Best Point-to-Point TP-Link Outdoor Access Point Setting Configuration
Here is how to configure the best setting for your TP-link outdoor access point. Step by step guide to maximize signal throughput to get better speed.
Best TP-link Access Point Settings
Slow internet unnecessary lies on your internet provider, but can also be your TP-link devices that is not configured properly.
Miss-configuration between point-to-point TP-link devices will directly affect your productivity. You may suffer from big number of ping, slow connection or even data loss.
If you want the best setting to improve your wireless speed, achieve longer range signal throughput then you come to the right place. Here I am going to solve your problem.
How to configure best settings TP-link out door access point
Best settings between Point-to-Point connection depends on various factors. Such as range, obstacles, signal interference, and band width.
Below are several points you need to configure to improve your connection speed.
I am using 2 type of TP-link outdoor access point, TP-link CPE 220 and TP-link CPE210. Each of them works in 2.4GHZ frequencies with 0.5 km distant away.
• Check Your Antenna Pointing
This is the basic thing you need to pay attention most. Is to make sure your two devices aligned properly. You need to focus the power and not beam your signal to no where.
To do this you can check your location using Google Maps. Then draw straight line between 2 devices. Make sure to take a note related to the distant and mark other high buildings or trees around.
Building mark as guidance
Marking other high buildings/tree is necessary in case your other device is not in sight. Any building that crossed by your straight line mark, can be used as your pointing guidance.
By pointing your first device to the marked building above, you will automatically get the correct direction. Then do the same for the second device.
While correcting your antenna direction, monitor your signal strength on Admin Page > Status
Antenna pointing not properly aligned
You can access your admin page using your phone/PC and give attention to:
- Signal strength; the higher the better, notice the minus sign. -40 is example of best result
- Noise Strength; the lower the better, -120 is example of best result
- SNR value; comes from subtraction between Signal strength – Noise Strength
- Transmit CCQ; percentage of data successfully transferred, 98-100 is the best result
You can also monitor the ping value by accessing Tools menu at the right top window
Ping feature
Enter the second IP device then click start.
Ping result
Notice the time=1, it means between devices need 1millisecond to communicate, which is the best result. Make sure to get as low as possible while aligning your device.
• Avoid frequency interference
Frequency interference is common problem for wireless device. It directly affects speed performance since 2 or more devices use the same frequency to work.
This issue usually occurred when your neighbor’s device uses the same channel as yours. To avoid this you must choose the least used channel.
TP-link offers you automatic channel selection, however it is not recommended for point-to-point device. The reason is between 2 devices may have different circumstances of the environment to select their best un-used channel.
The best solution is to select the least used channel for the device with more crowded frequency around and then set the second device to follow the same channel as the first device or vice versa.
To select the best channel for your TP-link access point, I recommend you to test it manually for each channel. Or you can use a feature in TP-link to analyze the noise strength.
To use this feature you can Login to your Admin Page > Wireless > Spectrum analysis
TP-link Spectrum analysis
Here is an example of spectrum analysis result
TP-link Spectrum analysis result
When choosing channel/frequency, you should avoid the spectrum with large radio noise and select the lowest possible. In this example, the recommended channel is 2432(channel 5)
• Always use N or AC only mode
TP link allows you to choose several mode for wireless which is b, g, n, ac(5G device) and mixed. b and g mode can be used for wider range and compatibility with older device, while n and ac mode is the latest technology of wireless to improve speed performance.
The range between those modes not much differ, so it is a wise to use n only or ac only to get maximum speed.
To change the mode you can login to your admin page > Wireless tab and select 802.11n (n only)
Select N only mode
• Use narrower bandwidth (channel width)
Wider bandwidth such as 20/40MHZ allows you to get maximum speed up to 300mbps depend on your device, however it is also the most unstable for longer range.
If you prefer stable ping with less interference, I recommend you to use narrower band. The signal is more focused and easier to get through various obstacle such as trees, building etc. As a result, you will get a longer range with stronger signal.
You can change the band by accessing Admin page > Wireless then select Channel width. On the drop down menu select 5mhz or 10mhz
Select 5mhz
Note: You should change both your TP-link access point devices to the same bandwidth to connect. Devices in general such as laptop, phone etc only use 20 or 20/40Mhz therefore they wont able to detect or connect to your access point.
• Increase your signal power throughput
TP-link 220 allows you to set maximum signal power to 30 dBm. However some of you may not know that this maximum power can only be achieved if you set your device with specific region.
For example, if you set your region to Japan, you will get maximum power only 8dBm, while for United States you will get 28 dBm.
If you want to use the maximum power, you can select region China or Test_mode.
Test_mode to get maximum output power
Warning, each country has its own regulation related the maximum power for wireless, so use this tips with precaution.
•Enable/Disable Short GI
Short GI feature allows your device to prevent multi path effect caused by short delay. Multi path occurs when obstacle reflects your signal, then received by your device.
If your delay is small (you can check it by monitoring the CCQ and ping value), it is recommended to enable short GI. While this feature is enabled, you can improve the signal throughput by 11%.
However if you have low percentage of CCQ or high number of ping, you should disable this option. This feature will reduce throughput instead of increasing.
You can access Short GI option by opening Admin page > Wireless scroll down and find Advanced Wireless Settings
Short GI enabled
Conclusion: Best settings PTP TP-link outdoor access point configuration
There are various ways to improve your TP-link outdoor access point performance to get better speed and stable ping.
You have to align your antenna correctly, change the channel to avoid interference, apply the last N or AC wireless technology mode, change your bandwidth to the narrow one, strengthen your signal power and lastly enable/disable Short GI feature.
If you have any other suggestion, don’t hesitate to comment down below.
