I'm installing my 536hp in my car and am a little disappointed with the signal strength of the dongle, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can boost the strength? Maybe a portable AP or router?
WiFi Signal Booster
- Thread starter gwtc199
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marksmith
Member
Are you suggesting it won't get to all areas of your car?
Mark
536/436/WS1095/HP1/HP2/996T/996XT/996P2/396XT/325P2/PSR800/15X/others
Mark
536/436/WS1095/HP1/HP2/996T/996XT/996P2/396XT/325P2/PSR800/15X/others
I'd like to be able to pick up the signal further away from the car
You're expecting too much. The car body will block most wifi signals from getting out of the car.
If you want to pick up signal outside the car, you'd have to hack the dongle to connect it an external antenna mounted outside the vehicle.
If you want to pick up signal outside the car, you'd have to hack the dongle to connect it an external antenna mounted outside the vehicle.
Dongle is on a USB cable. Not sure how long without finding mine. Mount on dash like GPS puck or at least above the bottom of the windows getting out of the metal bucket shield of the car body.
Mike
I suspect that by the time one ended up purchasing all the stuff needed to create such a thing, the cost would be approaching that of a portable scanner.
RFI-EMI-GUY
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It was suggested on another thread that a Microtic wireless router could replicate the dangle. Not sure how you would program this, but a router with external antennas would likely give you 200 to 300 feet range.
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marksmith
Member
I would opt for a second, portable radio. Not limited in range from your car, and no complicated setup.
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An excellent point, and good reason not to bother. Another consideration is that if you boost the Bluetooth/WiFi signal significantly, it's more likely to interfere with signals you're trying to scan.
JamesO
Member
This would not be so difficult. You would need 2 routers. You would need to know how to wire them together and to configure and program them.
One would be a router that you could connect and external antenna and mount somewhere on the vehicle or you could possibly put it on the rear shelf.
I would use a open source firmware for the 2nd router so you could tweak the output power of the router.
This would also be such a simple thing if Uniden would offer a hardwired dongle, then a single router could be used with much better reliability and performance.
One would be a router that you could connect and external antenna and mount somewhere on the vehicle or you could possibly put it on the rear shelf.
I would use a open source firmware for the 2nd router so you could tweak the output power of the router.
This would also be such a simple thing if Uniden would offer a hardwired dongle, then a single router could be used with much better reliability and performance.
Which puts the difficulty of the endeavor way outside what most people are willing to attempt.As someone with more than 20 years of experience in the IT field, I could do it, but don't plan on bothering because of the hassle that it would be, especially if aftermarket / custom firmware is required. If you assign any value to your time, you're going to be far better off in terms of expenditure of effort by simply getting a 436HP (Amazon Warehouse Deals has them for around $360, like-new units returned by people who found them too complex) and a decent HT antenna, rather than kludging together a pair of WiFi access points in your vehicle, mounting an additional antenna to the vehicle roof, etc.
JamesO
Member
It is really not that difficult, even a novice can spend some time online doing research. In doing this they will likely learn and or improve a skill set that will become very valuable on a day in and day out basis dealing with all the networked items in their home.
We do not know the full reason and need of the OP to want to extend the reach if the 536HP mounted in a vehicle, but it may be worth it depending on the application for the OP to attempt this.
Open source firmware installation is routers is COMMONPLACE these days, it quite often is more stable, more reliable and more flexible than the crappy firmware that ships with sub $150 networking devices.
So before you shot down what I offered up, look at it as an option if someone chooses to take this approach. It is not for you or I to decide what direction the OP chooses to take and why.
Nobody that spends any time here on this forum or other forums really "values" their time. This is a hobby for some, a learning experience for others and some are in the industry and like to share their knowledge or learn some new things.
KB0VWG
Member
First off do we know how far his car is to the location he wants to listen to it?
If its not far then he could just one of these
https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-NanoStation-locoM2-2-4GHz-Outdoor/dp/B004EGI3CI
Mounted outside of his house pointed to the car and set as a wifi extender and then just have the that plugged into his router and a few configuration adjustments and he should be fine.
kb0vwg
wqoi992
If its not far then he could just one of these
https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-NanoStation-locoM2-2-4GHz-Outdoor/dp/B004EGI3CI
Mounted outside of his house pointed to the car and set as a wifi extender and then just have the that plugged into his router and a few configuration adjustments and he should be fine.
kb0vwg
wqoi992
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