Directional Wifi Antenna

[SternWake]

To my solar panel i have added a Wifi Antenna connector RP-SMA connector[font=Arial, sans-serif] [/font], and for quite sometime this 9dbi omni directional  indoor antenna has been up there:

http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-OMNI-Dir..._sim_e_14?ie=UTF8&refRID=005KJ9CBVJBP7AEM439W

I was only using the antenna itself screwed into the connector, not the magnetic base.

There are losses over the cabling on the  long cable run to the roof, but with an antenna, height is might.

Since last year, they built a mcmansion between my parking spot and my personal protected wifi router 125 feet away, and while I could see my signal , it was much degraded, and a solid connection was rare, no matter how I oriented the Antenna.

Not a huge deal as my parking spot lord has a wifi, but only slower DSL connection to the net, and often I'd notice freeze ups or get knocked offline.

So I saw this Directional antenna:
http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-2-4HGz-B...7933&sr=8-1&keywords=alfa+directional+antenna
  It came yesterday.  It is about half the size I expected, at about 4 inches wide, which is good!

I was trying to stream a Surf contest out of Australia and the video kept suffering freeze ups, and My parking spot lord called me, asked me if I was on the internet, yes, Ok well i need the bandwidth, so i disconnect from his router, and try my own.

It connects, but is not passing any info.

I climb up, install this new antenna, point it in the direction of my router, go back inside and see 90% signal strength.

Hooks up easily, and I've got my own fast router again with 90% signal strength and 100% link quality.  It is not very obtrusive either, located on the frame of my solar panel and down flat rather than tilted upward.

I forgot what it was like to have fast internet.
  So all is well.

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks stern. I have been looking into to this and need all the info I can get. I would like to hear a follow up in a week or so if it's not to much trouble. highdesertranger

 

[SternWake]

thanks stern.  I have been looking into to this and need all the info I can get.  I would like to hear a follow up in a week or so if it's not to much trouble.  highdesertranger

I can follow up, but I am curious as to why.  Do you think this particular antenna will degrade quickly in the outdoors?  Have you read reviews along these lines?



There is a seam I will make an attempt to seal better, and the actual connector will be protected with Various Caig products, and after it  is screwed in, will have dielectric grease smeared over it to repel water.


I don't really try and access Wifi elsewhere, not in a while, as I don't like hopping on unprotected networks.

I'm sure there are better and higher gain Antennas designed for outdoor duty, I just like the small size of this, and it took 2 seconds to screw in to replace my larger whip style omni directional antenna.

My Wifi adapter is an Alfa 1 watt unit.  It works pretty well through my Van wall and windows.  The extension cable are lossy. The alfa unit itself with the antenna directly on it, if it were placed on the roof, would be the ticket for maximum signal strength.

 

[SoulRaven]

I'm a little lost here. Can you clarify what a mcmansion, and a parking lot lord are?

Also, how and why your personal protected wifi router is 125 feet away?

 

[skyl4rk]

This is not mine, but it looks like a powerful solution.

http://davidlane.info/internet/

The Alpha Booster is less visible, the yagi is like a tv antenna on the roof.

 

[flailer]

....  
So I saw this Directional antenna:
http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-2-4HGz-B...7933&sr=8-1&keywords=alfa+directional+antenna
  It came yesterday.  It is about half the size I expected, at about 4 inches wide, which is good!
....

I forgot what it was like to have fast internet.
  So all is well.

Sounds great!   Just what I am looking for!! 

It appears that that unit is meant to mount right on the router.  Not used as a receiver antenna.  Or am I missing something?  
Are you mounting it onto a booster you have?  
Perhaps that is why they sell them in pairs?  One on the router, and one as an receiver antenna?  
If you are using it as a receiver antenna, without a booster, what does the other end of the cable attach to? 
Thanks in advance!  

 

[SternWake]

Sounds great!   Just what I am looking for!! 

It appears that that unit is meant to mount right on the router.  Not used as a receiver antenna.  Or am I missing something?  
Are you mounting it onto a booster you have?  
Perhaps that is why they sell them in pairs?  One on the router, and one as an receiver antenna?  
If you are using it as a receiver antenna, without a booster, what does the other end of the cable attach to? 
Thanks in advance!  

This is the wifi adapter i use, as the unit internal to my laptop, is kind of weak, and irritating as it takes forever to connect to a network and has no provisions for an external antenna.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=electronics&field-keywords=Alfa AWUS036NHr

The antenna is designed to plug into the back of this adapter, however there are extension cables.

The business end of the extension cable is firmly attached to the solar panel with a threaded connection
The directional antenna  screws into this.

There are significant losses over this extension cable, however the antenna 7 feet up makes up for the losses.

The Alfa unit placed on the roof in the same place with same antenna, with a USB cable reaching the laptop, would receive a better signal from further.  I have not tried this directional antenna directly on the Alfa unit yet, but previous experiments have show how lossy the rm-sma extension cables are.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00804NTA6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Perhaps higher quality extension cables would be less lossy

 

[SternWake]

HDR,

The antenna is still working well. I have removed it from my roof however, as I wanted to try it inside the Van. While the signal strength is somewhat diminished to my main 2 routers I can choose from, it does not affect the speeds, and I can still stream movies without buffering, and have not seen a reason in my current usage to return it to my solar panel.

Sometimes one or the other router is in use by others and slows down, so I switch to the other, and with the directional antenna inside attached to the Alfa unit itself it is easy to rotate and aim, and seek the strongest signal.

So Still happy with the purchase, and need to remember to protect the open RM-SMA connector on the roof do it does not corrode unused.

 

[highdesertranger]

thank you Mr. Stern W, for the follow up. highdesertranger