Is there an easy way to get an antenna to work on it ?
I bought another cheap external modem with an antenna and that doesnt work as well as the stock Dell internal wireless.
I will have to google a repeater. Dont know what that is.
Thanks.
Maybe I should have mentioned..the intent is to parasite non secure signals when camping or on the road.
The library next to my apartment complex has free wireless internet, but no matter where I stand in my apartment the signal is low. Is there anything I can buy to make my laptop get better wireless signals from a distance? Is there better wireless cards or an antenna?
Know About Major Types of Wireless Router Antenna
A wireless router antenna is usually found in the international airport, educational campus or nowadays, is common to be seen in cafes as well. The wireless network is enabled by the router which will transport data from one computer to another or to other networks. The router is the connecter to link two or more computers together disregard of their positions. If you intend to buy a wireless router, you should first understand the types of router available, the different models and their specifications. The company producing high-performance routers is D-Link. Other famous manufacturers include Belkin, Linksys, and Netgear.
Basically there are two types of router antennas; namely the basics and range extender. For the basic type, it also branched into two. The omni-directional antenna can enhance the signal a bit higher for all directions and is great to be used as a Wi-Fi provider in a café or to provide internet access in the office or a home. The wireless devices can be used throughout the entire house. Another type is the directional antenna where it is used to broadcast an extremely strong signal in one direction. This is not recommended as they can only provide access on one side of the building. Although the omni-directional antennas are not as powerful as the directional type as the signals have wider distribution, the directional wireless router antenna should be sufficient to be used in a house where only a specific direction can gain access.
The range extender is actually a directional antenna. The only distinctive difference between such antennas and the above mentioned types is that it can be applied to both the omni-directional and directional antennas. It can also be used along with your existing antenna. It utilizes the concept of a mirror, although other aspects are similar to the usual antenna. However, such router antennas product signals that would bounce-off then the range extender will shoot them back on a higher frequency. For instance, if you wish to provide free Wi-Fi access not only to your customers but to areas beyond your restaurant, the range extender is the best option as it is capable of sending signals up to three miles.
Dennis enjoys writing on wide range of topics such as router antennas and wireless router antenna. You may visit for more details.
I have no idea what kind of antenna it is, so please, a link would be truly appreciated!
Distributed Antenna Systems for Indoor Cellular Network
Some 70 – 80% of mobile traffic originates from inside buildings. This is especially true in urban environments where the focus of the mobile user is on high data rates. For mobile 3G network, only serving macro base station within a few hundred meters of the building can provide sufficient level of RF signal to support indoor voice/data services. In realty, only a few buildings will fall into this category. Soft handover in 3G network will further increase the traffic load on the network since each indoor mobile phone can be serviced by more than one macro cells (base stations). In order to provide indoor high speed mobile data services such as HSPA (High speed Packet Access) or EVDO (Evolution – Data Optimized) services, the only solution is an indoor Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS).
DAS is used to distribute the RF signal evenly with sufficient strength inside a building to provide 3G voice and data services. DAS can be used to isolate the indoor network from the outdoor serving macro cells to eliminate the soft handover of the indoor mobile phone. This will reduce the traffic load and increase the speed of the 3G network. For HSPA high speed data service, indoor DAS can also provide isolation between serving and non-serving cells of the outdoor network. This means less co-channel interference in the HSPA serving cell and results in higher data rate for the HSPA service. To dominate the building with indoor coverage, directional antennas can be deployed at the edge and corners of the building and pointing towards the center of the building. The total indoor area is dominated by the indoor cell and at the same time minimizes leakage to the macro network.
DAS distributes a uniform dominant RF signal inside the building by splitting the signal from the indoor base station to multiple indoor antennas to provide coverage throughout the building. DAS can be classified as passive or active. Passive DAS uses passive components to distribute the RF signal. These passive components are coax cable, splitters, terminators, attenuators, circulators, couplers and filters (duplexer, diplexer or triplexer). Planning DAS includes calculating the maximum loss from base station to each antenna in the systems and does the link budget for the particular area that each antenna covers. The passive DAS design needs to adapt to the limitation of the building regarding the restriction to where and how the heavy coax cable can be installed. A detail site survey of the building needed to be done to make sure that there are cable routes to all antennas.
Active DAS has the ability to automatically compensate for the losses of the cables interconnecting the components in the system by using internal calibrating signals and amplifiers. It does not matter what the distance between the antenna and the base station, all antennas in an active DAS will have the same performance (same noise figure and downlink power). Active DAS consists of a master unit (MU) connected to multiple expansion units (EU) with optical fiber up to 6 km in length. Each EU in turns connects to multiple remote units (RU) with thin coax or CAT5 cable up to 400m in length. The MU controls and monitors the performance of the DAS. The EUs are distributed throughout the building and the RUs are installed close to the antenna. A wideband active DAS can support multiple radio services, GSM, PCS, UMTS, EVDO, WiMax and WiFi.
