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Recommendations on omni-directional antennas for wifi

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 1:07 pm
by rbeede
Not specific to church use but any experiences with wifi antennas for omni-directional use indoors or outdoors? Something you could add-on for $50-$100.

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:02 pm
by russellhltn
Need to know more about the application.

Some antennas are poor because of the desire to be small and compact. Trading them out for a antenna that doesn't compromise performance for size can be an improvement.

Beyond that, improvement in antennas come about by being more directional in the energy. Even so-called "omni-directionals" may focus the power into a narrower vertical spread to achieve better gain. That's good if the receiver is at the same height, not so good if the receiver is outside that beam-width.

At WiFi frequencies, it's necessary to keep the antenna leads as short as possible. In fact, it usually better to try and locate the electronics with the antenna and use CAT 5 for the Ethernet rather then trying to run a line any significant distance.