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Parrothead

Provincial internet access in Cambodia.

 

Chan spoke with her friend, who happens to work at Cootel and lives just down the road from the farm. She had her internet service there while on holiday, a little while back. So, we figured we would give it a go. She (the friend) helped schedule a test / installation trip for us.

 

We met the installer from Cootel, yesterday, at the farm. He came armed with 2 different units, a fiberglass 9dB gain antenna and 10 meters of coaxial cable with both N and SMA connectors. One unit was a CPE-153W; the other a CPE-168W. He informed me that the CPE-168W allows faster access than the CPE-153W.

CPE168W-4.png

 

The rear image (below) shows an Ethernet connector. While this is accurate for the CPE-153W, the CPE-168W has a USB connector to hard wire a computer to the modem / router. Devices may access the router via WiFi, as well. (I'm not sure of the range of the transmitter, though. The WiFi antenna is internal.)

CPE168W-1.png

 

When he tested them, the CPE-168W, quite obviously, came out on top. The CPE-158W was about 1.5 Megabits down; .73 Megabits up. The CPE-168W was at 6.3 Megabits down; 1.5 Megabits up.

 

Here is an image of the rear of my personal CPE-168W modem / router:

4g_modem_.jpg

 

To gather these speeds, he mounted the 88cm fiberglass antenna to a bamboo pole we had in the yard. But, this only placed it just above the roof.

9db_fiberglass_antenna.jpg

 

The monthly service is $15 USD / month, uncapped. If I buy 6 months, I get one month free. 

 

 

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andy

Keep us updated Paul! May think about this has an alternative.

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JohnOBohn

is this company better - equal to - or worse than what you presently have in the city???

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Parrothead
On 10/7/2017 at 2:06 PM, JohnOBohn said:

is this company better - equal to - or worse than what you presently have in the city???

 

Better, equal to, or worse? I can't really say. We are comparing apples to oranges, really. It is just a different system of accessing the internet.

 

In the city, I have Metfone ADSL service. Basically, internet through the phone line, like I had back in the US. Dated, but still offering plenty of access speed. Here, I pay for 10 Megabits down, but it most often tops out at 11 or 12 Megabits. Typically, upload is under 1 Megabit, though. 

 

The Cootel service is basically a wireless modem linked to a wireless access point. A wireless access point, which happens to be broadcast from an antenna array located about 40 meters up a tower and about 5 kilometers away. I was particularly impressed when I manually raised the external antenna a couple more meters, causing the upload and download speeds to increase. I can't wait to see how much better it performs, with the fiberglass antenna, mounted 7+ meters high. Either way, if I can maintain anything around 5 to 6 Megabits down, and 1.5 Megabits up at the farm, I will be quite happy. Of course, the real test will be how well it performs during a monsoon rain. I can imagine speed will drop like a rock, then. 

 

 

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Parrothead

Keep us updated Paul! May think about this has an alternative.

 

What internet access do you have where you are now? Honestly, this sort of access, like Cootel, is really for those who are in more rural areas, where a wired connection like ADSL or Fiber may not be available. So, unless you are running access that you pay for by the Megabit - like through a dongle or SIM router, I wouldn't consider it. 

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Oz Jon

Better, equal to, or worse? I can't really say. We are comparing apples to oranges, really. It is just a different system of accessing the internet.

 

In the city, I have Metfone ADSL service. Basically, internet through the phone line, like I had back in the US. Dated, but still offering plenty of access speed. Here, I pay for 10 Megabits down, but it most often tops out at 11 or 12 Megabits. Typically, upload is under 1 Megabit, though. 

 

The Cootel service is basically a wireless modem linked to a wireless access point. A wireless access point, which happens to be broadcast from an antenna array located about 40 meters up a tower and about 5 kilometers away. I was particularly impressed when I manually raised the external antenna a couple more meters, causing the upload and download speeds to increase. I can't wait to see how much better it performs, with the fiberglass antenna, mounted 7+ meters high. Either way, if I can maintain anything around 5 to 6 Megabits down, and 1.5 Megabits up at the farm, I will be quite happy. Of course, the real test will be how well it performs during a monsoon rain. I can imagine speed will drop like a rock, then. 

Well Paul,

 

This arrangement reads like much the same kind of radio link that you and I talked about on another thread?

 

If it works in the the same frequency band, then all the antenna height info I gave you will apply to this link too.

 

It sounds like a neat, simple solution to your connection problem.

 

You will still owe me that beer for my previous design effort though! - Lol!

 

Cheers

 

ps. If you give me a bit more information, I can look into optimising it for you

Edited by Oz Jon
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andy
On 10/7/2017 at 9:44 PM, Paul said:
So, unless you are running access that you pay for by the Megabit - like through a dongle or SIM router, I wouldn't consider it.

 

I understand. I have Wi-Fi via the Post Office. Problem is at times it is slow, apparently due to the amount of people here using Facebook.

