Broken Antenna

jsol · ‎07-12-2006

Is there any way (debug, trap,...) the AP can send/show if the external antenna is broken or disconnected? We have lots of AP's installed in a place where sometimes the external antennas can be broken, and I'd like to know if there is a way to know it at the time it happens.

Thanks.

Scott Fella · ‎07-12-2006

You can look at the associations to see if users associate or not to the ap. Other than that, you must walk and associate to each ap.

-Scott
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scottmac · ‎07-12-2006

Run an external monitor, something like NetStumbler (free: http://www.netstumbler.com).

Baseline the working system and watch for a major drop in the signal level.

You could probably write a Perl script that would telnet the AP (using Net::Telnet, for example) and track the RSSI (Radio Signal Strength Indication) from the AP- this is receive only, but if the majority of hosts are running at minimum marginal levels you can probably track & chart it.

You can put in something like a "Bird" meter (measures power and (I think) SWR) - if you have a screwed-up antenna, the SWR is gonna go up significantly. There will be losses associated with an in-line system.

Video camera?

That's all that comes to mind tonight ...

Good Luck

Scott