SDR remote server - help please

SpE
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:23 am

SDR remote server - help please

#1

Unread post by SpE »

I would like to operate my SDR from the comfort of my armchair using a second laptop computer and thought I could use the remote server feature for this. I tried the streaming option but I'd like to do bandscans on multiple bands and streaming didn't allow this.

I've gone through the setup procedure for the server but I found that when searching for my radio on SDRSpace.com, it is listed but there is a yellow warning triangle next to it and not the green tick. I also discovered there is a red icon listed in the Server Manager setup under "On Air".

I assume this is most likely a port forwarding problem. I used a several online services to check my port 50101 but it's still showing as closed. I have a NetComm NF18ACV wireless modem, and another wireless router attached to this for improved coverage around the house. Rather than tackle port forwarding in both units, I've initially set up the port forwarding on the wireless modem only and initially just using this to connect my "remote" radio and my armchair laptop to. I assume the attached additional wireless router wouldn't cause any issues here.

Attached is a screenshot from my wireless modem port forward window with my local address in. I've also tried my online IP address in there but I'm not getting very far and would like to ask for some help with this please.

Thanks. :)
Dave
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KA1GJU
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:16 pm

Re: SDR remote server - help please

#2

Unread post by KA1GJU »

I had a good step by step with photos on how to do it properly, but the images are now gone. Only the text is there:
https://sdr-radio.groups.io/g/main/message/51472

But I did find this:
https://sdr-radio.groups.io/g/main/file ... Guide2.pdf

Getting ports open and forwarding to the proper PC with a static IP set is important! My ports show 'Open' with my server PC's up and running.


73 Kriss KA1GJU
Home of the Super Station SDRC V3 servers in NH, USA
73 Kriss KA1GJU Home of the KA1GJU Super Station SDRC Servers in NH, USA (FN42mw & FN43na)

SpE
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:23 am

Re: SDR remote server - help please

#3

Unread post by SpE »

Hi Kriss,
I must give you a big thank you for the step by step guide. Even without the images it was still very helpful. I pretty much started from the beginning and went through your guide really carefully and finally managed to get it going! I'm not sure what I did wrong earlier although this time around I also tried port forwarding 50199 as well as 50101. I also reset my account names... I possibly had too different names set up there too rather than identical accounts.

Unfortunately although it's working it is not giving me a consistent level of data and buffers considerably, to the point where I can't use it. My partner has had Netflix going all day as well as my daughter playing Minecraft and using Messenger video so I suspect there's some serious data hogging going on there. I've been looking at the Quality of Service settings in my router today and there will have to be some major throttling back of data with preference given to my SDR connection! So I've spent a few hours playing around with that while trying not to disrupt the family's internet enjoyment too much. I'm sure that's only going to be a minor setback and I should have it working properly pretty soon.

Thanks again.
73 Dave

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KA1GJU
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:16 pm

Re: SDR remote server - help please

#4

Unread post by KA1GJU »

Get the other devices (smart TV, desktops crmputers,etc) on Cat5/6 (hardwire) or get your server and client machines hardwired. Thanks to Simon's efforts in the Server portion of his software, I can operate mine from a hotel's Wifi most of the time with no issues. Can you get yourself or the other users to use 5gHz Wifi if your router supports it? Having EVERYTHING online on the 2.4gHz Wifi might be a bottleneck. What does "Speedtest" give you during times of peak Internet useage?

73 Kriss KA1GJU
73 Kriss KA1GJU Home of the KA1GJU Super Station SDRC Servers in NH, USA (FN42mw & FN43na)

SpE
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:23 am

Re: SDR remote server - help please

#5

Unread post by SpE »

Hi Kriss
I managed to get some time this morning to play around with the network and run some speed tests. I have been getting the family to connect to my Amped router on 2.4G for Netflix, Minecraft etc while I used the 2.4G connection on the Netcomm router for the SDR service. In theory you would think that using two different routers it would free up data for my SDR server service but I was still getting buffering, even on 100kHz bandwidth.

Anyway this morning while playing around with the Windows network settings I found a link to "Network reset". I tried this and after restarting the laptop I found that I was able to receive 200kHz bandwidth from my SDR without buffering. I haven't had time to do further tests using wider bandwidths yet.

I did do a speedtest and here are the results. Running Netflix on the TV and Minecraft on two devices, all connected to the Amped router on 2.4G, I connected my cellphone to the different wifi connections and using speedtest I got this:

Netcomm wifi modem 2.4G Down 12.9, Up 23.3
Netcomm wifi modem 5G Down 62.6, Up 25.2
Amped router 2.4G Down 18.3, Up 25.0
Amped router 5G Down 59.3, Up 25.6

I'm surprised that even though nothing was using the Netcomm 2.4G I was only getting 12.9 down. This was what I have connected my SDR service to, which appears to be the slowest of the lot. When I get a chance I'll try using the 5G Netcomm connection for the SDR and see how it goes. I couldn't use the SDR remote service at the same time when running these tests as I didn't have enough devices.

I'll post an update soon and let you know how it went.

Thanks Kriss.
73 Dave

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KA1GJU
Posts: 263
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Re: SDR remote server - help please

#6

Unread post by KA1GJU »

Lemme get this straight, both routers are on 2.4GHz, and are within ear shot of each other?
Typical default router channel is Ch5, so if both are on Ch5, they may be QRMing themselves. You can manually set the WiFi channels via their user interface and set them to something further apart, i.e. Channel 1 and Channel 10. Droid phones have a neat app that is a WiFi analyzer, you just might see both SSID’ s on top of each other!

73 Kriss KA1GJU/AM
73 Kriss KA1GJU Home of the KA1GJU Super Station SDRC Servers in NH, USA (FN42mw & FN43na)

SpE
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:23 am

Re: SDR remote server - help please

#7

Unread post by SpE »

It looks like I have finally got it working at long last. Yes the two routers are about a metre apart but I always thought they were auto channel allocation. I checked my WiFi analyser app (which I already had installed but never thought to use) and one channel is on 3, the other is 13, so no apparent problems there. Same with 5 GHz.

Up until today even 100 kHz SDR bandwidth was giving me trouble but when I did switch the second router off performance did improve, slightly. Then I noticed the signal level on the Netcomm modem wasn't that good on the computer feeding the SDRs signal, only 1 bar. It's at the end of the house hence why I had needed to use the second higher powered router. So I'm now only running one router (the WiFi modem) and moved both send and receive computers closer to the modem for testing. Everything is working really well, with the maximum bandwidth of 912 kHz giving me flawless reception even with Netflix running on WiFi. I have about 19MBs DL while everything's running, better than 12 which I was getting earlier. I'm uploading the SDR on 5 GHz, downloading the SDR signal on 2.4, and Netflix is connected to 5 GHz.

I don't know why the two routers interacted with each other but it appears to be part of the problem.

I will re-organise everything soon, hard wire the TV, move both routers much further apart and as the TV will be hard wired to the modem I will disable the WiFi on that router and just have the other router's WiFi running.

I appreciate your help on this and so pleased it's working. :)

Thanks Kriss.

73 Dave

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