[kwlug-disc] Cheap UPS [Was: Re: Extending WiFi Range]

Bob Jonkman bjonkman at sobac.com
Sun Apr 2 17:53:47 EDT 2017 

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B.S wrote:
> - batteries at http://www.batterywholesale.ca/ on Lawrence. Really
> good / helpful guy.

Also a wide selection at Sayal (I saw them at the Burlington store, no
reason to think Cambridge won't have them too), and a smaller
selection at Neutron Electronics in Guelph. I suspect Neutron may have
fresher stock than Sayal; an old,  completely flat battery might never
charge up again.

Sayal:
http://sayal.com/zinc/zinc_search.asp?txtSEARCH=81BATTBCM&title=BATTERY+LEAD+ACID

Neutron Electronics: http://www.neutronelectronics.com/ (sadly, the
site suffers from Flashulence).  Note that this is a different company
from Neutron Computers in Waterloo.


I continue to be amazed at the variety of form factors of the sealed
lead-acid batteries. It is probably a very good idea to bring your old
batteries in for side-by-side comparison to make sure the replacement
will fit in the enclosure of the UPS, and that the connectors are
compatible (I've had to crimp larger connectors on the UPS so they'd
fit the smaller tabs on the replacement battery).

- --Bob.


On 2017-04-02 01:14 PM, B. S. wrote:
> On sale at the time were CyberPower 425VA's, for something like
> $25-35. Haven't seen them since / that small / that cheap. Routers,
> switches, VoIP, etc. don't draw that much power.
> 
> http://www.shopbot.ca/m?q=cyberpower+425va&sort=price
> 
> Cheapest I see at the moment is $60 
> http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=32_438&item_id=101960
>
> 
or
> http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=32_438&item_id=085747
>
> 
. First is APC and battery user replaceable it seems, second is
> CyberPower and not.
> 
> Some caveats:
> 
> - 2 of 3 have since failed (after a few years), but I would buy 
> CyberPower again. Even failed they're superior surge suppressors.
> 
> - watch for user replaceable batteries, i.e. have a battery cover.
> == more expensive. Not that I care, undo 5 screws, within is a
> 'standard' battery - it's the case hatch to it that brings the
> expense. (Or rather, really, being user replaceable means an inner
> compartment completely walled off from the rest of the guts, and
> brings with it some warranties / regulatory requirements for safety
> - it's the liability insurance the manu carries that brings the
> significant additional expense.) On these, I dremelled out some
> internal plastic fingers of the case and put in the larger battery
> the case was obviously designed for.
> 
> - batteries at http://www.batterywholesale.ca/ on Lawrence. Really
> good / helpful guy.
> 
> On my VoIP, since the cordless base it is connected to also needs
> to be house-central, I ended up plugging it / them into the bigger
> UPS on my TV (APC Back-UPS ES 725 - bigger version / same style as
> the CyberPowers). Losing power for less than 5 minutes on the PVR,
> Bell hub and/or router, is a PITA. My cable modem is still there
> too, for that matter - right beside my wi-fi / OpenWRT. The smaller
> UPS' above went on switches / computers elsewhere in the house.
> e.g. Where wires come into the house - vs the bigger Tripp Lite
> online (all power conditioned all the time) UPS on my main
> workstation across the room. Read: with noisy fans.
> [http://www.shopbot.ca/m?q=tripp-lite+SU750XL&sort=price]
> 
> 
> On 04/02/2017 12:22 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
>> Yes, there are cables going up in various rooms (the joy of an
>> unfinished basement), and they are all hidden from view.
>> 
>> The one I ended up using is the one that goes to the VoIP
>> device.
>> 
>> The cable was plugged into the new router, and the VoIP device
>> was plugged into another of the new router's LAN ports.
>> 
>> The next step is a small UPS so the VoIP device is UPS protected
>> too. If you see one like the ones you bought, let me know.
>> 
>> On Sun, Apr 2, 2017 at 12:14 PM, B.S. <bs27975.2 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> So you do / did have one ethernet cable to tap into above the
>>> basement. Must have missed that.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> JJ's post gave me a D'OH! moment within a few lines ...
>>> 
>>> The (original) issue may not be the router getting out, but the
>>> much less powerful dongle getting back in.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 04/02/2017 12:03 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Here is a followup on the issue.
>>>> 
>>>> First regarding JJ's post. The issue is not 'reception'. The
>>>> issue is 'coverage', 'strength', and 'stability'. The
>>>> backyard had some coverage, but it is weak and intermittent.
>>>> Not a stable connection for what I want to do (basically
>>>> control a camera connected to a telescope). The WiFi router 
>>>> is in the basement, and perhaps blocked by the concrete
>>>> walls, and/or the I beams interfering. So the solution I had
>>>> in mind from the beginning is to have another AP station
>>>> upstairs closer to the back of the house, and higher up,
>>>> rather than in the centre of the basement.
>>>> 
>>>> Now for what ended up working for my case:
>>>> 
>>>> I got another router, put OpenWRT 15.05.1 on it and connected
>>>> it to an ethernet cable that runs from the basement (where
>>>> the main router is). The connection is via one of the LAN
>>>> ports, not the WAN port.
>>>> 
>>>> I put a separate SSID on it, and gave it an address on the
