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This might have been up for discussion earlier, I could't find it though. Not sure if this is the correct category on the forum either, but....

When I connect my Tellstick Duo to my Lenovo Laptop running Windows 7, the range for receiving signals is extremely poor. With a free line of sight, only about 3-4 meters or so...
However, when I connect the Tellstick Duo to my other Lenovo laptop running Ubuntu Linux, the range is excellent. I even receive sensor information from my neighboors across the street.

Can the tellstick behave differently depending on USB-drivers in the operating system? What else could cause this? I'm on the newest versions of software on both platforms..

Thanx
cozmo

Does is light up in blue even if nothing is received in TelldusCenter?

No...The few times it lights up - it does receive stuff. When i pull my devices further off than 4-5m - it never receives anything, and also never lights up..

This is really strange.
Do you have the possibility to test it in another Windows computer?
Are your both computers located at the same location?
Could one of your computers interfere somehow with the RF?
How is the transmitting range (in both computers)?
Is the TellStick Duo located the same way?

Testing has been performed with the computers in the same location (on the same table). I've tried the Windows computer both with, and without the other computer turned on, no difference.

So far my system only consist of temperature sensors and magnet sensors, so I can't test the transmitting range unfortunately.

Since the windows laptop is in use for lots of other stuff, I really don't wanna mess with it. But I was thinking maybe I would wipe Linux of the other one, install Win7 and see what happens.....

I have another Win7 computer, a workstation, which I tested briefly with the tellstick yesterday - and on that one the range seems fine.

Maybe the Win7 laptop has some internal stuff on the mainboard that interferes with the tellstick or something.....

Did a little more testing on the "bad" Win7 laptop.
And the problem has gotten even worse. Even on only 1m distance the Tellstick doesn't register lot's of the events I'm triggering. And for those events which registers in TelldusCenter - it seem to light up blue with a much bigger delay than on the two other computers on which it lights up blue in the same instant as I trigger sensors.

Maybe it's something with the voltage on the USB port? For the record - it's a Lenovo T410s - which by most other means is a pretty good laptop ..

Hi Cozmo,

I had a similar issue when I tried to use a Sony Vaio laptop. This had 4 USB ports, 2 on the left, and 2 on the right. The TellStick worked perfectly on the left side, but not on the right. When I measured the voltage, I found it dropped on the right side to around 2.5v.
It sounds like the USB ports are not supplying enough current. My quick fix would be to try using a powered USB hub.

Paul.

Thanks for your reply Paul. I think this must be same kind of issue. Since I'm not going to permanently use the "bad" laptop for the tellstick, I won't bother measuring the USB voltages etc.

For other users that are having problems with their range of reception, this is certainly something they should check out before buying new antennas and stuff.

Yes, I have noticed the same thing. My laptop and nettop can not provide enough voltage. When they are turned off they seem to provide more voltage, because I can see the Duo blinking blue when pressing the remote much further away.

I've noticed the same. As soon as you stop the Telldus Service on windows, the blue light, lights up with a much larger range. When the service is running, with the same device, I only get 2-3 metres.
Is there anything to fix this as it is currently rendering my upgrade to a Duo as pointless as the reception is within the same room only when the Telldus service is running?

Did anyone get this resolved?

I haven't tested this personally, but if it's simply a matter of pushing enough voltage to the Duo, you could try using an active (powered) USB-hub. It's the easiest way to correct most device issues.