I'm relatively new to wireless networking & ask you for debug advice. Everything is working but there are errors I'm trying to figure out. https://i.postimg.cc/FR3X1FC5/settings.jpg
Where that "wireless bridge client repeater" is bridged 1:1 to an
access point which happens to be on the non-overlapping channel 11.
The debug took I'm using on Android to find the noise sources is this. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubnt.usurvey
But of course, that only records Wi-Fi sources, not all nearby radios. https://i.postimg.cc/Bv809Bxv/channels.jpg
While that only shows wi-fi interference sources, there are
no baby monitors nearby that I know of. No microwave in use.
No airport nearby. No doorbell cameras. Nothing that I know of.
Even the phone, connected to that same channel 11 access point
shows a steady downarrow of 390Mbps but the uparrow flips every
few seconds between 433Mbps and 6Mbps (consistently the same numbers). https://i.postimg.cc/rw1whtBb/android.jpg
While I'm not at all sure what that even means for the uparrow to
be flipping between over 400Mbps and less than 10 Mbps, below are
the basic wireless settings of the bridge connected to the desktop.
1. Desktop PC 1 floor from the main router has no Wi-Fi. Only Ethernet.
2. So I plugged an old Netgear WNR834Bv2 into that Ethernet RJ45.
3. And I installed DD-WRT onto that Netgear WNR834Bv2 & set it up as
Setup | Advanced Routing | Operating Mode = Router
Setup | Basic Setup | WAN Connection Type = Disabled
Wireless | Basic Settings | Radio Mode = Repeater Bridge
Wireless | Basic Settings | Network Configuration = Bridged
How do I debug the high transmission error rate?
Status | Wireless | Wireless Packet Info | Received (RX) = 100%
Status | Wireless | Wireless Packet Info | Transmitted (TX) = 14%
And how do I investigate the source of this continued interference?
Status | Wireless | Access Points & Clients | Signal = -38 dBm
Status | Wireless | Access Points & Clients | Noise = -81 dBm
Status | Wireless | Access Points & Clients | SNR = 43
There are a few questions related to how do I debug?
a. What Android tool will find noise sources _outside_ Wi-Fi channels?
b. How do I test for where all that noise is coming from?
c. Why am I receiving all but losing almost all my bridge packets?
The RTL SDR was a cheap Software Defined Radio device, for learning
about how to examine things that are broadcasting on the air. The
tuner on the thing, only went up to about 1700MHz, which isn't high enough for the two major Wifi bands. But the device would only cost 30-40 bucks or so.
I'm relatively new to wireless networking & ask you for debug advice. Everything is working but there are errors I'm trying to figure out. https://i.postimg.cc/FR3X1FC5/settings.jpg
Where that "wireless bridge client repeater" is bridged 1:1 to an
access point which happens to be on the non-overlapping channel 11.
The debug took
I'm using on Android to find the noise sources is this. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubnt.usurvey
But of course, that only records Wi-Fi sources, not all nearby radios. https://i.postimg.cc/Bv809Bxv/channels.jpg
While that only shows wi-fi interference sources, there are
no baby monitors nearby that I know of. No microwave in use.
No airport nearby. No doorbell cameras. Nothing that I know of.
Even the phone, connected to that same channel 11 access point
shows a steady downarrow of 390Mbps but the uparrow flips every
few seconds between 433Mbps and 6Mbps (consistently the same numbers). https://i.postimg.cc/rw1whtBb/android.jpg
While I'm not at all sure what that even means for the uparrow to
be flipping between over 400Mbps and less than 10 Mbps, below are
the basic wireless settings of the bridge connected to the desktop.
1. Desktop PC 1 floor from the main router has no Wi-Fi. Only Ethernet.
2. So I plugged an old Netgear WNR834Bv2 into that Ethernet RJ45.
3. And I installed DD-WRT onto that Netgear WNR834Bv2 & set it up as
Setup | Advanced Routing | Operating Mode = Router
Setup | Basic Setup | WAN Connection Type = Disabled
Wireless | Basic Settings | Radio Mode = Repeater Bridge
Wireless | Basic Settings | Network Configuration = Bridged
How do I debug the high transmission error rate?