Due to the loss and attenuation in the coax cable and passive components, passive DAS is only used in smaller building covers by a small number of indoor antennas to keep its degrading impact on HSPA performance to a minimum. For larger building, active DAS is used because it does not have cable and component loss and can boost the HSPA performance to the maximum. Troubleshoot in passive DAS is difficult and any fault in the systems will not raise an alarm at the base station because there is no surveillance of errors in the system. Active DAS monitors all units in the system and in the event of malfunction; it will send an alarm to the base station which enables the operator to pinpoint the source of the problem. Hence, active DAS is the preferred solution for large building with a lot of indoor antennas.
Paul Ngai is an engineering consultant specialized in Telecommunications Network and Systems. He is also the principal of Network Systems Technologies LLC, a telecommunications consulting firm provides planning, analysis, design, testing and operation support services.
Related Wifi Antenna Articles
I want to connect it to a BT Home Hub down 2 stories in my house for use with a BT Vision box. Should I look for one with a replaceable antenna? Will a bog standard bridge be fine?
All i have is a belkin N adapter and i dont know how to make a antenna could anyone help
Antenna Cables, what you need to know!
Uninterrupted power supply coupled with strong signals is the sole aim of any superior quality antennas. To help boost the strength of the antenna, antenna cables are used. Almost every other day a new product is initiated in the market which leaves behind the old redundant technology. This also holds true for antenna cables. The mere name of antenna cables conjures up an image of a giant steel grill attached to a black and white tube TV. But in a broad sense antenna cables are used in a wide array of antennas viz., tv antennas, rod based antennas, indoor and outdoor antennas, mobile phone and car antennas.
One of the foremost purposes of any antenna cable is to deliver a good international quality level output. As far as television signals are concerned these are distributed by way of coaxial or fibre-optic cables with antenna cables playing a vital role in transmitting the signals.
History behind Antenna Cables.
The history of pioneering antenna cables goes back to cable-TV systems which were introduced in the United States roughly in the 1940’s. The exclusive plan of introducing such a system was to enhance the reception of commercial and military networks, broadcasting systems in remote and hilly areas; through the application of antenna cables. With the passage of time during 1960s cable television systems was usurped in large metropolitan areas in an effort to improve the reception quality which was hindered by tall buildings.
Types of Antenna Cables.
Normally there are two types of major antennas which are utilized for cellular radio transmissions viz., Omni-directional and directional. Omni-directional antennas broadcast radio waves of identical strength in all directions and receive signals from all directions as well through the use of antenna cables, whereas directional antennas broadcast and receive signal strength only in one direction. These cables come in various shapes and sizes. For example, low-loss antenna cables recommend low loss at 2.4 GHz and come with reverse SMA connectors and a proffer standard connection which is being used in WLAN antennas.
RF or “F” type connectors which are attached to the coaxial cable are usually the oldest means of television signal transmissions. It is through RF cables that both audio and video signals are combined into a single wire pair. Unfortunately RF cables suffer heavy quality loss across great distances.
Then there are composite cables which are a triple wire pair of micro coaxial cables they contain RCA type connectors on each end. They are usually color coded and come in yellow, red and white to provide a standard color code of understanding within audio and video enhancements.
Use of Antenna Cables today.
Now-a-days Digital Video Interface (DVI) and High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) cables are being used by HD televisions which contain the highest quality cables. Both cables have indistinguishable video superiority, HDMI signals have been known to transmit superior quality audio levels comparatively.
Antenna Cables buying tips:
Ensure antenna cables are hand crafted and are waterproof.
They bear the exclusive guarantee
Make sure the cables come with a type N-Male connector.
Choose the cable length aptly, did you know when you coil cables you get signal loss.
Choose gold plated connectors for best quality signal strength.
Sophie Milch currently manages purchasing and inventory control for Comnauts.com. Sophie keeps herself busy by making sure our inventory is filled with quality products, the latest and the greatest. Sophie holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and is frequent contributor to several technology blogs and magazines. When she’s not working; in typical nerd fashion you can catch Sophie twittering friends, beating down Murlocs in World of Warcraft and watching re-runs of the X-files.
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I have a laptop with wifi already built in so i dont need to buy a wifi card.. all i want to do is connect an antenna to my laptop.. Is there some way i can use the antenna from my router and connect it to a use cable and just plug it into my computer?
I’ve got my wireless router in the basement. And the signal strength up in the top floor of my home is about 2 bars out of 5.
Relocating the router to any of the other floors is not possible.
Will buying those -40 Range Extending Antennas improve the signal strength enough to get 4 or 5 bars? Or are the gains not that large?
Can you recommend the best range extending antenna?
