Wifi repeater on steroids.....WL-WN570HA1

[ph2t]

Hey everyone. I have been using the xiaomi usb repeater with success and so I thought I'd try a more high powered device to setup in a more permanent fashion at home. I have an old outdoor aerial mount that I will put up and place this wifi repeater on it.

AERIAL HD2 – AC600 Dual-band High Power Outdoor Wireless AP/Range Extender/Router with PoE and High Gain Antennas
WN570HA1 AERIAL HD2 – AC600 Dual-band High Power Outdoor Wireless AP/Range Extender/Router with PoE and High Gain Antennas - Wavlink



I'm bit of a nut job aussie that likes to take things just tooo far! I'll post an update once I've got it all going.

Cheers,
ph2t.

 

[Donny66]

Hey everyone. I have been using the xiaomi usb repeater with success and so I thought I'd try a more high powered device to setup in a more permanent fashion at home. I have an old outdoor aerial mount that I will put up and place this wifi repeater on it.

AERIAL HD2 – AC600 Dual-band High Power Outdoor Wireless AP/Range Extender/Router with PoE and High Gain Antennas
WN570HA1 AERIAL HD2 – AC600 Dual-band High Power Outdoor Wireless AP/Range Extender/Router with PoE and High Gain Antennas - Wavlink

View attachment 1841

I'm bit of a nut job aussie that likes to take things just tooo far! I'll post an update once I've got it all going.

Cheers,
ph2t.

Let us know

 

[raulvolador]

A really interesting test. Keep us informed.

Raul.

 

[ph2t]

It arrived today. Handy to have a nice and simple power injector with it.



It has all the pieces needed to mount onto an pole which is handy. I'm going for a permanent mount solution with the goal to be able to fly all over my property.



Will install it today after work. Will post an update later hopefully!

Cheers,

ph2t.

 

[sfs-archery]

Interesting Project.

 

[ph2t]

Thanks for the interest and all the likes guys. I’ve just given a quick setup and tryout and so far the results are mixed. There’s a few different settings that affect how the tello is connected to by the phone. Bridge or gateway mode seems to be the issue. I will give it a more solid go later this evening once all household duties are fulfilled, lol.

Cheers,
ph2t.

 

[Doug D]

Hey everyone. I have been using the xiaomi usb repeater with success and so I thought I'd try a more high powered device to setup in a more permanent fashion at home. I have an old outdoor aerial mount that I will put up and place this wifi repeater on it.

AERIAL HD2 – AC600 Dual-band High Power Outdoor Wireless AP/Range Extender/Router with PoE and High Gain Antennas
WN570HA1 AERIAL HD2 – AC600 Dual-band High Power Outdoor Wireless AP/Range Extender/Router with PoE and High Gain Antennas - Wavlink

View attachment 1841

I'm bit of a nut job aussie that likes to take things just tooo far! I'll post an update once I've got it all going.

Cheers,
ph2t.

Nice

 

[ph2t]

Ok I got it mounted in a good test position in the back yard next to my garage. I have tested the signal strength and at app extents of the property I get 2/3 bars strength at worst. So the signal is good.

Unfortunately I think the actual chipset in this device isn’t the best for the tello. Ina couple of tests so far with the tello flying in the immediate vicinity of the wifi repeater there is still occasional frame dropping and at one stage a loss of control in the app (black screen).

I don’t think this wifi repeater is the best choice for the tello. I will test more, maybe force a certain wifi channel selection frequency invade adjacent wifi signals are causing issues.

This repeater is also a dual frequency (2.4 and 5ghz), connecting my phone on either repeater band results in the same outcomes as noted before.

I’m thinking now of hacking my xiamoi (spelling?) repeater to use this case, aerial and power supply to make it more permanent and omnidirectional with the wifi signal.

I gotta do something whilst I wait for my lipos for the light mod project! Lol.

Cheers,
ph2t.

 

[ph2t]

Here’s a raw video, an example of the footage quality.

Tello with wavlink repeater (OneDrive link)

Some flight notes:

iPhone 8
Gamesir bt controller
normal speed setting
video bandwidth set to auto

Phone is connected to wifi repeater which is located in the back yard.

Windy morning, flying up/down the driveway the tello was facing some resistance

Paused a few times to check signal strength indicator, always strong except for the time when I’m next to my car in the front yard, there is a frame drop event at that time, you see I almost hit the car’s wheel.

When it’s less wind I will try to fly around the house’s perimeter.

Would appreciate feedback on the video quality in comparison to your own videos guys, thank you!

Cheers,
ph2t.

 

[ph2t]

This should improve things.