>>>> same subnet.
>>>> 
>>>> Then disabled DHCP and the Firewall on it.
>>>> 
>>>> The basic steps are under the Web LuCI section here:
>>>> 
>>>> https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/dumbap
>>>> 
>>>> The only thing that I added to the above steps is add the
>>>> main router's IP as a default gateway.
>>>> 
>>>> It works well. There is good coverage for the far end of
>>>> backyard. And this is done without having to deal with
>>>> outdoor cables, nor run a cable up and another down and move
>>>> the main router to the main floor, and get a UPS for it.
>>>> 
>>>> For the sake of completeness, I am listing other stuff that
>>>> found on OpenWRT. None of them do what I want, but related in
>>>> case someone needs it.
>>>> 
>>>> There is a whole bunch of info in the recipes section of
>>>> OpenWRT's wiki, with relayd, routed, bridged, ...etc. And
>>>> there are limitations, ...etc. This may be helpful for other
>>>> cases.
>>>> 
>>>> https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Sun, Apr 2, 2017 at 11:02 AM, <jvj at golden.net> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> All
>>>>> 
>>>>> I have skimmed through the emails in this thread and am
>>>>> impressed and intrigued by the depth of the knowledge on
>>>>> this issue. However, for some of the newbies in the
>>>>> group/list I will mention a possible common error in the
>>>>> premise of the OP's original post.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The OP starts out with "WiFi reception in my house ...".
>>>>> 
>>>>> And herein in the error. (Or maybe not. )
>>>>> 
>>>>> As with cell phones many use the term "reception" when
>>>>> referring to performance the device, e.g. cell phone,
>>>>> notebook, laptop, etc. They forget that there may be
>>>>> "reception" issues a the other end whether the other end is
>>>>> a wifi router or cell tower. The device is, after all, a
>>>>> two way instrument, both an RF receiver and a RF
>>>>> transmitter. RF signals are transmitted from the device and
>>>>> are received at the wifi router or cell tower.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Efforts to increase the RF transmission signal strength at
>>>>> the wifi router to "increase range" will not address any
>>>>> problems of RF transmission at the device.
>>>>> 
>>>>> There have been some good suggestions that may address
>>>>> issues with the two-way RF transmission/reception. One or
>>>>> more contributors mentioned relocating the router (with its
>>>>> antennae) and/or addressing any impediments in the
>>>>> environment which may serve to attenuate RF signals. At 
>>>>> least one contributor mentioned repeaters or mesh
>>>>> networks.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I will guess that there is not really much anyone can do
>>>>> with software in the wifi router to improve the two-way RF
>>>>> transmission/reception in the router or device for that
>>>>> matter. The RF modulation/demodulation is performed in the
>>>>> chip set and this may be locked into the chip set. Of 
>>>>> course, chip set drivers may be available and may help.
>>>>> 
>>>>> John Johnson With apologies to the OP.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> ------------------------------ *Subject:* [kwlug-disc]
>>>>> Extending WiFi Range *Date:* Wed, 29 Mar 2017 19:29:33
>>>>> -0400 *From:* Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> *To:* KWLUG
>>>>> discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org> *Reply-To:* kb at 2bits.com,
>>>>> KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
>>>>> 
>>>>> WiFi reception in my house, using the OpenWRT powered
>>>>> D-Link DIR-835, is generally adequate, but could be better
>>>>> in some spots. Reception is intermittent in the backyard,
>>>>> where I am pondering a project that would need it. Perhaps
>>>>> the basement's concrete is interfering?
>>>>> 
>>>>> I like OpenWRT and plan to stay with it. Also the router
>>>>> itself has lots of storage (flash) and RAM, so will be here
>>>>> for the future. It is in the basement, near the cable
>>>>> modem, and other equipment, and connected to the UPS in
>>>>> there.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Moving it to the main floor is not likely since it would
>>>>> involve finding a power outlet and running Ethernet, as
>>>>> well as losing the UPS connection.
>>>>> 
>>>>> So, my questions are:
>>>>> 
>>>>> 1. What does one do in this case? Do you buy another
>>>>> router, possibly one capable of running OpenWRT and turn
>>>>> off the router features, and keep it only as a WiFi hotspot
>>>>> and put it near the spots where good reception is needed?
>>>>> 
>>>>> 2. If so, what are good routers that you tried this on?
>>>>> 
>>>>> 3. How did you turn off OpenWRT routing ...etc. on it?
>>>>> 
>>>>> 4. Does the new WiFi hotspot have its own SSID or can it
>>>>> use the same SSID as the main router?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Any other thoughts/ideas welcome.
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc
>>> mailing list kwlug-disc at kwlug.org 
>>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc
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>> 
> 
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- -- 


Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
SOBAC Microcomputer Services             http://sobac.com/sobac/
Software   ---   Office & Business Automation   ---   Consulting
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