On Jul 22, 3:53*pm, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:41:51 -0700 (PDT), jimmi...@gmail.com wrote:
> >IS there a distinction between the two antenna connectiond on the
> >WRT54 wireless routers.
>
> No. *The antennas area identical. *However, the two ports are slightly
> different. *One is designated as "main" while the other is "aux". *The
> router will normally favor the "main" antenna and only switch to the
> "aux" if the diversity receive algorithm determins that the "aux"
> antenna has a better signal.
>
> Unfortunately, I can't recall which is antenna is main or aux, or for
> that matter, which antenna is considered "left" or "right". *Sigh.
> Looking at the inside photos at:
> <http://www.linksysinfo.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47124>
> I would *GUESS*(tm) that the antenna port with the long coax cable
> running across the board would be the "aux".
>
> >I had heard that one is for TX and the other
> >for RX but my router seems to work equally well with either antenna
> >disconnected. I cant tell a difference in performance unless I take
> >them both off.
>
> Some routers will only transmit on one antenna (i.e 2-wire). *Routers
> that have two antennas invariably use diversity receive and sorta
> "scan" between the two antennas in receive. *I vaguely recall that the
> WRT54 transmits on the same antenna that it receives.
>
> However, you should be able to tell the difference with only one
> antenna attached. *If you remove the antenna from the "main" port, the
> stupid firmware will continue to favor the "main" port, even though
> there's no antenna or signal. *If you ping the router, you'll probably
> find that the first ping will be lost using just the "aux" antenna.
> That's not the case using only the main antenna.
>
> If you insist on using only one antennna (a good idea if you're
> attaching external antennas), some alternative firmwares have a means
> of disarming the diversity switch system and just using one antenna.
>
> Start reading here:
> <http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk722/tk809/technologies_tech_note091...>
> especially the part about the golf course and using two different
> types of antennas.
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann * * je...@cruzio.com
> 150 Felker St #D * *http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann * * AE6KS * *831-336-2558

Hi, I discovered DD-WRT software does enable one antenna as RX and the
other as TX. This is user selectable. I dont know if the origonal
Linksys software allowed this or not but I doubt it. This may come in
handy because I want tot try using a 13cm LNA with mine to see what
happens.

Jimmie