 

[raulvolador]

I don’t think this wifi repeater is the best choice for the tello. I will test more, maybe force a certain wifi channel selection frequency invade adjacent wifi signals are causing issues.
...
I’m thinking now of hacking my xiamoi (spelling?) repeater to use this case, aerial and power supply to make it more permanent and omnidirectional with the wifi signal.

@ph2t

I'm sorry WL-WN570HA1 is not working right for you.

Your idea of hacking a Xiaomi wifi repeater is great.

I read here Wi-Fi Repeater usage tip. about a hide antenna plug inside Xiaomi extender.

Maybe you can use an SMA to U.FL/IPX pigtail and connect your external high gain antenna there.

I edited this picture for helping:




Good luck

 

[Storyline]

View attachment 1909

Ok I got it mounted in a good test position in the back yard next to my garage. I have tested the signal strength and at app extents of the property I get 2/3 bars strength at worst. So the signal is good.
.....

Have you tried extending your normal wireless internet connection from your router and if so how did it perform ?

 

[ph2t]

Thankyou for the feedback and information Raulvolador! I have pulled apart my wifi repeater - it looks to be a later version of the pcb as the layout is different to the picture you posted.



There are two solder pads in the right photo that look like they go to the pcb antennas. Both have a small decoupling capacitor before going onto the antenna. I will try some tests with signal strength before and after I solder an antenna to this pads to try it out.

Cheers,
ph2t.

 

[raulvolador]

@ph2t , very interesting research.

I have not still open my xiaomi repeater.

Can you tell me what is in the other pcb side ?

Please, keep us informed about your progress.

 

[Ansia]

Thankyou for the feedback and information Raulvolador! I have pulled apart my wifi repeater - it looks to be a later version of the pcb as the layout is different to the picture you posted.

View attachment 2097View attachment 2098

There are two solder pads in the right photo that look like they go to the pcb antennas. Both have a small decoupling capacitor before going onto the antenna. I will try some tests with signal strength before and after I solder an antenna to this pads to try it out.

Cheers,
ph2t.

The one Raul showed you was a Xiaomi Range Extender 1. The one you have is Extender 2, which uses dual antenna.

Paused a few times to check signal strength indicator, always strong except for the time when I’m next to my car in the front yard, there is a frame drop event at that time, you see I almost hit the car’s wheel.
.

This is normal. The car produces a magnetic field which affects any signal that may come nearby. Whenever I fly my Phantom near a car, I get interference and signal drops.

 

[ph2t]

Cheers guys, I have worked on it more and so far so good, tests have been positive.

Raul, the underside of the PCB has no components, it's just silk screened pcb tracks. There are two antenna pads exposed, must be thought given to having an external antenna option at some stage possibly?


In the picture below there are two solder blobs, they connect the circuit to the PCB antenna. The two solder blobs have pads underneath them that are separate, they have to be shorted this way to use the PCB antenna.



I removed the solder from the pads and you can see how they are now disconnected electrically.



I then soldered on some external antenna connectors. I did this on the underside of the PCB where it is a clean copper surface. I use thin coax and it was tricky to solder the signal pad in the centre, it is tiny!



It's a bit ghetto and not very physically strong a soldering connection but it works well.

Fits in the wavelink repeater casing too...





Beauty! Now to find some time to test it out!

Cheers,
ph2t.

 

[raulvolador]

@ph2t

Good photos, What so excellent work !

That's exactly the mod I was plannig to perform into my Xiaomi WIFI repeater 2, but I never have time to do.

You did it really well. External antennas should improve wireless connection a lot.

Please, I beg you to compare performance of new anntenas against unmodified one.

I'm anxious to hear about your test.

Don't forget to keep us informed !

Raul.

 

[raulvolador]

@ph2t, by the way:

How did you open Xiaomi Repeater Case ?

Is there any hidden screw ?

Thanks a lot.

Raul.

 

[raulvolador]

@ph2t,

what about your test ?

Does it worth making external antennas mod ?

I'm awating...

 

[ph2t]

Hi Raul, please accept my apologies on the late reply mate. Since I made the mod the weather here in Melbourne has been storms and more storms and then some wind. ????
I hope to test this weekend, before mod (original pcb antenna) and after mod (external antennas). I will definitely let you know.
I know so far that it is a stronger signal that I get than before, it’s more about the latency which only a real fpv flight test will determine the success.
The case in the repeater is stuck together as a press-to-fit design, I used a small flat blade screwdriver to pry it open. I did this near the base of the unit next to the swivel/USB hinge and it came apart very easily with only a small amount of damage to the case.
Cheers,
ph2t.