The company has software to install to make the service better. I hope they do this soon. 

 

 

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Oz Jon

Paul, You said:-

 

"He came armed with 2 different units, a fiberglass 9dB gain antenna 10 meters of coaxial cable with both N and SMA connectors."

               and " he mounted the 88cm fiberglass antenna.."

 

9db gain and 88cm diameter don't gel too well! - unless the link is operating in a rather low frequency band or the length of coax was very lossy!

At the usual 2.4GHz or 5Ghz I would have expected much more net gain if the 88cm antenna was a parabolic reflector type? ...... At 5GHZ, closer to 30dB for a good one and maybe 25dB for a "so-so" one.

 

What frequency band is it working in?

Could you read the type number of this coax  (printed on it) - typically RGxxx.

Depending on the type, 10m could have from <3dB to 17dB loss at 5GHz

Edited by Oz Jon

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Parrothead

This arrangement reads like much the same kind of radio link that you and I talked about on another thread?

 

Similar, I imagine, but with an omni-directional antenna that enables the modem to link to an access point 5 kilometers away. The frequency range is different.

 

9db gain and 88cm diameter don't gel too well!

 

The length of 88cm is the fiberglass plus the mount, I'm pretty sure. It isn't the actual length of the antenna inside the fiberglass housing.

 

What frequency band is it working in?

 

1785 Mhz to 1805 Mhz, according to the specifications sheet.

 

antenna_specifications.jpg

 

I don't have the specs on the coaxial cable. It is at the farm. I am at the apartment in the city, at the moment. 

 

I was going to try to find some Belden coax, with similar connectors. But, the modem / router showed maximum signal strength, when I raised it above the roof of the container, by two meters. That would be about 5 meters high. So, if I build the tower and raise it to 7+ meters high, I figure I will get the best connection available. Would you agree?

Edited by Paul

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Oz Jon

Right Paul - now it's all making much better sense! -hard to beat having the odd fact! - Lol!

 

So it's a 2GHz radio link - that makes the radio path loss a lot lower than at 5GHz, but makes the antenna gains (for the same size) similarly lower.

The antenna spec you published above, says that the antenna is omn-directional in azimuth but it has a modest vertical beamwidth pattern.

Now the gain figure v size makes more sense! ... It's a classic, high gain vertical whip. (not optimum for your job, but cheap and simple - and it works!)

 

It reads like a nice piece of kit! ...... Price?

 

I figure that this kit wasn't intended for a point-point link like you want, more like feeding a bunch of remote Wi-Fi hubs - (but Hey! - any solution that works - is a good solution! -- my vintage Engineer's maxim!).

 

Unlike at 5GHz, at 2GHZ, you would will probably find that find more height is an advantage. Send me a Google Earth photo of the route, plus transmitter antenna location and height & the farm antenna location and I'll re-do an optimum path for you.

 

Cheers!

 

ps. Coax cable losses are a hell-of-a-lot lower at 2GHz than at 5GHZ too

Edited by Oz Jon

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  • Similar Content

    • Parrothead
      By Parrothead
      Well, this afternoon, we had the first heavy rain since we arrived at the farm earlier this month. Even with the 9dB gain omnidirectional antenna, there was no, zero signal loss at the modem. Have a look at the :30 seconds video:
       
       
    • Parrothead
      By Parrothead
      @Oz Jon, I was informed today that Cootel was going to move tower locations (READ: already had moved), thus causing the signal to drop at the farm. We are talking a serious drop in signal, so much that they suggested we discontinue the service with them. My thread regarding our Cootel service.
       
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      Anyway, below is the specs sheet for the omni, which I sent to him. He, quite obviously, did not read the subject line of the email, or the specs sheet, aside from the model number of the antenna. 

       
       
      Here are a couple of the (several) PDFs he sent to me:
       
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    • Parrothead
      By Parrothead
      Howdy,
       
      First, some images of the tower that broadcasts the signal:
       

       

       

       
      We stopped by there on the way back to the apartment today, to get a few images and to grab its GPS coordinates.
       
      The tower is located at: 12.974649, 103.053851 decimal, or 12° 58' 28.7364'' N by 103° 3' 13.8636'' E
       
      The farm's GPS coordinates are: 12.9867798, 103.0072846 decimal, or 12° 59' 12.4073'' N by 103° 0' 26.2246'' E
       
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    • Parrothead
      By Parrothead
      Metfone has internet access running out Highway 57 (Southwest toward the farm). But, the access is limited to just off the highway. So, I have been working on a solution, to get the internet extended to the farm. I finally received, compliments of a friend, two TP Link CPE-510's. One will function as an Access Point for the other unit, while it will serve as a Client. They are good for about 15 kilometers, according to the specifications. I just have to complete the tower builds (one has to be looked at again, due to my findings, below) and have the antennae mounted up top. Both are powered via POE (Power Over Ethernet). 
       

       

       
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