Improvements for indoor range?

Question

Hi all,

First of all - sorry for my bad english!

I just started with some XBee-Pros 802.15.4 (International)!

After a first test I tried to see the maximum range for our indoor-usecase: We have RS-232 communication to our projectors in the lecture halls and seminar rooms and we would like to replace some of them with the XBees.

But with one XBee adapter in my office room, and the other at my colleagues office (same floor and corridor but 20 meters away with walls) I dont receive any signal.

The Powerlevel is set to 4 (maximum), the installed firmware is version 11e8. I am powering the XBees with 12V power supplies (9-30V printed on adapter).

Can I improve the range indoor? What is your experience with the range of XBee-Pros?

Answer 1

which antenna option are you working with? Have you set the DL/DH/SL/SH settings on either modules?

Comments

We are working with internal antennas and we dont want to use external ones - they need more room than we can offer.

I didn't change the settings you asked for - SL/SH can't be changed in the configuration mask.

DL is set to: 409B7489
DH is set to: 13A200

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That is correct. SL and SH are not settable  but they are and should be used with DL and DH to create a Point to point connection.

As to the placement of the Xbee adapters.  Where are they located? Behind your PC and Monitors or up high?  What are the Wall made from? 2x4 construction or Cement?

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You would recommend to use them only for point-to-(multi)point connection?

In general one will be placed in the floor (beton) or wall. The other part will be in 3m height (at the projector). The material of the walls is very different. Worst case (ferroconcrete) will happen aswell as best case (thin wood planks).

But I understand you right - the configuration of a point-to-(multi)point will increase the range?
Should I configure one of them as 'Coordinator' for range reasons?

Many thanks for your help! :)

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No, configuring one as a Coordinator or as a multi-point mode will not increase the range.  Using it in a Point to point configuration will increase the reliability of the data and thus the link.

The range you are going to achieve will vary greatly depending on what the Walls are made of.  For instance, if it is concrete, the distance may onl;y be 25 to 50 ft where as 2x4 with Wall board you may be able to get up to 300 ft.

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I think we will try to implement this product to our infrastructure, thanks a lot for your help!

At the moment we are waiting for the EU release of the ConnectPort X2. Do the gateways have a stronger signal or will be the max range about the same?


I have one last question that is not related to the range problem - is it possible to power the adapter over a RS232-pin?