External Antenna for RT-N66U

[WilliamY]

Thanks for posting your experience its very useful sharing such things for the other ppl planning to buy such stuff, as a thank you I will post my experience

I bought a single band antenna of asus themselve the link below here

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0046HQKV6/?tag=snbforums-20

I have not seen any improvement in the 2.4Ghz infact it was worse, and one day while reading I think one of toastmaster articles about antenna I learned that those high gain antenna,s only have an positive effect when going horizontal meaning at the same floor, vertical signal will decrease so between floors it becomes weaker. Anyway it was a good read, and my test though unsuccessful was still a joy for me crossing down oan "IF" out of my mind

What I learned is that the 2dbi antenna is 360 degree, which means the vertical direction has the same signal as horizontal direction. but the antenna has short range.

 

[alternety]

Some thoughts about antennas. 360 degree coverage does not necessarily mean that the vertical pattern is also omnidirectional. Antennas are three dimensional. When you look at an antenna the vendor needs to supply two coverage charts. One the horizontal coverage; one the vertical pattern. A simple vertical antenna will have a symmetric field in the horizontal and vertical direction; but they may not be the same. Up gain is most likely less than horizontal gain. And you are trying to get through the ceiling.

If you are in the basement and trying to get to the third floor, there are two ways; using the radiation patterns. If you buy an "omnidirectional" (e.g., a single whip/stub antenna) then you probably need to turn it horizontal to increase signal strength to the third floor. But the gain will be relatively low.

The better approach is to use a strongly directional antenna (Yagi for discrete bands, log periodic for a wide band coverage). If your alignment permits, point the antenna at the third floor device. The signal will drop off significantly away from the center line. Use the field diagrams from the vendor to determine signal strength distribution. This is the best you can do with the specific power output from the transmitter (at each end) and the gain pattern of the antenna. The gain works both ways. Your effective transmitter signal is raised by the specified antenna gain, and your receiver signal level is raised by the same amount. It is like the remote transmitter is increased in power equal to the antenna gain.

The available power output of the router transmitter is probably greater than many remote devices. Remember, the links (total radio path) to and from the main transceiver (e.g., your router) must (after all gains, losses, signal to noise ratios, etc.) be symmetric for a decent connection. More power on only one end will most likely not improve things.

 

[ArCan]

Hi everybody.
It's time to smile.
http://s8.postimage.org/qnz7xhs79/IMG_9309.jpg
This is my very old laptop and it has only two antennas inside.
I upgrade the WiFi card and put the 3rd antenna ...
This 3rd antenna from DUAL BAND and its work good on both
only because the diameter of tubes wide enough for wide range on two bands.
BUT of course it reduce the amplification of antenna in any range.
And other BUT... I hope now that I have 3TR3RV and really I have better performance.

This is a little bit another story about antennas of course.
But we have three antennas on router and sometimes only one on PC's laptops etc. ...
Hm...

P.S. This is basement and rats a little bit bait my table... don't worry about it...

 

[DaveMishSr]

Hi everybody.
It's time to smile.
http://s8.postimage.org/qnz7xhs79/IMG_9309.jpg
This is my very old laptop and it has only two antennas inside.
I upgrade the WiFi card and put the 3rd antenna ...
This 3rd antenna from DUAL BAND and its work good on both
only because the diameter of tubes wide enough for wide range on two bands.
BUT of course it reduce the amplification of antenna in any range.
And other BUT... I hope now that I have 3TR3RV and really I have better performance.

This is a little bit another story about antennas of course.
But we have three antennas on router and sometimes only one on PC's laptops etc. ...
Hm...

P.S. This is basement and rats a little bit bait my table... don't worry about it...

Interesting solution. When I upgraded my laptop from a Centrino N-1030 to the Centrino Ultimate N-6300 I installed a third antenna wire and routed it along the two existing wires. That was a royal pain in the *ss as I had to remove the display screen in order to run it but I wanted the upgrade to at least appear professional. It works like a charm but I cannot recommend anyone else try it.

 

[badbob001]

I wonder if I can simply replace the three antennas on my RT-N66U with the ones from this bad boy. It's direct attach so no coax lost?

This is the recently announced Asus RTN12HP, which has these rather long 9dBi antennas: http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN12HP

I just want slightly more signal strength at the corners of my home. I have my n66u next to all my networking equipment in the basement because I want all that on UPS to prevent disconnects from short dips in power (just experienced Sandy).

 

[hclarkjr]

i bought these for my router yesterday off ebay to try out

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261105864694?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
anybody try those before?

 

[AnthonyArmato]

I think there's a thread where someone purchased those or similar and got worse performance/range.

 

[sm00thpapa]

Stock antennas are 3.5 dBi not 2 dBi. All of those antennas on ebay are Chinese junk and do not work. Save your money and buy from a trusted seller like newegg or something.

