First completely wireless, full band show...

[Donnie Frank]

SAC-heads,

I recently started getting comfortable running entire shows through my wireless Thinkpad. Some of the whacky casinos around here have stages for bands with no FOH area! ARGH! These guys around here REALLY need to go to Vegas before they start gearing up for "entertainment." The last show had a nice stage and ONE 20 amp circuit allotted for the entire show! ARGH!

Here's a snippet of that show. This is my first show run entirely via my Thinkpad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOgwAJS6UT4

I don't usually eat while I mix, but I was starving, the meal was free, and I had the mix "under control." So I made an exception. Gotta love SAC!

[soundchicken]

I do a lot of these types of gigs (always with my normal band) and am SO happy that SAC gives me this option. Too many time before I would end up running from a hallway behind the stage with a set of cans....bleh.

[Jeff Scott]

Scary Donny! I'd be afraid of hitting the wrong channel with the stylus. Seems like a great setup though. Good on ya!

[brettbrandon]

I've been doing some sub work for a band using a SAC system. It's great. I just walk in with my netbook and run it wireless and on battery walking around the venue.
I believe their regular guy uses a tablet and there is always the host system at the side of stage in case of emergencies.
But to be able to walk in and use my own setup, f keys and all plugged into someones elses system, what a versatile setup.

Brett

[RandyHyde]

SAC-heads,

I recently started getting comfortable running entire shows through my wireless Thinkpad.

I don't know if "comfortable" is a word I'd use, but it's certainly nice to be able to do this when you have no other option. FWIW, you might want to check out the "Amped Wireless" router. Servant Digital at SAC Talk turned me on to these units. They work really well and have an extended range compared with most routers I've used.

Here's a mini-review I posted over there.

Servant Digital Wrote:
"Here is a link that my end the wireless frustration http://www.ampedwireless.com/family/"

Okay, I bought one of these units and tried it out last night at a gig at the City of Hesperia.
Amped wireless claims that the unit covers 10,000 square feet (IOW, 100'x100' with, presumably, the unit in the middle of this square). I got to 100' from the unit before SAC started dropping the signal. That's almost twice the rated range. This unit works *much* better than the D-Link unit I've used in the past.

Despite Servant Digital's hype, it won't end your wireless problems. Once you get out of range SAC still chokes and the system has to be restarted; but you do get much farther from the router before this occurs.

BTW, setup was much easier than with the D-LINK, too.
Cheers,
Randy Hyde

[Bruce Callaway]

SAC-heads,

I recently started getting comfortable running entire shows through my wireless Thinkpad. Some of the whacky casinos around here have stages for bands with no FOH area! ARGH! These guys around here REALLY need to go to Vegas before they start gearing up for "entertainment." The last show had a nice stage and ONE 20 amp circuit allotted for the entire show! ARGH!

Here's a snippet of that show. This is my first show run entirely via my Thinkpad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOgwAJS6UT4

I don't usually eat while I mix, but I was starving, the meal was free, and I had the mix "under control." So I made an exception. Gotta love SAC!
Interesting...

[Donnie Frank]

I don't know if "comfortable" is a word I'd use, but it's certainly nice to be able to do this when you have no other option. FWIW, you might want to check out the "Amped Wireless" router. Servant Digital at SAC Talk turned me on to these units. They work really well and have an extended range compared with most routers I've used.

Here's a mini-review I posted over there.

Servant Digital Wrote:
"Here is a link that my end the wireless frustration http://www.ampedwireless.com/family/"

Okay, I bought one of these units and tried it out last night at a gig at the City of Hesperia.
Amped wireless claims that the unit covers 10,000 square feet (IOW, 100'x100' with, presumably, the unit in the middle of this square). I got to 100' from the unit before SAC started dropping the signal. That's almost twice the rated range. This unit works *much* better than the D-Link unit I've used in the past.

