Back to using a Panda adapter after Hurricane Ian


Alfa wifi adapter Panda wi-fi adapter

I just survived hurricane Ian, and so did my wi-fi antenna setup. ...except the power supply; the storm killed it. The adapter didn't survive either. I had put the adapter and router into a weatherproof platic box. The weatherproof box was held down with a clamp, so I didn't think it would move around in the storm; wrong. I tied the weatherproof box's top down with plastic cable ties. The tie where I hadn't cut the excess off, stretched in the wind. Wind and rain got into the box, the the contents blew out of the box and were exposed to the full fury of the storm (86 MPH winds, and pouring rain). The adapter was rendered useless, but the R36A router was still working after the storm. Finally, the AGAP05-2 signal booster was still working after the storm, and my antenna was still standing.

I replaced the dead power supply, and the AWUS036NHA adapter with a Panda PAU06 adapter. Everything is working just great. I was able to walk all the way to the end of my property (I have 10 acres) and still had a usable signal; listened to music off of the Internet. Hurricane Ian trashed my carport and some other structures on my property, so the fact my wi-fi setup weathered the storm so well speaks well of Alfa Network Inc. (they make most of the components of my wi-fi setup).

BTW, in some earlier blogs I said there might be problems using a Panda adapter with my mostly Alfa setup, but the problems I saw were probably all attributable to the flaky power supply I was using. It turns out you can use a Panda adapter, and it's working like a champ in my current setup.