Antenna Alignment display
I am extending my home network to an outbuilding 250 yards from my home. I have one of the TL-WA701ND's operating as an Access Point with wireless mac filtering set to the two Client TL-WA701ND's in the out buildings. I have a 24dBi grid pack dish antenna on the Access Point, and 18dBi yagi on one of the two Client units.
During my antenna alignment I started to wonder if other signals on the channel would affect antenna alignment as the MAC filtering should keep all but authorized signals out of the connection.
I also noted that the MAC filtering could only be done on the Access Point. Previously I had WiFi cameras operating which I had MAC filtering on both Access point, and Client (Camera) I feel better about doing it that way as congestion in my area is pretty high. The main channels 1,6 & 11 all have several WiFi signals on them. I have bandwidth set for 20MHz to help with adjacent signals. However at times it seems my IP surveillance cameras stop updating. I can see the seconds tick off on the clock except occasionally. Don't know if it's a Camera issue or a path issue.
Did the microwave path analysis and my field tests bare out the calculations within acceptable tollerances. I'm getting -63 to -71 signals depending on time of day and wind blowing the pine trees around. Fresnel Zone goes over a pond at mid point... which is likely part of my fade margin.
The question IS... does the MAC filtering help the readout of Antenna Alignment, or does sheer signal strength on channel affect the display.
The other homes that are on my channel are within the horizontal beamwidth of the Yagi. A dish would be narrower, but more wind resistance and cost. The mini dish's are smaller, but beamwidth specs are not available.
Anyone have the answer...
Please don't guess!
Imagineer
Telecommunication Engineer with years of experience in Microwave and Radio communications