Detailed explanation of gain antenna types

As the price of wireless products gradually drops, many people have built wireless networks in their companies or homes, which greatly facilitates daily applications. However, as the area of ​​the home increases and the distance between companies increases, wireless network instability and data transmission obstruction have begun to appear. How can we solve these difficult technical problems?

Replacing network equipment is too expensive and does not conform to the concept of economical consumption. However, replacing and installing gain antennas is a very economical way to enhance the transmission capacity and stability of wireless networks.

Understanding Gain Antennas

As a basic property of gain antenna, gain is the ratio of the maximum radiation intensity in a specified direction to the maximum radiation 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. In other words, under the same conditions, the higher the gain, the farther the wireless signal propagates. The unit of gain is dBi, and most indoor antennas are 4dBi to 5dBi, and most outdoor antennas are 8.5dBi to 14dBi.

Generally speaking, the gain is inversely proportional to the wireless bandwidth, that is, the greater the gain, the narrower the bandwidth; the smaller the gain, the larger the bandwidth. Therefore, antennas with greater gain are mainly used for long-distance transmission, while antennas with less gain are more suitable for application environments with large wireless signal coverage.

Currently in wireless network applications, antennas are divided into two types: point-to-point applications and point-to-multipoint applications. Users can purchase different types of wireless antennas according to different application scopes so that wireless signals can be smoothly received and sent by various wireless devices.

Antenna Type Scan

In the above, we explained the definition and function of boost antenna. In fact, boost antenna is just a general term, and we can generally regard it as a wireless antenna. In this antenna family, there are many new faces that are not well known. Here, we will let everyone "see" their strength.

1. All types of contact

Wireless antennas can be divided into omnidirectional antennas, directional antennas, sector antennas, flat panel antennas and other types.

Among them, omnidirectional antennas are suitable for situations where the distance between wireless access points is close and a large number of wireless devices and clients need to be covered. However, the gain of these devices is mostly small and the signal transmission distance is short.

Directional antennas include Yagi directional antennas, corner directional antennas, parabolic directional antennas, etc. They are suitable for environments where the wireless access points are far apart and the wireless access points are concentrated, few in number and fixed in position. This type of antenna has the characteristics of long signal transmission distance and strong energy gathering ability.

Sector antennas can provide coverage at multiple angles. If the wireless access points are concentrated within the coverage area of ​​the antenna, you may consider purchasing this type of antenna, which has energy directional and convergence functions.

The angular range of the flat-panel antenna can be divided into 30 degrees and 15 degrees. Its signal coverage range is smaller than that of the sector antenna, but its energy gathering ability is stronger and it can be used in environments where wireless access points are relatively far away and more concentrated.

2. Detailed explanation of mainstream antennas

Among the many different types of antennas, there are many companies and individuals who use omnidirectional antennas and directional antennas, and they are also the antennas that I would like to recommend to everyone.

●Omnidirectional antenna

An omnidirectional antenna is an antenna that radiates and receives signals in a horizontal plane without a maximum direction. Since the radiation and reception are non-directional, this type of antenna is easy to install and does not require consideration of the antenna installation angle technology at the transmission point.

However, omnidirectional antennas do not have a maximum direction, and their antenna gain is relatively low, which results in a shorter transmission distance for wireless signals. Therefore, this type of antenna is generally more suitable for use in point-to-multipoint communication environments where the transmission distance requirement is not too high. For example, using this type of antenna on the central wireless AP of a peer-to-peer network or wireless roaming network, wireless signals can be evenly transmitted to every corner of the network through the central wireless AP.

●Directional antenna

Directional antennas have strong directivity, so the energy is concentrated, the gain is relatively high, the signal transmission distance is relatively long, the anti-interference ability is relatively strong, and it is more suitable for long-distance point-to-point communication. There are advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages of directional antennas are that their signal coverage range is small, the antenna is difficult to install and adjust, and 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 a wireless network environment that need to communicate wirelessly, or if the computer needs to communicate wirelessly with a wireless router or wireless AP, then a directional antenna is the best choice. Because the computer at this time uses a point-to-point wireless transmission method, using a directional antenna can fully allow users to obtain excellent wireless transmission quality.

In addition to the above, when you judge or choose a certain antenna, you should also understand the working frequency of the antenna. Antennas with different working frequencies are suitable for use on different wireless devices. For example, antennas working in the 2.4GHz frequency band can be used for 11Mbps or 54Mbps wireless products. At the same time, there are differences between indoor and outdoor antennas, which is also something that needs to be paid attention to in actual applications.