How Do I Choose the Best WLAN Antenna?

The gain is the ratio of the maximum radiant intensity in the specified direction to the maximum radiant intensity of the antenna, that is, the antenna power amplification factor. In general, the strength of the gain will interfere with the antenna's ability to radiate or receive wireless signals. That is, under the same conditions, the higher the gain, the farther the wireless signal travels. The unit of gain is dbi. Most indoor antennas are 4dbi to 5dbi, and outdoor antennas are mostly 8.5dbi to 14dbi. Generally, because the size of the gain is inversely proportional to the wireless bandwidth, that is, the larger the gain, the narrower the bandwidth; the smaller the gain, the larger the bandwidth. Therefore, larger gain antennas are mainly used for long-distance transmission, while smaller gain antennas are more suitable for applications with large coverage of wireless signals. In wireless network applications, antennas are divided into point-to-point applications and point-to-multipoint applications. Users can choose different types of wireless antennas according to different application scopes, so that wireless signals can be smoothly received and transmitted by various wireless devices.

Gain antenna

With the gradual decline of the price of wireless products, many people have built wireless networks in the enterprise or at home, which greatly facilitates daily applications. However, the area of the home is large, the distance between enterprises is long, and wireless networks are unstable and data transmission is blocked. How can we solve these tricky technologies? Replacing network equipment is too expensive and does not meet the consumption concept of economical savings, but replacing and installing gain antennas is a very economical way to enhance the wireless network transmission capacity and stability.

Wireless antennas can be classified into omnidirectional antennas, directional antennas, sector antennas, and flat antennas. The omnidirectional antenna is suitable for situations where the wireless contacts are relatively close and need to cover a large number of wireless devices and clients, but the gain of these devices is mostly small and the signal transmission distance is short. Directional antennas include Yagi directional antennas, angled directional antennas, and parabolic directional antennas. They are suitable for environments where the wireless contact points are far away, and the wireless access points are concentrated, with a small number and fixed locations. This antenna has the characteristics of long signal transmission distance and strong energy convergence ability. The sector antenna can cover from multiple angles. If the wireless access point is concentrated in the coverage area of the antenna, you can consider purchasing this type of antenna, which has the function of energy orientation and convergence. The angle range of the flat antenna can be divided into 30 degrees and 15 degrees, which is smaller than the signal coverage of the sector antenna, but its energy convergence ability is stronger, and it can be used in a relatively remote and more concentrated environment of wireless access points.

The so-called omnidirectional antenna refers to an antenna that radiates and receives on the horizontal plane without the maximum direction. Because radiation and reception are non-directional, this type of antenna is relatively easy to install, and it does not need to consider the antenna installation angle technology of the transmission point. However, the omnidirectional antenna has no maximum direction, and its antenna gain is relatively low, which results in a shorter transmission distance of wireless signals. Therefore, this type of antenna is generally more suitable for use in point-to-multipoint communication environments where the transmission distance rules are not too high. For example, using such antennas on the central wireless ap of a peer-to-peer network and a wireless roaming network, through the central wireless ap, wireless signals can be evenly transmitted to every corner of the network.

The directional antenna has strong directivity, so the energy is concentrated, the gain is relatively high, the signal transmission distance is relatively long, and the anti-interference ability is relatively strong, which is more suitable for long-distance point-to-point communication. There are advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage of a directional antenna is that its signal coverage is small, and the antenna is difficult to install and adjust. The antennas of the two transmission points must be aligned with each other to ensure signal transmission. In general, if there are only two computers in the wireless network environment that need to communicate wirelessly, or the computer needs to communicate with wireless routers and wireless APs, then directional antennas are the best choice. Because the computer at this time uses a point-to-point wireless transmission method, using a directional antenna can completely allow users to obtain excellent wireless transmission quality. In addition to the above, everyone must understand the working frequency of the antenna when judging or purchasing an antenna. Antennas with different operating frequencies are suitable for use on different wireless devices. For example, antennas operating in the 2.4ghz band can only be used by those 11mbps or 54mbps wireless products. At the same time, the antenna has the difference between indoor and outdoor use, which also needs attention in practical applications.