Despite Servant Digital's hype, it won't end your wireless problems. Once you get out of range SAC still chokes and the system has to be restarted; but you do get much farther from the router before this occurs.

BTW, setup was much easier than with the D-LINK, too.
Cheers,
Randy Hyde

Thanx for the recommendation, Randy. So far I've been using a later model WRT54G (post-merger with Cisco). So far I have 3 minor complaints:

1) After about a year of using this router, for no apparent reason it lost all my settings and went back to default settings. My settings are pretty simple; password protect, change SSID to "SAC" and enable MAC address filtering. I have no idea why it did this. The router and SAC work fine in "default mode," but I just like setting up a little security.

2) Once I got all the settings back the way I wanted them, I wasn't able to save them. Firefox is my default browser, so maybe I need to use IE to save router backup files.

3) I won't say that I've *never* lost signal, but it rarely happens. When it does, it's pretty quick and easy to re-engage the network if not automatically.

Other than that, I plug the thing in and it works. Sometimes I'll set it on top of a speaker to get it high in the air, but most times it just sits next to the host rig. My old Thinkpad does "b" networking, which works great.

[jlklein]

I never liked the post Cisco WRT54 series...prior to the Cisco buyout they ran on Linux and used Broadcom chips; afterwards they ran VxWorks and I think Manassas chips (IIRC) and had shorter range, locked up periodically, and could not be upgraded with third party firmware like DD-WRT.

Coincidentally, I was working at Ciena at the time and we had a few different companies making fiber optic amplifier units for us...one company, the one whose amps we had the most issues with, had started using VxWorks and Manassas chips while the others continued to use Unix and Broadcom...

Jeff

[Donnie Frank]

I never liked the post Cisco WRT54 series...prior to the Cisco buyout they ran on Linux and used Broadcom chips; afterwards they ran VxWorks and I think Manassas chips (IIRC) and had shorter range, locked up periodically, and could not be upgraded with third party firmware like DD-WRT.



I had a DD-WRT running my home network for a while and I have to say that reliability was an issue. I have several neighbors on a wireless feeds courtesy Linksys WAP11's and WSB24's, so when my network craps out, I hear about it. The DD-WRT has a lot of kewl bells-n-whistles, but honestly nothing that I ever used. I switched it out with a WRT54g with OEM software and that was rock solid. Would run months with no issues. Now I have a Belkin "n" router and I'm back to having network issues. About every week something happens and it quits talking to the other Access Points in the network. The log files have given no clue as to what's causing it.

I think the DD-WRT is good for SAC and the like, but for running multiple Access Points 24/7 it seemed to crap out on me.

[dbarrow]

I have a dual channel Netgear WNDR-4500 and it works great. It has been rock solid even in venues with lots of other routers showing up in inSS
IDer. It's heads above the other Cisco, D-Link, etc. routers I have owned in the past.

[soundchicken]

Netgear WNDR-6000 here and it's a champ. The Belkin I tried was a POS, and the Cisco/Linksys devices I've tried were not much better.

[tubetonez]

For SAC use you don't need routing at all, just access point and maybe a small switch if you need more than one Ethernet port. I like the DDWRT firmware on a post-Cisco Linksys, because I can set it up as Access Point only. These were problematic to use the factory firmware if you only wanted the WiFi function and had another router on the network.

[soundchicken]

For SAC use you don't need routing at all, just access point and maybe a small switch if you need more than one Ethernet port. I like the DDWRT firmware on a post-Cisco Linksys, because I can set it up as Access Point only. These were problematic to use the factory firmware if you only wanted the WiFi function and had another router on the network.

Ah, but you do.......if you are trying to connect multiple clients through multiple ways.

[dbarrow]

Netgear WNDR-6000 here and it's a champ. The Belkin I tried was a POS, and the Cisco/Linksys devices I've tried were not much better.What did they improve in the WNDR-6000?

[RandyHyde]

Despite Servant Digital's hype, it won't end your wireless problems. Once you get out of range SAC still chokes and the system has to be restarted; but you do get much farther from the router before this occurs.


