[Fourlanders] IPX/U.FL Dummy Loads?

[Brian McCarthy]

Hey Tom,

Since this is a brand new gateway I hesitate on the solder idea. On the
other hand, we always have some in the office since we sell solder paste
printers.

I graduated off of Eero and now run a fully managed Ubiquity Unifi system.
The Xfinity gateway chased my Unifi AP off of channel 1. That dang XFi
gateway is a blowtorch on 2.4GHz at 4-5db louder a room away than my Unifi
AP in the same room. There is no way to control the hidden XFi channels and
absolutely no concept of appropriate power level setting. I have my Unifi
AP's dialed back to low on 2.4 to further push my WiFi clients to favor
5GHz. With 3 AP's and a modest house, they cover it very nicely.

Cheers,
Brian





On Sat, May 30, 2020 at 11:49 AM Tom McElroy <tommcelroy.mail at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Brian,
> I feel your pain.  I've had to silence a wifi emitter here also.
> And like you, it was interfering with our eero mesh network.
> I pooped off the micro coax, like you did, and it seemed to be effective
> enough.
>
> A quarter wavelength at 5800 MHz is less than 1.5 cm.
> I've not probed it with the spectrum analyzer, but I'd bet that that
> little nub of the center conductor SMT connector offers a poor match
> the output impedance of that final..
>
> Worse case, drop some solder paste in the connector!
>
> Good luck
> Tom W4SDR
>
> On Sat, May 30, 2020 at 9:15 AM Brian McCarthy <brian at rfacres.com> wrote:
>
>> Here's an odd question, has anyone here on the list ever seen a source
>> for IPX/U.FL dummy loads?
>>
>> Here's my challenge...
>>
>> I am trying to completely mute the WiFi signals coming out of an Xfinity
>> XB7 Gateway. Disabling the WiFi in the software does not mute all signals.
>> Setting the gateway into bridge mode does not mute all the signals. This
>> device is still pumping out 3 hidden SSID with 3 unique MAC addresses on
>> 2.4GHx channel 1. It is messing with the balance of my home Ubiquiti WiFi
>> mesh network.
>>
>> I would be using a third party cable modem, but I can save $20/month by
>> renting the Xfinity box. (The box rental is $20/month but comes with
>> unlimited data. To subscribe to unlimited data is $40/month.)
>>
>> Looking up the FCC ID and reviewing the internal photos of this gateway,
>> I see 6 wireless antennas. They are all connected with the tiny surface
>> mount connectors typical inside modern WiFi devices. They look like:
>>
>> [image: image.png]
>> [image: image.png]
>>
>> I will try just popping the connectors off surface mount sockets, but I
>> an not sure that will give me enough attenuation of the transmitter. If I
>> could clip some small (inexpensive) dummy loads onto those connectors, it
>> should reduce leakage even more.
>>
>> I would appreciate suggestions and sources.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Brian
>> NX9O
>> involuntary network administrator at RF Acres.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Fourlanders mailing list
>> Fourlanders at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/fourlanders
>> Sent to: tommcelroy.mail at gmail.com
>>
>
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