High Gain Antennas

[gjf]

Hi All.

Just want to ask community: is installation of high gain antennas really improves the signal sensitivity for the router?

Found this item, and I am pretty sure it will work with any 2.4 / 5.0 GHz if it work at all (wavelength is the same, connection port is the same). But is it really useful?

Also found this one, and I really wonder how form factor improves the gain.

Thanks in advance to everybody who has a practical experience and will share it with me.

 

[pete y testing]

what specifically are you trying to achieve as higher gain antennas generally wont get you better overall coverage

what is your current routers make and model

what sort of floor plan do you have and what is the wifi environment like around your house

in general just adding higher gain omni directional antennas wont achieve much and dont forget the client device still needs to talk and your not improving it

 

[gjf]

OK, let me explain.

I am living in an apartment with three rooms. I don't care about the signal at lower or higher floors. The installation place of the router (RT-AC68U) is not in the center of apartment and it cannot be changed due to number of reasons. So when I am sitting down in the kitchen that is most far from router (maybe 7 meters at all - but three walls) the 5.0 GHz signal is very low. Moreover I found my refrigerator influence on the signal much so I have to use 2.4 GHz signal only in kitchen.

So I was looking for some improvement, but if you state it cannot help me - I'm OK with it.

Thank you for reply.

 

[joegreat]

One important consideration:
High gain antennas narrow down the signal radiation - compared to the omni-direction of low gain antennas.

A combination of narrow (e.g. the middle one like I have on my 2nd router) and the two outer ones still omni-directional is a good compromise.

 

[pete y testing]

ok so it sounds like the location and environmental conditions and metal hardware are the issue and forcing higher power wont help , 5 gig also has far less penetration as you have experienced

have you considered something like powerline adapters with wifi to get the wifi transmission to where its needed ( eg in the kitchen ) oe even better having a tech come in and run ethernet from the location of the 68u to somewhere in the kitchen area and run a second wireless access point

So I was looking for some improvement

just sounds like the walls and metal units just block that 5 gig

 

[gjf]

Damn, I forgot about beam forming.
Sure these high gain antenna will prevent beam forming and will lead to narrow signal.
Thanks for clarifying - it is definitely not my issue.
Case is closed.

 

[heysoundude]

There's nothing wrong with 2.4GHz...and you may be pleasantly surprised if you try http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/wifiyagi.htm (the first design, 3 elements)
Especially if you remove the antennae and locate them remotely from the router
provided you have the tools/materials/inclination

 

[sfx2000]

I'm a HAM and a system engineer with a decent background on RF...

Higher gain antennae isn't going to help out much here - it's physics basically - a radio is going to have a given range - period...

The 3rd party antennas - most are Chinese knock-offs with no engineering behind it - so one runs in to a mismatch between the radio front end (the WiFi chipset) and the radiated element (the antenna) - and this rarely ends up well...

The Antennas included as bought with your router/AP - they're pretty decently matched as a result of FCC and other regulatory agencies - so they're good enough..

 

[dlandiss]

Just want to ask community: is installation of high gain antennas really improves the signal sensitivity for the router?

Yes, but as others have pointed out no "power" is gained--just concentrated in a narrower region (think of a spotlight as opposed to a floodlight). Since you mention that you are not trying to reach floors above or below the router location this becomes a much smaller issue.

Found this item, and I am pretty sure it will work with any 2.4 / 5.0 GHz if it work at all (wavelength is the same, connection port is the same). But is it really useful?

Also found this one, and I really wonder how form factor improves the gain.

The 16cm version seems too short for the claimed gain. I have had better results with antennas like these from Super Power Supply. That company (with which I have no ties whatsoever) seems to have done its homework and I have not been disappointed with any of its antennas.

You will be warned that the client still has to be able to talk back to the router, which is quite correct. Fortunately, due to the reciprocity effect, we enjoy the same effective gain in receiving as in transmitting. Factors such as near-channel interference can come into play, but they would in any case.

My observations as a Ham Radio experimenter for 58 years, and a commercial license holder for 55 years, support the usefulness of antennas having effective gain.

 

[heysoundude]

no "power" is gained--just concentrated in a narrower region (think of a spotlight as opposed to a floodlight). .

Directed might be the correct word, given the terminology used in the "Construction" section of my link...he's a HAM too, given his email addy at the bottom of the page.
Of course, seeing as the dimensions of the antennae on this router are quite a bit larger than the one in my link, you'd have to re-design this...but I tried it on mine and it worked surprisingly well

 

[dlandiss]

Directed might be the correct word, given the terminology used in the "Construction" section of my link...he's a HAM too, given his email addy at the bottom of the page.
Of course, seeing as the dimensions of the antennae on this router are quite a bit larger than the one in my link, you'd have to re-design this...but I tried it on mine and it worked surprisingly well

Innovative design! If the majority of the devices I must reach were in one direction I would be on that right after lunch. Slightly off-topic, but not by much--Hams have also used antennas to their advantage to achieve links of 125 miles with 2.4GHz WiFi hardware. The attached article describes a 34-mile link accomplished 13 years ago.

 

[heysoundude]

I saw a website that had a meshnet running on 2.4GHz routers over similar distances in Texas, IIRC.
When I rule the world rather than fighting with our neighbours for our slice of spectrum, we will all share all spectrum and be decentralized....and peace will reign over the earth

 

[TonyH]

Don't know how many

Yes, but as others have pointed out no "power" is gained--just concentrated in a narrower region (think of a spotlight as opposed to a floodlight). Since you mention that you are not trying to reach floors above or below the router location this becomes a much smaller issue.



The 16cm version seems too short for the claimed gain. I have had better results with antennas like these from Super Power Supply. That company (with which I have no ties whatsoever) seems to have done its homework and I have not been disappointed with any of its antennas.

You will be warned that the client still has to be able to talk back to the router, which is quite correct. Fortunately, due to the reciprocity effect, we enjoy the same effective gain in receiving as in transmitting. Factors such as near-channel interference can come into play, but they would in any case.

My observations as a Ham Radio experimenter for 58 years, and a commercial license holder for 55 years, support the usefulness of antennas having effective gain.

Hi,
I beat you by couple years being a Ham(VE6CGX, ex-HM1AY), LOL! Gain, radiation angle(X and Y plane), direction, beam width are all inter acting. Gain works on both TX and RX. RF, antenna engineering is pretty complex. Spent half of my career there until I switched to digital electronics.

 

[heysoundude]

Don't know how many what, TonyH??

Don't know how many


Hi,
I beat you by couple years being a Ham(VE6CGX, ex-HM1AY), LOL! Gain, radiation angle(X and Y plane), direction, beam width are all inter acting. Gain works on both TX and RX. RF, antenna engineering is pretty complex. Spent half of my career there until I switched to digital electronics.

 

[TonyH]

Don't know how many what, TonyH??

Years.... Looks like I am little older than you, Hi. Still swing my bug(Vibroplex President) on the air baiting
old timers, LOL!