Linksys High Gain Antenna

Im thinking of purchasing a pair of 7dBi antennas for my WRT54G router. They are on sale for about $30.



My current signal strength is fine, could be better though. Would this make any improvement?

 

Let's put it this way, antennas are not amplifiers or boosters, they are actually attenuator of the radiated electromagnetic energy coming from the router transceiver, but when compared to an isotropic antenna pattern, they show a gain, 7dBi. So, if the current antennas are 4dBi, it doesn't mean that all of a sudden you have double the power (3 extra dB's), but the antenna pattern is 3dB's greater in a certain direction when compared to the current antenna's gain pattern.

Do you know what are the gain of the current antennas?

 

Not sure, but they are about half the size of the high gain antennas. Im not expecting a world of a difference, but some difference. 4 other people use the router and i think im the furthest one.

Heres another photo i googled:

 

Imagine a soccer ball, now you squeeze it and it looks like a football, so you will gain certainly some power in some direction, which will be great to increase the data throughput, but you will lose some in other directions. Plus, if you are already getting the maximum throughput, then no need of those antennas.

BTW, those antennas are in the $70-$100 price range, $30 is a steal. But, if you don't need them, they will be just decoration

 

what version of WRT54G do you have...version 6 maybe last version with removable antenna's...not sure about version 7...but version 8 has non-removable antenna's...rp-sma leads are soldered to the mianboard in the router...of course if your handy with a soldering gun...pencil type...you can buy bulkheads and solder these onto the leads of original antenna's...if your gonna try this with a version 8...repost...and i'll give you more details from the school of hard knocks...

 

WRT54Gv2 if i remember correctly. The antennas are definately removable because i was messing around with them before.

Practically these antennas are just a piece of wire sticking up.

I get 4 to full bars on windows wireless stats but according to the router page, im only getting 40-50% (DD-WRTv23). My ping is roughly 1-2ms to the router.

 

k...that's good...just didn't want you to waste money on something you couldn't use...don't know what kind of financial shape your in...but have you thought about adding a WAP to your set up in a different part of your house...they typically come with a built in signal booster...also i highly recommend the Hawking HSB2 - Hi-Gain WiFi Signal Booster... http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/index.php?CatID=32&FamID=72...i have one...output power settings are 100/200/500mW...i'll guarantee a good signal...with linksys type of antenna bulkheads you'll need to buy a RP-SMA to RP TNC converter...i believe that's the bulkhead linksys uses...

 

Yeah i saw abit of the hawking boosters, but thats abit overkill for my needs. Were only talking about 25meters and 3 walls.

I just got home, and it turns out only 1 of my antennas are detachable. I have the WRT54G v3.1 (not v2).

Why does DD-WRT show my signal strength at 40%?

 

You can select which antenna for it to use. Diversity will choose the one with the best SNR. Going from your std (2dbi? to the 7dbi) will double your reciever sensitivity and boost your power. If I recall dbi is a log scale so its more that doubled. But along with the gain also it more sensitivity to noise.

All of my equipment has the higain antennas, it does make a difference.

 

3dB increase means double power. But antennas don't create or amplify signals, they actually attenuate signals, how do we get an extra 3dB's? Changing the antenna pattern, more directive the antenna is, greater the gain. Remember, we call it gain because is the radiation compared to an Isotropic antenna, that's why the i in dBi.

Y0u could possibly gain some fraction of dB's if you get a more efficient antenna that minimizes the transmission losses getting a better matching with the router's transceiver output connector, but this gain is very small. Most antennas will efficiently match the output circuit

If you are getting already 4 bars, you don't need anything.

 

with wireless imo...there's no such thing as overkill...unless your talking about pro equipment costing thousands of dollars...with a hawking booster your gonna get a good connection period...my set up...BEFSR41 hardwired router...WG302 WAP with the hawking booster hooked to it's primary antenna...i'm sitting in my garage a good 50 feet and three walls with...screenie with hawking usb wireless NIC

 

I have the high gain antennas on my Linksys WRT54G router... They work pretty well. I can go about 150+ Ft away from my house in almost any direction and get service..that is OK because i have no neighbors.. (upstate Ny FTW!)

 

You could always make your own for pennies...

http://www.instructables.com/id/WIFI-Antenna-Hack!/