Omnidirectional with Directional

I have a WRT54GS v5.1 router that is running 1.5.1 Linksys firmware which I
intend to flash with the Mirco DD-WRT firmware in the future.

At the moment I have wireless access in all directions from the router in my
house and I like that.

I'm also toying with the idea of also connecting another computer via
wireless which is some distance away by using a much more directional aerial
but I'd also like to still be able to get a connection anywhere in my house.

Is there some way of having an omnidirectional aerial with a more highly
directional aerial with my setup? There are two omindirectional aerials on
my router, what would happen if I just replaced one of them with a
directional one?

TIA

"elziko" <elziko@yahoo.co.uk> hath wroth:

>I have a WRT54GS v5.1 router that is running 1.5.1 Linksys firmware which I
>intend to flash with the Mirco DD-WRT firmware in the future.
>
>At the moment I have wireless access in all directions from the router in my
>house and I like that.
>
>I'm also toying with the idea of also connecting another computer via
>wireless which is some distance away by using a much more directional aerial
>but I'd also like to still be able to get a connection anywhere in my house.
>
>Is there some way of having an omnidirectional aerial with a more highly
>directional aerial with my setup?

Yes. The easiest is with a reflector. See:
http://www.freeantennas.com

>There are two omindirectional aerials on
>my router, what would happen if I just replaced one of them with a
>directional one?

It would sorta work kinda weirdly. (How's that for an evasive
answer)? The two antennas are part of a diversity receive system. How
it works is rather complex so I'll spare you the explanation (unless
you want it). The bottom line is that it only works correctly with
two identical antennas. See the golf course case study at:
<http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk72...019f646.shtml?
for what can go wrong. I've done some tinkering with two radically
dissimilar antennas on an access point and found that the Cisco
article is correct. There's a substantial probability that a random
client radio will connect to the wrong antenna, and remain connected.

I'm not sure what to suggest as the problem will vary with the layout
of the house and how directional the new antenna will be. My best
suggestion would be to place the access point at one end of the house,
use a directional antenna to cover the length of the house, remove or
disable the 2nd antenna, and see what happens.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

elziko <elziko@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> I'm also toying with the idea of also connecting another computer via
> wireless which is some distance away by using a much more directional
> aerial but I'd also like to still be able to get a connection anywhere in
> my house.

The freeantennas.com reflectors give a good directional boost, but that
doesn't mean something not directly in line will disappear. The beamwidth
is just not that tight. I have boosted the signal in the area that I
needed it, and a few unexpected side lobes that turn out to be handy. The
only location that suffers is on the back side, which is toward my
neighbor, not an area where I want coverage anyway.

> Is there some way of having an omnidirectional aerial with a more highly
> directional aerial with my setup? There are two omindirectional aerials on
> my router, what would happen if I just replaced one of them with a
> directional one?

With an SMC router with two aerials, putting reflectors on both was best.
A reflector on one and the original antenna on the other caused an odd
toggling between improved an unimproved signal levels. A reflector on one
and removing the other worked well.

http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ10-strength.htm


Later, I moved to a Netgear router that only has one aerial, and used the
EZ-12 windsurfer, which is supposed to be 12dBi instead of 10, and looks
better.
http://www.freeantennas.com EZ-12, Windsurfer reflector.
printed on photo paper for thick stock, with aluminum foil glued to the
sail, provides a substantial boost in signal.
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

"elziko" <elziko@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:LU3rh.31738$k74.30780@text.news.blueyonder.co .uk...
> I have a WRT54GS v5.1 router that is running 1.5.1 Linksys firmware which
I
> intend to flash with the Mirco DD-WRT firmware in the future.
>
> At the moment I have wireless access in all directions from the router in
my
> house and I like that.
>
> I'm also toying with the idea of also connecting another computer via
> wireless which is some distance away by using a much more directional
aerial
> but I'd also like to still be able to get a connection anywhere in my
house.
>
> Is there some way of having an omnidirectional aerial with a more highly
> directional aerial with my setup? There are two omindirectional aerials on
> my router, what would happen if I just replaced one of them with a
> directional one?
>
> TIA
>
>

I noticed that the Cantenna improves both directional and lateral signals
over a straight wire antenna supplied by Westell.

George Conklin wrote:

>
> "elziko" <elziko@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:LU3rh.31738$k74.30780@text.news.blueyonder.co .uk...
> > I have a WRT54GS v5.1 router that is running 1.5.1 Linksys firmware
> > which
> I
> > intend to flash with the Mirco DD-WRT firmware in the future.
> >
> > At the moment I have wireless access in all directions from the
> > router in
> my
> > house and I like that.
> >
> > I'm also toying with the idea of also connecting another computer
> > via wireless which is some distance away by using a much more
> > directional
> aerial
> > but I'd also like to still be able to get a connection anywhere in
> > my
> house.
> >
> > Is there some way of having an omnidirectional aerial with a more
> > highly directional aerial with my setup? There are two
> > omindirectional aerials on my router, what would happen if I just
> > replaced one of them with a directional one?
> >
> > TIA
> >
> >
>
> I noticed that the Cantenna improves both directional and lateral
> signals over a straight wire antenna supplied by Westell.
'

Just to toss in my two bob's worth, I'm using a corner reflector on the
PCI card in the back room to ping to an omni access point in the lounge
and it all works extremely well.

The corner reflector is pulling 90% at 54g and the omni access point is
doing the rest of the house very nicely.

I've put up some guff on the reflector.

http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/glo...gnet/ant1.html

Cheers

Rob

--

Consider putting your directional antenna on the client adapter you use
with the new remote computer. Basically, that's what Rob is
suggesting with the reflector.

There are other high gain antennas you can make or buy that could get
you more than the reflectors, but the main idea in your case is: work
on the client end, not the router end.

Start with a reflector and you may have enough. Won't cost much to find
out.

Oh, and you can get higher gain omnis for your router. There are
tradeoffs on that but it's do-able.

Steve

seaweedsteve wrote:

> Consider putting your directional antenna on the client adapter you
> use with the new remote computer. Basically, that's what Rob is
> suggesting with the reflector.
>
> There are other high gain antennas you can make or buy that could get
> you more than the reflectors, but the main idea in your case is: work
> on the client end, not the router end.
>
> Start with a reflector and you may have enough. Won't cost much to
> find out.
>
> Oh, and you can get higher gain omnis for your router. There are
> tradeoffs on that but it's do-able.
>
> Steve

I've only had experience with corner reflectors and they work very well
in this situation. They aren't directional to the degree that you
can't pick up a decent signal in the same room without being directly
in the line of fire - so its handy for laptops.

How does a canteena compare?

Rob

--

me here <gloaming_agnet@hotmail.com> wrote:

> How does a canteena compare?

I made a cantenna with a USB dongle in a pair of coffee cans soldered end
to end. This seemed to be the right thing to do, but it was too
directional for the person that I gave it to. They preferred a single
larger diameter coffee can. Less gain, but less sensitive to alignment
(shooting a commercial hotspot about two blocks away).

http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/u...42-800x600.jpg

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

Thanks for all the replies - I have since upgraded my firmware to DD-WRT and
I see that it has the option to use the left antenna for RX and the right
for TX or to swap them around. Does this sound right?

If this is the case then what I wanted to do *certainly* wouldn't work!

I will look into a refector of some sorts though.

Thanks