A look at the Engenius 3630 WAP

Long range WiFi

Being a mobile individual I have always had a fascination with long-range wireless Internet. The concept of being able to transmit an Internet signal across tens of kilometers has always been a neat, but unattainable goal. I began to look into long-range wifi again, and, I quickly discovered that it was no longer a pipe dream. A couple of weeks ago I ordered the Engenius 3630 wireless access point from NCIX. The access point can be installed out of doors and supports power-over-ethernet, meaning you only need to run one cable to the router to supply both signal and power. With an N-connector for an easily upgradable antenna and at $140 on sale this seemed like the best and most inexpensive method to dive into long-range wifi.

Finding a suitable location

After receiving and assembling my access point I had to find a suitable location for it. When dealing with 2.4 GHz signals one has to remember that line of sight is extremely important, so following that reasoning you will probably want to mount your antenna as high as possible and away from any buildings, trees, or other obstructions. I eventually chose to mount it on my main antenna tower at a height of about 25’ the plan is eventually to move the router to a higher location to increase my coverage. Because the 3630 is built to be outdoors it is already waterproof and you needn’t worry about sealing it. If you were using an indoor router outside then a waterproof seal would be something to consider.

Antennas have a great effect on range

The Engenius 3610 comes with a supplied antenna that has a gain of 5 dbi. Dbi is the unit used to measure the gain of an antenna. In simple terms every time you add 3 dbi to the gain of an antenna you effectively double the power output. In this sense a high gain antenna can greatly increase the range of your router. Most high gain antennas connect to the router or access point with an N-type connector; however most routers have an SMA or a TNC connector necessitating the use of an adaptor. The 3610 has an N-connector already on it so connecting a high-gain antenna is really quite simple. The last thing to consider when buying an external antenna is: do you need a directional or omnidirectional antenna? In simple terms a directional antenna puts your router’s entire signal for a long way in one direction while an omnidirectional antenna puts an equal amount of signal in all directions. Currently I am still using the stock antenna with my router.

Configuration

Finally it is time to configure your access point. The 3630 has a default IP address of 192.168.1.1. You will want to connect your computer directly to the access point for the initial configuration. The 3630 supports several different wireless “modes” including access point and repeater. I’ll leave it up to you to read the included instruction manual to understand what each of these modes are.

Conclusion

The 3630 is a great outdoor access point when configured correctly. There is a small learning curve but once you read the supplied manual then configuring the router to your specifications is a snap. The router is powerful too – I’ve increased the range of my network from several meters outside my house to over two blocks in certain directions. If you want a strong signal throughout your neighbourhood then the Engenuis 3630 is something you want to take a serious look at.