Re: Adding an external outdoor antenna to an AP?

You lose most of what you gain with any usable length of antenna cable.
Much more efficient to move the whole access point to the antenna
location and stretch cat 5 to it, rather than coax.


> On 7 Jul 2005 17:21:35 -0700, gglave@softtracks.com wrote:
> >
>>Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
>>detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
>>omni-directional antenna? How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
>>and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.
>

On Sat, 09 Jul 2005 04:02:27 -0500, Airman Thunderbird
<airman.basic@gmail.com> wrote:

>You lose most of what you gain with any usable length of antenna cable.
>Much more efficient to move the whole access point to the antenna
>location and stretch cat 5 to it, rather than coax.

Sorta, maybe. It depends on the length and type of coax cable. Even
the cheapest junk coffee can antenna will give you 8dBi of gain. In
order to lose an equal amount in decent coax (LMR-400 at 0.7dB/ft),
you would need to run about 90ft of coax. Anything less than 90ft of
LMR-400 and this would be a net gain. As a rule-of-thumb, 6dB loss is
equal to cutting your coverage range in half.

There are places and systems where coax cable makes sense, but if
running a self contained radio and antenna combination is possible,
using PoE (power over ethernet) is usually much better than lossy
coax.


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