high gain (larger antennae) for WAPs - Do they work?

[Superficial]

hi there,

looking at getting some high gain antennae for a few Linksys by Cisco WAP54G access points - but are they a gimmick?

has anyone upgraded their setup and found a significant improvement?

thanks

 

[vsmora]

Depends what you want to achieve? e.g. high-gain directional antenna pairs are very effective boosting range in a specific direction.

 

[cavemanoc]

I used a high gain omni-directional antenna with my usb dongle and saw a significant signal strength increase. Obviously directional antennas will be better if set up right. Definitely work - just a question of price vs performance. Can always go WokFi or PringleFi . if you want it on the cheap!

 

[DJMK4]

High Gain antenna works for me on my Netgear DG834GT Wireless router.

Much better range than standard antenna

WokFi or Cantenna is a good project I suppose, but slightly overkill for a house no? its more suited to longer ranges, like where if you wanted to share a wireless network with a friend who lives 150 meters down the street from you

 

[Superficial]

High Gain antenna works for me on my Netgear DG834GT Wireless router.

Much better range than standard antenna

WokFi or Cantenna is a good project I suppose, but slightly overkill for a house no? its more suited to longer ranges, like where if you wanted to share a wireless network with a friend who lives 150 meters down the street from you

hi there

what kind of increase did you see in % terms?

 

[Morbius]

Remember, all an antenna does is distribute the signal in a certain way. When an antenna says omnidirectional, the radiation pattern is doughnut shaped, with a hole directly above and below the antenna. A higher gain omnidirectional antenna makes the beamwidth narrower in order to push more power out, so if you were facing the antenna the signal would improve, but you might lose signal strength if you were a floor below or above.

The disadvantage of making your own is that if the antenna isn't properly matched, the power sent from the transmitter to the antenna can be reflected back to the transmitter. If the transmitter isn't protected then it can damage the equipment.

 

[DJMK4]

hi there

what kind of increase did you see in % terms?

I would say I had a 35% gain in range, with the smaller antenna I was able to cover about 70% of downstairs (with the router being downstairs at the back of the house) I couldnt get a signal upstairs at all

With the high gain antenna, I can get everywhere in the house, the signal strength upstairs is around 25-30%.

So it does make a difference.