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rustydusty
join:2009-09-29
Red Deer County, AB

rustydusty

Member

Aftermarket Antennas

Anyone purchased any higher dBi antennas before? I currently run 2 - DIR-655 as AP's only, one on either end of the house. Trying to eliminate one of them with the following antennas. Using SSIDER it seems the one with stock antennas gives me better distance. Anything need to be changed to accommodate the larger antennas? The two were sitting side by side, one channel 1, other on channel 6 when testing.

»www.ebay.com/itm/2611058 ··· 97.l2649
rustydusty

rustydusty

Member

bumpity, anyone?

Further testing, moved access point to top of cabinet in middle of house on the main floor and coverage has greatly improved. Gonna be hard to get cat6 to there, though. Will these antennas only benefit with the device up high?

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin to rustydusty

MVM

to rustydusty
The problem with higher gain antennas is that the coverage zone usually flattens. You have to be near the same height, or just a little below, to get a good signal. Imagine a huge doughnut around the antenna. This is the good reception area. At low gain levels, it is fat and fluffy. As the gain level increases, it flattens out.

Also, the radio circuitry is usually tuned to accommodate the antennas the device was designed for and ships with. Changing the antennas can have a negative effect on the coverage area.

You are usually better off using multiple radios to provide better coverage, rather than trying to go with higher power. Having one unit in the middle of the desired coverage area is not always practical. Using multiple units located around the edges of the desired coverage area usually works just as well (possibly better).

rustydusty
join:2009-09-29
Red Deer County, AB

rustydusty

Member

Reason for this is to eliminate some AP's in the house. It is a fairly large size house, and would like to reach some of the front and back yards. At one point I had 3 of these to reach all desired areas, but that's a ton of fishing cat6 to the desirable areas, plus they stood out like a sore thumb. Rather get it down to one in the center, even if I have to spend the extra money. Next step may be the following unit:

»www.dlink.com/us/en/supp ··· ss-point
rustydusty

rustydusty

Member

I could see getting 12dBi antennas to be an issue, but stock on the dir-655 are what, 4dBi and I went to with a 6dBi antenna so I don't see it affecting the device. The higher than device, the farther it will reach, but the height will be limited, correct?