Detachable antennas

[Buckthorn]

Do any current ASUS routers have detachable antennas? I’m looking for a router for my barn that I can use an external antenna with.

 

[bbunge]

Sure, the AX86U and S have detachable antenna but they also have an internal antenna. May be best to look for something other than Asus.

 

[Buckthorn]

I suppose it might sound like an odd question, but I used to have a ASUS RT-N66U in my house and used an external antenna, which really enhanced the WiFI range. That unit is now gone, but I still have this external antenna and would love to use it in the barn with a new WiFi router. It can be a pretty basic router; I really don't need much in the way of features. It doesn't have to be an ASUS, either. I just thought I'd look at those first. So if you or anyone knows of any basic routers that will take an external antenna, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thank you.

 

[Tech Junky]

Synology and Netgear tend to have removable antennas.

 

[dlandiss]

I’m looking for a router for my barn that I can use an external antenna with.

How do you determine which antenna any given radio is using?

 

[RMerlin]

It depends on the model. Wifi 6E routers never have detachable antennas due to a requirement by the FCC for the 6 GHz band.

 

[bbunge]

Trying to guess your requirements it seems that you are trying to use WIFI to get from the house to the barn? If so another router may not be your best bet. There are other options that would cover the distance better. I do not remember what we used but it was an antenna with a built in radio that we used to bridge internet to a site a half mile away for use with security cams. I can get you specifics if you want.

 

[Crimliar]

I'm sure someone can post the figures but I was under the impression that ideally you only want to have WiFi antennas on the end of a coaxial cable when it's necessary to get them away from something that is shielding the connection. Signal strength is usually going to be far better if you can use an AP at the location you need the antenna - even if that means router, power cable, ethernet cable and AP.

 

[drinkingbird]

Do any current ASUS routers have detachable antennas? I’m looking for a router for my barn that I can use an external antenna with.

Keep in mind you'll need dual band antennas and decent coax (Times Microwave LMR-400 is some of the best). I used to have a Ubiquiti 2.4ghz AP mounted in my attic with 5 foot TM 400 coax going to outdoor roof mounted Terrawave antennas for a bit of a neighborhood WISP. I got pre-made RP-SMA to N coax as the tools to do it yourself would have been 5x the cost. The cost to ground the whole thing and put in decent lightning arrestors was probably as much as the entire rest of the setup too. But I ended up selling the system for about what I paid for it so no complaints.

There are better solutions today though with directional APs, point to point solutions under $100, etc. In a lot of cases the external antenna are for long distance and actually will hurt your signal in a smaller enclosed space anyway. If I were to do it again today I'd just use any of the various Ubiquiti directional stuff, it's cheap enough that you can even run a dedicated set for each link.

 

[stevieosaurus]

I use the Edimax EA-MARS 802.11n/MIMO Antenna Relocation Stand, with the original antennas from the AX86U screwed into it, just to move the reception higher and in line-of-sight, while I can keep my router (and cables) in a ventilated cupboard.

It works with my current AC devices, even though it was designed for Wifi-N, since it is basically just 3 isolated coax wires 1,5m long with a magnetic stand at the end, that you can lay on top of furniture or hang high onto the wall.

Haven't yet tested it with AX hardware. Thinking of also buying stronger ASUS antennas (GT-AX11000 ones I read are 15db vs the AX86 antenna which is just 10db). Any suggestions?

 

[Tech Junky]

Any suggestions?

Higher db doesn't mean better. The higher the db the narrower the signal cone is. Now if you're trying to get distance that's focused like across a yard to the garage it makes sense.

 

[Tech9]

GT-AX11000 ones I read are 15db vs the AX86 antenna which is just 10db

You read wrong information. Home router antenna gain is around 2dBi with some variations depending on frequency.

 

[drinkingbird]

I use the Edimax EA-MARS 802.11n/MIMO Antenna Relocation Stand, with the original antennas from the AX86U screwed into it, just to move the reception higher and in line-of-sight, while I can keep my router (and cables) in a ventilated cupboard.

It works with my current AC devices, even though it was designed for Wifi-N, since it is basically just 3 isolated coax wires 1,5m long with a magnetic stand at the end, that you can lay on top of furniture or hang high onto the wall.

Haven't yet tested it with AX hardware. Thinking of also buying stronger ASUS antennas (GT-AX11000 ones I read are 15db vs the AX86 antenna which is just 10db). Any suggestions?

View attachment 50302

15dbi rubber ducky antenna would be like 2 feet long. Even 10dbi would be huge.

 

[stevieosaurus]

15dbi rubber ducky antenna would be like 2 feet long. Even 10dbi would be huge.

not if it is coiled/wrapped.

 

[rborth]

https://www.everythingrf.com/community/what-is-eirp

https://www.air802.com/fcc-rules-and-regulations.html

Countries have different authorities that regulate transmissions, for the USA it’s the FCC. Unfortunately it appears to follow the rules for POINT-TO-MULTIPOINT connections that for high gain antennas maximum input power must be decreased to maintain EIRP watts.

“When we channel that power into a single direction and calculate the power it is known as EIRP. It will be the maximum power emitted by the antenna in the direction with highest antenna gain.”

So from how I read this you will in effect negatively impact transmitted signal strength transmitted in non-optimal directions for higher gain antennas. However for a fixed gain receiver, received signal strength will increase in the optimal direction.

I suspect this, beamforming and other complexes (and FCC type acceptance being one) is one thing driving fixed antennas for consumer grade devices.

 

[drinkingbird]

not if it is coiled/wrapped.

In the Ghz spectrum that would just ruin your signal and not make it much shorter. With wifi you either need to make the antenna longer or not have it omnidirectional if you want higher gain.

This isn't a CB on an old Jeep.