Latest Posts

Back