How to connect an ALPHA R36 Router to the TUBE-UV Antennae?

[truscott]

I've seen folk refer to their Afha setup running out of the box, but am wondering how folk have managed that?

My R36 works standalone easy enough, and I can see that I can plug in a USB 3G dongle to it, but when I try to plug the Tube-UV into it, I can not see in the admin tool where to configure this. The lights on the Tube-UV do not light up when it is connected to the USB port of the R36, which to me indicates that there is no power to the device for starters.

I can run the Tube-UV directly from my PC, which is great, but does mean that we are limited to one device using it at a time and means without setting up connection sharing on the PC, our phones and tablets are not able to connect to the web.

The R36 was supposed to sort this out!

Any and all ideas gratefully sought.

Cheers, PT.

Merry Christmas to all.

 

[SteveSarabande]

Login to the r36 using 192.168.2.1, then run the easy setup to tell it wether there is a 3 g modem or a usb device connected

 

[truscott]

Just for the record, I wrote to Crucial WiFi via Amazon (I'd bought the R36 off of Amazon, but supplied by them) and they emailed me back with the Firmware update (ALFA-R36-v1.2.1.8). All up and running now but just need to get it all installed on the boat.

Cheers, PT

 

[Mistroma]

Just for the record, I wrote to Crucial WiFi via Amazon (I'd bought the R36 off of Amazon, but supplied by them) and they emailed me back with the Firmware update (ALFA-R36-v1.2.1.8). All up and running now but just need to get it all installed on the boat.

Cheers, PT

I was just about to suggest a firmware update. I bought an R36 from CrucialWifi along with a Tube G (I prefer the longer range vs. the newer chipset used in more modern Alfa kit) and seem to remember the same symptoms. OK directly to any PC but nothing when connected via the R36. Lack of a blue LED indicated it wasn't talking to the Tube G. I emailed CrucialWifi and had a very quick reply suggesting a firmware update.

I tried 2 updates from Alfa's own site (latest and previous version for use with AWUS036H & Tube G) but no luck at all. I told CrucialWifi which firmware versions I'd tried and he sent another file the same day. It was fine and worked perfectly, excellent service.

I have read of a few similar issues but it seems that customers might buy quite a few R36s without any problem and then one customer reports this issue. It doesn't help that you need to have the correct firmware for different Alfa kit (depends on chipset used).

Happy to hear it is all fine now.

 

[truscott]

Thanks for the responses. Could I ask what type of Co-ax and connectors you use between the Tube-U/G and the antenna?

I have the MARINA ANTENNA OMNI EXTERNAL 2,4G 8dBi ALFA Network AOA-2408R N Type Female and am hoping to buy the Co-Ax from a chandler in Marmaris rather than carry it out in my luggage. I have bought a couple of N Type Connectors to fit to the coaz between the Antenna and the Tube-UV that I have, and hope all that remains is the correct type of cable to get.

Cheers in advance.

PT

 

[Mistroma]

Thanks for the responses. Could I ask what type of Co-ax and connectors you use between the Tube-U/G and the antenna?

I have the MARINA ANTENNA OMNI EXTERNAL 2,4G 8dBi ALFA Network AOA-2408R N Type Female and am hoping to buy the Co-Ax from a chandler in Marmaris rather than carry it out in my luggage. I have bought a couple of N Type Connectors to fit to the coaz between the Antenna and the Tube-UV that I have, and hope all that remains is the correct type of cable to get.

Cheers in advance.

PT

Pretty certain that the antenna has N female connector and Tube UV has N male connector. Just screw them both together without using a cable.

If you use co-ax then you will get signal loss and the longer the cable the more loss you get. Ideally, connect the antenna directly to the Alfa to get minimum loss. Remember, the antenna output signal is analogue and so degrades steadily as cable length increases.

You should use USB cable to allow the Alfa Tube to be sited away from your PC or R36. The USB cable carries a digital signal and unlike an analogue signal doesn't degrade proportionally with length. It just works until a critical length is reached and then it pretty much drops off a cliff.

5m co-ax cable between Alfa and antenna.... Bad idea as performance will be affected
5m USB cable between Alfa and PC.................. No perceptible performance difference vs. a 0.1m USB cable

Use decent quality USB cable and 5m should be fine as that's within expected length for USB. Get a decent active USB cable if you want to go to 10-15m (5m passive + 10m active).

I rarely need to use more than 5m USB as signal can actually be worse higher up. It all depends on local conditions but I usually find 2-3m height is often better than 10m.

 

[truscott]

Thanks Mistroma. I have been looking at Coax to link the Tube and the Antenna as Crucial Wifi have said that the 5m USB cable won't work. I have a 2m one, and that does work, but haven't tested the 5m one as yet. Will give it a go.

Cheers, PT

 

[Mistroma]

You can have problems with long USB cables even though they should be fine up to 5m. It depends on the cable and what you connect it to. Some low quality cable can give problems, some devices can't supply enough power and it becomes a problem as length increases. Similarly, devices pulling a lot of power can cause problems.

The guy at Crucial Wifi usually knows what he's talking about. However, he has previously sold 5m cables specifically for Alfa AWUS036H, AWUS036NH, Tube U(G), etc. Older Alfa kit is fine at 5m as my R36 powers a Tube U(G) without any problems. I also have a 10m active USB cable and that's also fine. Perhaps the Tube UV is more picky than older kit but I wouldn't expect it to be the case.

I'd expect a 5m cable to be fine for R36 linking to an Alfa Tube. Worth trying and also checking with CrucialWifi if there is a specific issue with Tube UV, pity you didn't buy a Tube U(G).

I'm surprised that he suggested co-ax as that's completely the wrong way to go.

 

[RobbieW]

If USB power is a potential problem due to cable length, have a look for higher quality cables - often described as 20 AWG. The power strands are made with fatter cable to improve the volt drop characteristic, PortaPow are one manufacturer - I'm sure there are others. I've switched to one for powering a router using a 4G dongle, its improved stability no end.