About 2 years back, some guys came and put this antenna on top of my condo. Ever since then, my internet has been wonky; wrong DNS servers, etc. I remembered this install, and decided to take some pictures. I used my drone to take this shot. Can anyone shed some light on this? We do not use broadcast TV at all, and I did not call for this antenna's installation.
Can anyone help to identify this antenna?
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ecps92
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Looks [to me] like TV antenna, maybe your neighbor uses it ? where does the cable lead to ? [follow it]
GROL
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First thought is a TV receive antenna from the design of it. The element length looks correct for TV reception. Even if it were a transmit antenna, it would not make your internet wonky and it certainly would not cause incorrect DNS servers to be assigned. It is a directional antenna not pointed in the direction of the inside of the building, so if it were transmitting which I doubt, it would be extremely unlikely to interfere with internet, not even a wireless router. Element length suggests frequency coverage way below WIFI.
Are the condos shared units or stand alone units? If shared, like @ecps92 said, follow the wire and see where it goes. When this happened 2 years ago, did you call your condo association and question it?
Thankyou! I am a total noob when it comes to antennas and the like, so I appreciate your feedback!
No, because there is a unit below mine, in addition, the HOA here is about as responsive as cinder block. I will follow the wire as soon as I can get my drone up again. As for the time delay... I never really thought much of it, until I noticed that none of my PCs were getting an SSL connection. Changed providers, and imaged my machines, come to find out that I am STILL being redirected to defunct DNS servers (out of use/
"repurposed" cox DNS IPs.) This is just one thing to rule out in the course of trouble shooting. Thanks!
I wouldn't think so either.... just trying to work out WTH it is and why it is there. To install something such as this in 2021, when the tenant below me is quite literally never there (his primary residence is out of state) So it struck me as odd. Thank you for your input.... I appreciate you!
Could it intercept cell phones? I ask because my cell has been replaced twice and I keep mysteriously getting bad certificates. I do not visit any questionable sites on my cell phone, and as soon as I move my phone out of area, it tries to update. Then, when I come back to my home, it tries to update again. My computer is another piece to the puzzle, as for some reason there is sideloading going on, and my computer got really bad once I tethered and saved a bunch of family photos. Again... very odd. Sorry for the out of scope info, just trying to provide a bit more clarity.
GROL
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Certainly could be for FM broadcast reception.
Looks like TV or FM antenna. As GROL stated, it's presence should not affect your wi-fi, least of all create any DNS problems. What would make more sense is if those who installed it somehow damaged your incoming ethernet cable or coax to your modem (assuming you have a cable modem. One REALLY dumb thing that comes to mind is that someone incorporated a coax splitter with this antenna and the incoming coax from your cable provider. Doing that would cause no end of problems.
LOL I definitely should have started with the cell phone issues which were followed by PC issues. I wouldn't think that DNS issues would be caused by any antenna. More of a chain of events, to be more specific.
nd5y
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It's a TV antenna. If it was FM only it woudln't have shorter elements for UHF.
Thanks!!
GROL
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This is getting quite a bit on the side of wild speculation. If you are having problems with internet and cell phones, you are looking for the wrong cause with that antenna.
I was hoping so, but as I said, I am by no means an expert. As Reagan once said, "trust but verify". I have a range of PC issues, and am definitely a computer guy. Had to rule that thing out, since neither myself or my out of state neighbor called for its installation. With that, we can I suppose close the thread? Thanks all!
Looks like I found it. It would seem to be this guy here: LPD Tactical Series or similar variant. I live in a ****ty area of Las Vegas, and I also was Army (MI) so there are a couple of good reasons for it to be there I suppose. Lol. Makes a lot more sense than a TV antenna that no one called for, that's for sure! Cheers, guys. Thanks again.
When I need to go looking for RF interference I usually go about it in one of two ways: I use either a handheld SWL (shortwave radio) receiver or an SDR (sofware defined radio) dongle connected to a laptop with the appropriate receiving software. I use the SWL receiver to hunt down HF interference and the SDR dongle for the higher frequencies. I have a couple of SDR dongles and can scan from VHF-lo to about 2.4ghz. While there may be better ways to do it, I've found both helpful and fairly inexpensive from a DIY standpoint.
Thank you so much for that information! I will get on that today! I definitely have a knowledge gap when it comes to radio equipment; you are appreciated. Thanks!
Buying an SDR now, so time will tell... spent my Army career as an analyst, so I try to not read into anything. I look at data and indicators. If I have DNS issues and cell phone issues with different ISP providers, different phones, and freshly imaged machines, well, I have to wonder. Not going too far into the weeds with it at this time, suffice to say, I will be doing my due diligence. Thanks for your response, though! All is appreciated.
That looks like an FM broadcast band antenna and there are no short elements, its just the way some of the larger elements mount to the boom leaving some extra length. Its common for some power companies to make a deal with a property owner to shut down air conditioning and related items during peak power usage and they like to use FM broadcast sub carriers for this. They will install and FM antenna and a little box of stuff that connects to the air conditioner or other power hungry items so the power company can send out a signal via a local FM broadcast station to shut everyone down.
Sounds more like your issues are related to either some nasty viruses or a cyberstalker. I have a coworker that had to get rid of all of this family's cell phones and computers because a stalker got access to them. He had to get the FBI involved.
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