Status | Wireless | Wireless Packet Info | Received (RX) = 100%
Status | Wireless | Wireless Packet Info | Transmitted (TX) = 14%
And how do I investigate the source of this continued interference?
Status | Wireless | Access Points & Clients | Signal = -38 dBm
Status | Wireless | Access Points & Clients | Noise = -81 dBm
Status | Wireless | Access Points & Clients | SNR = 43
There are a few questions related to how do I debug?
a. What Android tool will find noise sources _outside_ Wi-Fi channels?
b. How do I test for where all that noise is coming from?
c. Why am I receiving all but losing almost all my bridge packets?
Waterfall Graph: https://i.postimg.cc/KzQ2cjqq/java1.jpg
Channel Graph: https://i.postimg.cc/QxF3sXpm/java2.jpg
Does anyone have an idea how to interpret what the graphs are telling me?
The advantage of Airview is not only that it's free, but it gives you a waterfall spectrum analysis of everything in the range, not just Wi-Fi.
As your errors are asymmetric, I might be inclined to suspect a fault in
the hardware of the DD-WRT device itself, but, assuming FTM that it's alright, you can view other sources of WiFi by pressing either of the
two buttons at the bottom of that page (ie the Status, Wireless page):
Site Survey
WiViz Survey
Anything interesting come up there?
I'm using on Android to find the noise sources is this.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubnt.usurvey
But of course, that only records Wi-Fi sources, not all nearby radios.
https://i.postimg.cc/Bv809Bxv/channels.jpg
Have no knowledge of that particular tool, but the output looks alright.
FWIW, my preference is WiFi Analyzer by Kevin Yuan, I'm on v3.11.2,
but yours is probably fine.
... but I can't suggest a particular reason why Tx & Rx might be
affected asymmetrically by an extraneous source of noise - perhaps
others more knowledgeable than myself might be able to.
On Sun, 28 Jan 2024 11:08:41 +0000, Java Jive wrote:
As your errors are asymmetric, I might be inclined to suspect a fault in
the hardware of the DD-WRT device itself, but, assuming FTM that it's
alright, you can view other sources of WiFi by pressing either of the
two buttons at the bottom of that page (ie the Status, Wireless page):
Site Survey
WiViz Survey
Anything interesting come up there?
Thanks for that suggestion where the Site Survey came up with only one neighbor on the network but that WiViz Survey made my head spin a bit! https://i.postimg.cc/Bn3Smyz4/sitesurvey.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/0Qfsz2f4/wivizsurvey.jpg
It seems there is only a single Wi-Fi channel from a neighbor in that.
At least for the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi channels.
That WiViz survey is hard to read. What's all that bouncing around?
I'm using on Android to find the noise sources is this.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubnt.usurvey
But of course, that only records Wi-Fi sources, not all nearby radios.
https://i.postimg.cc/Bv809Bxv/channels.jpg
Have no knowledge of that particular tool, but the output looks alright.
FWIW, my preference is WiFi Analyzer by Kevin Yuan, I'm on v3.11.2,
but yours is probably fine.
I like the Ubiquiti Wi-Fi Man debugger, but is this the one you use? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vrem.wifianalyzer
Or is it this WiFi Analyzer? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manageengine.wifimonitor
... but I can't suggest a particular reason why Tx & Rx might be
affected asymmetrically by an extraneous source of noise - perhaps
others more knowledgeable than myself might be able to.
When I logged into each of my radios, I realized they had firmware from
about 2021 so I updated all the firmware and now the TX/RX is symmetric!
However, take a look at the TX/RX values! https://i.postimg.cc/Bn3Smyz4/sitesurvey.jpg
Notice the values are already much better?
Almost symmetric now.
The only thing I did was burn the latest firmware for every access point including the Ubiquiti access point that the WNR834Bv2 wireless client repeater bridge was WNR834Bv2 connected to.
That WiViz survey is hard to read. What's all that bouncing around?
Yes, it's a bit manic, but you can alter that in the options.