FWIW, I just bought the USB wireless adapter (which really needs to be used with the Amped Wireless router) and will try it out this weekend and see how that improves things.
Cheers,
Randy Hyde

[Donnie Frank]

First let me qualify what I purport here by saying that I host a wireless network in my neighborhood that serves 3 households. That said....

As you can imagine, getting WiFi across the street, though walls and through windows was quite a task. I tried everything; 7-9dB boost omni antennas and active 24dB boost amplifiers at both the host and node ends, and in every combination. None of those worked. Frustrated, I broke out some of my old RFID planar antennas (tuned for 2.4Ghz, so they should work). By far, the largest increase in signal strength was realized by using polarized, planar antennas at the host end in conjunction with active 24dB signal boosters. Ironically, using these planar antennas and/or boosters at the node end netted zero improvement or even negative results - even when used in conjunction with the host-side planar antenna. All A.P.'s are WAP-11's with WSB24's at the host end. All node ends have a bone stock WAP-11 placed in a window.

To date, as SAC shows, I've been using a bone stock WSB54g with stock antennas with no problems. But I honestly don't venture much farther than 50' from the A.P. If I ever get into a show that requires more distance, I'll break out the planar antennas.

I found one on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/41dBm-Mini-Desktop-WiFi-USB-Booster-Planar-Antenna-Set-/170655808685?pt=US_USB_Wi_Fi_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item27bbe0fcad

The one's I use are left over from an RFID company I used to work for. I've never tried the eBay one, but for 40 bucks, it seems worth a shot.

[Andy Hamm]

I have the 1 watt version of the usb adapter you have shown there in the link. I attach it to a 16dB yaggi antenna, and it is incredibly stable at 100 meters or in a crowded room. I mounted the yaggi and the adapter inside a piece of abs plumbing pipe, capped the ends and it just has a usb connector on the outside. I've rigged a mic clip onto it so it sits on a mic stand.

My mix rack exists for these gigs where there is no FOH mix position. I hate mixing from side stage.

[Donnie Frank]

I have the 1 watt version of the usb adapter you have shown there in the link. I attach it to a 16dB yaggi antenna, and it is incredibly stable at 100 meters or in a crowded room. I mounted the yaggi and the adapter inside a piece of abs plumbing pipe, capped the ends and it just has a usb connector on the outside. I've rigged a mic clip onto it so it sits on a mic stand.

My mix rack exists for these gigs where there is no FOH mix position. I hate mixing from side stage.

That sounds pretty kewl. I'd be interested in seeing pictures of your setup if you have them.

[Donnie Frank]

Scary Donny! I'd be afraid of hitting the wrong channel with the stylus.



Actually I'm very accurate with the stylus. I've yet to have an "oh crap" moment.




Seems like a great setup though. Good on ya!

It's been a really good setup. I couldn't be happier.

[Andy Hamm]

That sounds pretty kewl. I'd be interested in seeing pictures of your setup if you have them.

I have a show on Saturday that I will be using it for, I'll snap a picture of it.

[Donnie Frank]

I have a show on Saturday that I will be using it for, I'll snap a picture of it.

Sweet. I'll keep an eye out for them. Thanx.

[kylesoundman]

I have been using the Buffalo AirStation HighPower N300 Wireless Router...it was 50bucks and I literally haven't had a single problem with it and have been using it for over 2 years! Never even mixed hard wired with my rig!

I have mixed over 150 feet from the stage flawlessly a couple of times! I couldn't believe it performed so well considering its a cheap router! Much better than the 250 dollar Cisco 5ghz router one of the local sound companies uses!

I am using an HP Netbook with just the built in 2.4ghz chip set.

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless/single-band-wireless-routers/airstation-highpower-n300-wireless-router

I thought about picking up another one and set it up dd-wrt and see if I can get over 300 feet away without issues!