TP-link TL-WA830RE test >200m range

arlee · Post by **arlee** » 04 Jul 2012, 11:39

just got my TP-link today and it was very easy to set up. Literally just press 1 button, that's it.

I've done a quick range test at ground level, monitoring the video feed and was fine up to 200m before I ran out of line-of-sight space to walk, so very encouraging.
I'll do more tests in the day time when I can see better.

The AR drone app shows the signal strength to the extender, not to the Drone, so that's a negative point I guess.

Got the extender powered by a 3C 1800mAh battery and after 1 hour 10mins, it's still showing 11.8v on the battery and running fine, so I guess that's plenty of juice.

arlee · Post by **arlee** » 04 Jul 2012, 14:09

Couldn't wait until daytime so took it for a sneaky night flight as it was so calm out. Looked great with it's new blue leds against the night sky. Took it up to 70m, no issues. Lucky!

Sent from my HTC EVO 3D X515a using Tapatalk 2

arlee · Post by **arlee** » 06 Jul 2012, 01:59

I guess there's not much interest in range extenders

Anyway, feeling brave (and stupid) again last night, so had another night flight under the stars. Maxed out the altitude setting and took it up so high I could barely hear the motors any more and could just see the blue LEDs, a beautiful sight indeed.
Very pleased with the wifi extender. I have some very bright strobe LEDs to add tonight.
If it does come down, I have a few things that would hopefully help to find it;
wifi anaylser (obviously after switching the extender off!)
flashing strobes
seperately powered 'beeping key finder', ie press a remote control button when close enough and the drone beeps.

Hoping it won't come to that though although to be expected when flying high.

npereira · Post by **npereira** » 06 Jul 2012, 02:32

I think people are now getting the macgyver rc mod 2 for the range, at least thats what im looking to get, but since i crashed it tonight, ordered replacement parts, that pushes the macgyver mod further out.

---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?tvors2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sent from my iPhone4 using Tapatalk

tvengineer · Post by **tvengineer** » 06 Jul 2012, 05:13

there is interest in wifi repeaters..
I just got my amped sr10000 in the mail today..
doing some setup and testing with it.. but not out to fly yet..
maybe tomorrow.

I have had terrible range using an ipod touch directly to the drone.. maybe 50 feet at best..

the amped is a little funny in the way it sets up and works.. but i hope that with the drone it will work well.. testing at home it finds dozens of wifi networks that none of my other devices can even see.. so there is hope that it has greater range...
but just connecting it to the drone.. and walking away.. (increasing repeater to ipod distance ) only seems to get me a hundred feet or so..
that again is at home in a densly packed area with tons of other wifi ..
out in an open field i hope for much better.

mattnourse · Post by **mattnourse** » 03 Jan 2013, 00:14

Hi there!

Was hoping you could help me out. I just received my 830-RE and tried it out in the house. It does not seem to be working at all.

i decided to connect to the drone using the cd setup wizard. It seemed to work fine and connected. but when i try to connect there seems to be a missing link.

Is it possible my home area is just too wifi busy? how and where did you set yours up? what was the process? Any chance of seeing your settings?

Do you think i should take it out to a field, where my iphone cant find any other wifi signal, and connect using the button on the front?

Any help you can give would be very much appriciated.

Kind Regards

Matt

DaZa · Post by **DaZa** » 03 Jan 2013, 00:26

I need to do a guide on how to set this extender up with the AR drone properly.

I will do this probably tonight and post it here.

Stay tuned.

mattnourse · Post by **mattnourse** » 03 Jan 2013, 10:39

Thank you so much!

it would be very helpful.

mattnourse · Post by **mattnourse** » 06 Jan 2013, 12:09

Tried it again yesterday,

Using the front button. Sadly, it did not help.

Do I need to adjust any settings in the drone?

DaZa · Post by **DaZa** » 06 Jan 2013, 12:43

It might help to reset your drone to default first by pressing its reset button for 2 seconds while its powered up and you'll see the LED's go red and flash. The reset button is located inside the battery tray inside a small hole. Just insert a paper clip or the like to press the button.

Log into your drone using freeflight app and set your wifi options including your desired SSID name (I use DemonDrone) you can use any SSID rather than the default ardroneXXXXX SSID. Make sure you have pairing turned OFF in your freeflight app. This pairs the drone to a specific device and and no others so this will stop it working with the extender. In fact check this is OFF before you do anything else as this may be the main problem.

While your at it factory default your extender using the same kind of button on the back to ensure it's in default settings form.

Log into your TPLink extender using a laptop and set follow the wizard to set it up to use your SSID you set on your drone. This should get it set up.

Then just power up your drone, power up the extender, wait for the extender light to come on to show its working then join your control device to the wireless network and then start up your app and you should be good to go.

DaZa · Post by **DaZa** » 06 Jan 2013, 12:45

I promised a how-to guide on how to do this. Might get this done tomorrow as now my drone is grounded awaiting on parts to arrive.

Dronecrasher · Post by **Dronecrasher** » 06 Jan 2013, 15:42

DaZa hey

question i have a sr10000

is there any app or program that can tell me the signal from the drone to the repeater ?

maybe running in the background that u can acess in real time

or on a seperate device i run a nexus 7 but could use my phone to run some kind of an app to read the

drones wifi to repeater ?

Happy Dronin to u

DaZa · Post by **DaZa** » 06 Jan 2013, 22:38

Nope, if your thinking about how to monitor the signal from the drone then unfortunately thats one of the trade-offs for using an extender is you lose that direct visibility of the signal.

You could in theory monitor the extender using a laptop etc and keep an eye on the signal that way, depends on the router not sure if the SR1000 will give you those deets even via its console.

marcus621000 · Post by **marcus621000** » 08 Jan 2013, 10:00

I also got tp link 830 dazza could you post set-up .

DaZa · Post by **DaZa** » 08 Jan 2013, 13:50

Ok as promised here is my quick howto setup guide on setting up your TP-Link WL-WA830RE Range Extender with your AR Drone 2.0.

This should also work for a 1.0 drone but I don't have one and can't confirm.

Step 1. First of all turn off your control device's WiFi before continuing. Log into your extender using a laptop using the instructions provided with your extender. Once your in the main menu follow thes steps.

Start the setup wizard by clicking on the "Quick Setup" option on the left menu.

Click "Next" to start the wizard.

Enter/Change the following settings:

"Operation Mode:" should be set to "Access Point" which will then activate the other options above.
"SSID:" should be set to your drone's current SSID. You can find this in your WiFi settings of your app or device when logged into your drone.
"Region:" should be set to your country or region.
"Mode:" should be set to "11n only"

Then click on "Next" to continue

Reboot the extender and then your drone.

Once both are rebooted you should see the extender light on the front of the extender light up. You can then turn on your control device's WiFi and it should log into the extender which is providing the signal repeated from your drone. Log into your favourite control app and ensure you have a video and control feed and you can confirm the extender is working by the WiFi and extender lights flashing with traffic.

Once your extender is set all you have to do is power it up with your favourite power source such as a LiPo or lead acid battery and your all set for portable extender duties!

drone-forum.com