Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

bmet
bmet Solar Expert Posts: 630 ✭✭
in Energy Use & Conservation #1
I realize this isn't solar, but I really respect the technical knowledge of the moderators here, and came across a head-scratcher.

After bringing in an RV to the ranch, I've been slow in adding amenities, such as a TV. We are 50ish miles from San Antonio, so the RV's retractable aerial doesnt pick up half the OTA stations. Finally I bought a UHF external antenna, it grabs them all. At the same time my cell phone alerted me to an 'Available Wi-Fi Network'. I 'connected', had 'excellent' signal strength, and opened several pages in a web browser. Speed wasn't anything to write home about, but I'm trying to figure out where a UHF antenna is somehow putting my cell phone into range of a wi-fi network. There is a Mac Mini in the RV, and its Airport is on, but my cell phone has never alerted to it before.

Could this be a fluke between UHF and an Apple Airport? The Mac Mini in the RV normally has no signal to lock onto. The proximity between the Mini and UHF antenna is about 15 feet, with the computer being on the 'backside' of the aerial. I thought these parabolic elements were supposed to have high rejection on anything except from the front.

Anyway, this has got to be the weirdest thing I have ever witnessed, radio-logically speaking. Any ideas? Thank you, and I apologize for the off-topic posting.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #2
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    Use any old IP lookup link--Here is one:

    http://ip-address-lookup-v4.com/

    Hit that link on your mini-mac and on your Phone... It should show your IP address, Internet Provider, and roughly, where it thinks you are located.

    My bet is that you will find the phone is getting a wifi signal from your local computer...

    If you access to applications (Iphone or Android), you can put something like Wifi Analyzer (version 3.1.2 on my Android phone) by Keven Yaun/farproc. Very easy to quickly find all wifi access points near your phone.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #3
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    By the way, if you cannot identify your ISP by the first link, enter your IP address here:

    http://whois.domaintools.com/

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • bmet
    bmet Solar Expert Posts: 630 ✭✭
    #4
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    That is what I am thinking, is that my cell phone is detecting the Airport on the Mini, but why? We are out in the country where even cell coverage is spotty. A strong wi-fi signal with the install of a UHF antenna? ( I'm not pointing an old Dish parabolic at a town with a long coax into a wireless NIC.) It's just a TV aerial.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #5
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    UHF TV tops out around 700 to 900 MHz (today, 700 MHz, pre digital as high as ~900 MHz). So, I would not expect a UHF TV antenna to be very good in the ~2.4 GHz range (2,400 MHz) frequency range.

    Also, if this was an amplified antenna, then I would expect that to mess-up the local transmit side of the link (guessing).

    Try figuring out the IP Addresses for the local Mac and the Phone--That should tell you real quickly if they are sharing the same hardware of not.

    I am not sure there is a "hard range" for WiFi... A few hundred feet max is about all I have ever seen with internal antennas... People report ~1,000 feet with directional antenna. And something like 300 km for record attempts (amplifiers, balloons, etc.).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Ken Marsh
    Ken Marsh Solar Expert Posts: 114 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    Hi Bimet,
    I am not a moderator but have some ideas.
    A UHF TV antenna pattern is not predictable. They cover a very broad frequency range, from 470 to 806 MHz.
    Too wide for parasitic elements to work as they normally would with a single frequency application.
    They have numerous side lobes which change with frequency as you scan.
    It is generally observed, with broad band antennas almost any metal you get up around the antenna probably helps.

    Also because of changing impedance, the feed line could be radiating and getting signal into your home
    where it wasn't there before the antenna install.

    Do you have any new neighbors?
    Sometimes in low population areas people put antennas on wi-fi and it can go for miles.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    actually, it is possible the antenna is working just fine up in that frequency range as many antennas will work at odd multiples of the fundamental frequency. ie 3x, 5x, etc. side lobes will be present meaning the pattern may be slightly distorted, but it will have some directivity and gain. the extra height the antenna is at also adds to what can be picked up. it is not impossible for the source to be quite a long distance away. i'm not up on wifi or cell phones, but i'd be real curious too as to just how far away it may be.

    remember, this can also be a private wifi link for a pc and the owner figured that they are out in the middle of nowhere (comparatively) and didn't bother with security.

    also note that this may not be the only one you may find.
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  • ggunn
    ggunn Solar Expert Posts: 1,973 ✭✭✭
    #8
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    Anything is possible, including coincidences. It could be that the two things have nothing to do with each other than that they happened at about the same time. My wife's Mac allowed connections to the internet through its airport card, but it kinda came and went.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #9
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    bmet,
    you kind of left us hanging on this. did you find out any more info?
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  • bmet
    bmet Solar Expert Posts: 630 ✭✭
    #10
    Re: Off topic, not sure who else to ask. Receiving Wi-Fi alert after UHF aerial install

    bb was right in 1 respect. the wifi signal is coming from an apple airport, just not the 1 in the rv. the apple airport in the rv is named after the owner of the computer, but the airport I am seeing on the wifi detector is named iPod. it doesn't make sense to me unless I just happened to be a at someone's airport express somewhere on the other side of a low land brush and mosquito. the wifi is strong but the data stream is slow. I still don't know who or how far away this signal is coming from, stranger still that it never appeared before until I installed that u h f antenna
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