Wireless Network Antenna Guide

Wireless internet is used by just about everyone - individuals, businesses and councils - thanks to Wi-Fi hotspots, and home, office, and public wireless networks. It has revolutionised how people go online and by following this simple wireless network antenna guide you will ensure you maintain a decent wireless signal to your device[s].

While in theory wireless internet is a brilliant concept, many people become frustrated by the lack of signal strength, security, and speed from their system. These points can often be attributed to standard Wi-Fi cards, router and access point placement and wireless network antenna issues.

Router / Access Point Positioning

Wi-Fi gear is mostly omni-directional (covering 360 degrees), which generally means unless your equipment is located in the centre of your home you will unlikely receive a consistent signal throughout.

Most people place their router / access point on, or inside, a computer desk in the corner of their home, meaning that much of the Wi-Fi signal will spill out onto the street and into the neighbour’s front room. This is no real issue in itself, however, as long as you have security enabled; but in this situation you may find diminished signal strength and bandwidth when trying to pick up the signal upstairs from the other end of the house when the router is downstairs in the front room, for example.

To compound the issue further, many people will have their pc with Wi-Fi card and access point / router located in an out-of-the-way place, such as inside a cabinet, which will usually result in even less signal strength.

High Powered Omni-directional Antenna

Because the signalling power is expended in every direction with an omni-directional antenna, the signal will struggle to reach far off rooms in the case of a large house or one with thick walls. You could counter this by installing a stronger omni-directional antenna, which will also lead to increased network performance. With this, of course, also comes the concern that your high-powered omni-directional Wi-Fi signal will spill even further into the street leading to greater chance of being hacked by a keen cracker… unless perhaps you live on a farm.

High Gain Directional Wi-Fi Antenna

If you absolutely must have your wireless access point / router positioned in the corner of your home, replacing the standard omni-directional antenna with a high gain directional antenna is definitely the way to go. This will enable you to focus the wireless signal in a particular direction so that the signal power will be more readily picked up by your wireless devices in the home.

Most routers / access points nowadays come with an external antenna jack that allows the addition of another antenna. If you’re unsure, have a look at the router’s wireless network antenna guide / support documentation for details.

Wireless Internet Security

Wireless was pretty secure to begin with, in that Crackers hadn’t yet become familiar with the new technology. However, they have become relatively easy to hack with publicly available tools on the internet enabling crackers to access a WEP-encrypted system in minutes, for instance. While using WEP is better than nothing, it has had its day and there are better ways to secure your network.

Other, more secure signal-encryption options - WPA; WPA2; 802.1X; LEAP; PEAP; TKIP, and RADIUS.