I like the Ubiquiti Wi-Fi Man debugger, but is this the one you use?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vrem.wifianalyzer
Or is it this WiFi Analyzer?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manageengine.wifimonitor
It's neither of those. In fact, I've just searched for it and can't
find it in the App Store any more, I don't know why not but perhaps the original developer lost interest in updating it.
The only 'versions' of
it around now seem to be from unreliable sites which I wouldn't wish to recommend because at least some of those 'versions' seem to be flagged
as potential malware.
I bought my first android smartphone in 2012 and
a year or two later found WiFi Analyzer (the one we're discussing, by
Kevin Yuan) in the App Store and installed it on that phone; AFAICR
without actually checking, my current phablet is about 5 or 6 years old,
and the app was still in the App Store when I was setting up that
tablet, or perhaps I just copied it from the phone; in neither of these
cases were there any problems from malware using the original app from
the App Store. I suppose what has happened since is that malware
writers have hijacked a clean original version from when it was widely available and adulterated it.
So if the one you are using is working satisfactorily, I wouldn't bother about trying to find another.
The only thing I did was burn the latest firmware for every access point
including the Ubiquiti access point that the WNR834Bv2 wireless client
repeater bridge was WNR834Bv2 connected to.
That at least is a significant improvement, but it's still not
symmetric, although it now may well be liveable with, only you can
decide that. Also it does suggest that I was on the right track to
suggest a problem with the system rather than extraneous noise.
check whether you are using the latest version of DD-WRT for that device
as well as the latest firmware for the other parts of the system? I
wonder is there's some intermittent hardware problem somewhere with
which the updated firmware is better at coping.
On Sun, 28 Jan 2024 15:50:53 +0000, Java Jive wrote:
I've noticed a lot of the more powerful apps are being slowly removed from the Google Play Store. I attribute it to them mostly being FOSS where they don't always have the time & energy to keep up with Google's new split-APK rules (which seem to require them to build APKs a different way lately).
You don't need to recommend an iffy APK because, luckily there are many out there that do both Wi-Fi and network analysis on the Android phone today.
What everyone needs in their Wi-Fi debugging folder is 3 types of tools.
A. Wi-Fi debuggers (these work for Wi-Fi channels but not interference)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.andr7e.wifimonitor
B. Cellular debuggers (these only work for one carrier's SIM at a time)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qtrun.QuickTest
C. Network debuggers (these are similar to those on the Windows PC)
There are other tools that I'm not sure of such as heat-map monitors
(which I think are used to map out floor-plan coverage for Wi-Fi). https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.etwok.netspotapp
And tools to tell you if you're using the latest patches & router firmware. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stoutner.privacycell
There are even tin-foil-hat tools to find if insecure protocols are used https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.srlabs.snoopsnitch
And for the tin-foil-hat user, tools to find stingrays (IMSI catchers). https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skibapps.cellspycatcher WARNING: No app from me will have ads unless I say so; this one does.
You might not know this but, unlike Windows, Android never deletes the original APK installer - it just changes the name to "base.apk" for
every app you've ever installed. So you can copy it direct to Windows.
This will give you the unique package name (if "wifi" is in the name).
CMD: adb shell pm list packages | findstr /i "wifi"
package:com.vrem.wifianalyzer
package:com.samsung.android.wifi.softap.resources
package:com.google.android.apps.carrier.carrierwifi
package:com.samsung.android.wifi.h2e.resources
package:com.samsung.android.server.wifi.mobilewips
package:com.samsung.android.wifi.p2paware.resources
package:com.samsung.android.wifi.softapwpathree.resources
package:com.keuwl.wifi
package:com.android.wifi.resources
package:com.samsung.android.wifi.resources
package:com.manageengine.wifimonitor
package:com.samsung.android.net.wifi.wifiguider
package:com.android.wifi.dialog
package:ru.andr7e.wifimonitor
Then you can find the path on Android to any of those packages it finds.
CMD: adb shell pm path com.keuwl.wifi
package:/data/app/~~17JnPS2TxnX4dB1JH1wezQ==/com.keuwl.wifi-zhco0PcHZ1Z0cImyNCvrMQ==/base.apk
Then you can pull that original installer from Android onto Windows.