 

[Raptor]

Stock antennas are 3.5 dBi not 2 dBi. All of those antennas on ebay are Chinese junk and do not work. Save your money and buy from a trusted seller like newegg or something.

The antenna's that come with the RT-N66U are 2 dBi. It's in Asus FCC documentation. I've experimented with several third party antenna's and i'm still using the stock Asus ones. They delivered the best coverage with a consistently good signal.

 

[lukesan]

The antenna's that come with the RT-N66U are 2 dBi. It's in Asus FCC documentation. I've experimented with several third party antenna's and i'm still using the stock Asus ones. They delivered the best coverage with a consistently good signal.

1.5dBi difference means nothing. Moving your router an inch might have more effect than that.

What I notice in most people homes here in Belgium is that the routers are all at the front of the house which is logical since the ISP delivers the cable or adsl stuff there.
I have no benefit of the signal going out in the front of my house but would rather have it bundled to the back. Unfortunately if you use a reflector you will be making gains but also bundled horizontally. So the rest of the floors end up with a lower signal.

Now with these 2.4 and 5GHz there is another thing which I haven't seen on the market, and that is dualband antennas. The first one that starts producing this for routers and that are good quality will be making money.

I actually do not recommend you put on a high gain (or any other) antenna if it is not dualband capable. There is something called SWR (standing wave ratio) meaning that the power module needs to get rid of the power it emmits and not get it back. If you have an antenna build for the freq it will be a perfect resonator and the module will not get the power back which might damage it.

 

[itcaveman]

Been running two of these for close to 2 years, no issues

Been running two of these for close to two years with both radios set to 200mw. No issues , good range, great throughput, very stable signal in a 4000 square foot house, no abnormal heat either.

Machine is stock, not mods, no new antenna's. just up'd the power on both radios bands.

 

[Faiakes]

I promised I would report back after trying out an external antenna, so here goes. I bought 3 Asus WL-ANT157 antennas, which are dual band and directional antennas. They are pretty small and attached directly to the antenna jacks on the back of the NR-66U. I'm very pleased with the results. My 5.8 Ghz signal is even stronger now, but more importantly my 2.4 Ghz signal strength and speed has doubled. It seems that external antennas can improve signals and speed, at least in my situation. Thanks again for everyone's advice and comments.

Hi

Have you had any problems using all 3 of them?
Are there any power issues?

 

[joegreat]

Have you had any problems using all 3 of them?
Are there any power issues?

Hi,

I have 3 of them (from the OEM Delock), but only using two on the RT-N66U router.
Could not mount the 3rd one as there is not enoug space beween the mouted outer two.

Other user report good results by just replacing the one in the middle, which gave them better coverage.

With kind regards
Joe

 

[olblueyez]

Not!

Sounds good if you don't understand "coax cable signal loss at microwave frequencies". Asus does not use the lowest loss coax possible on an antenna that retails for $23.00.

But heck, try it, it is only money. Don't forget you need 3 ($68.40) if you even hope to see gains. You will be disappointed though, and it will be one butt ugly setup....

Why not eliminate the cable and plastic stand and screw the ASUS hi-gain antennae directly onto the router?

I did somethig simular with a DGL-4300 and it eliminated all the dead spots in our 1700 sq foot apartment and extended the signal out to the deck.

And he can up the Tx power too. I wasn't able to alter the Tx power on the D-Link.

 

[PrivateJoker]

Terra-Wave makes a 6dBi 3 antenna dual band omni array (under one, weatherproof dome) w/ a 1m pigtail to 3 RPSMA connectors (which is what the Asus routers w/ external connectors support). They are true omni and not at all directionally focused like the Asus WL-ANT157.

Specs, dimensions, and beam pattern: http://bit.ly/19QoTla

The unit lists for $300 but my rep at CDW told me I could get it for around $200. If you call any authorized vendor you should be able to get it around that price too.

FWIW the stock antennas on the N66U are referred to as 2dbi in the FCC documentation, though they are advertised as 3/5dBi. I know the WL-ANT191 is advertised as 9dBi gain on 2.4ghz but I think there is some probable loose advertising interpretation of the gain there.

 

[Super Bee]

I would think it will give it better range. Anyways, these antenna are pretty long, a little over a foot long.

Are those Alfa antennas? I have those on mine and haven't noticed any improvement from stock. I keep the transmit power at 84 mW.

What about antenna spacing?

 

[cloneman]

Hi,

My antennas (antennae) are broken and I'm looking for a replacement ... stock would be fine, but NFI where to buy those (ebay seems fake). What's a good aftermarket antenna that will give me at least the same performance?

EDIT: Oops, should have read the middle of the thread page 6