CMD: adb pull /data/app/(see scrambled eggs above)/base.apk
CMD: rename base.apk com.keuwl.wifi.apk
Using this method you can archive every original installer on your
Android phone onto the same directory you store Windows archives.
What that means is you never need to download an app twice.
1. You install the app once off the Google Play Store (or from wherever).
2. You save the APK (just like I did above) into your Windows archives.
3. When you get a new phone, you repopulate that phone with the apks
CMD: adb install com.keuwl.wifi.apk
The best way to manage an Android phone is always going to be from Windows.
The only thing I did was burn the latest firmware for every access point >>> including the Ubiquiti access point that the WNR834Bv2 wireless client
repeater bridge was WNR834Bv2 connected to.
That at least is a significant improvement, but it's still not
symmetric, although it now may well be liveable with, only you can
decide that. Also it does suggest that I was on the right track to
suggest a problem with the system rather than extraneous noise.
I think you are correct that it's may not be noise as I ran the free
spectrum analysis (which will find EVERYTHING in the band, not just
inside of Wi-Fi channels) and, while I'm not sure how to interpret
what it found, I don't see any smoking gun (but maybe I'm missing it). https://i.postimg.cc/8krQvmf8/longtime.jpg
Can helpful people let me know what you think of that spectrum analysis?
It's always confusing when I go to a DD-WRT site, as I'm expecting
it to be as simple to find the latest firmware as it is on the
Netgear site. https://www.netgear.com/support/product/wnr834bv2
But it's never that easy when you deal with DD-WRT latest firmware. https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Index:FAQ#Where_do_I_download_firmware.3F
https://ftp.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/ https://ftp.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2024/ https://ftp.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2024/01-23-2024-r55009/
It drives me nuts just trying to find the latest DD-WRT firmware
especially for an older device whose firmware is probably a finality. https://www.google.com/search?q=latest+firmware+dd-wrt+WNR834Bv2
But I'm not the only one who can't find the latest DD-WRT firmware. https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=289360&sid=5c43d9b0e602c12f2c7a8414a4a6a837
CMD: adb install com.keuwl.wifi.apk
Tx, copied all of this to a another folder in case useful for future reference.
The best way to manage an Android phone is always going to be from Windows.
Not entirely sure I agree, but will leave it.
Can helpful people let me know what you think of that spectrum analysis?
I can't, but maybe others can.
I don't consider myself to be an expert at this sort of thing, but to
explain further, it's not the fact that the Tx & Rx were, & are still, different that made me think "Hardware problem?", because I would guess
that irregular differences of small numbers of errors might randomly
occur in normal conditions & most probably not be significant, it's the consistent one-sidedness with significant numbers of errors that makes
me suspect some sort of underlying systemic fault.
An off-the-wall idea: I suspect from parts of your posts that you have
some sort of mesh system, and am now wondering if the errors occur
because the DD-WRT device gets confused as to which device in the mesh
it's supposed to be communicating with, and perhaps if you could find a
way of linking it to a particular device rather than to the system as a whole, they would go away? Of course, if I'm mistaken and you haven't
got a mesh system, the idea goes out-of-the-window rather than
off-the-wall :-)
At any rate, at least things have improved, but I suspect I can't help
much further now, because I'm already at the edge of my knowledge.
But I'm not the only one who can't find the latest DD-WRT firmware.
https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=289360&sid=5c43d9b0e602c12f2c7a8414a4a6a837
Yes, it's confusing enough that I bricked one of my Cisco WRT320Ns by
putting the wrong image on it, but fortunately managed to revive it to
put the correct image on it, and it worked ever after.
(I used to have
two of them, but cabled one of the connections they covered, so that one became a spare, useful for odd situations, but it died quite recently.)
Sysop: | Keyop |
---|---|
Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
Users: | 297 |
Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
Uptime: | 04:29:27 |
Calls: | 6,666 |
Files: | 12,213 |
Messages: | 5,335,879 |