Using alternative antennas with RT-N66U

[DSwit]

I'm wondering if using the three D-LINK ANT24-0700 antennas I have in place of the stock ones that came with the RT-N66U, offers any benefits besides 7db gain in sensitivity or if some factor(s) renders them a worse choice than the stock ones.

Any opinions or links to relevant information would be appreciated.

 

[PrivateJoker]

I'm wondering if using the three D-LINK ANT24-0700 antennas I have in place of the stock ones that came with the RT-N66U, offers any benefits besides 7db gain in sensitivity or if some factor(s) renders them a worse choice than the stock ones.

Any opinions or links to relevant information would be appreciated.

I actually had one of those lying around, and unscrewed it from its base (I didn't need the additional small loss of the 1-m cable and the insertion loss of the base itself) and I did get a little improvement running it as my middle antenna, it's still that way now.

I can try to do some tests before the week is up with hard #s before & after.

It will not blow you away though.

Here's a pic of my router on top of a bookshelf, w/ Vornado Zippi fan & hardwired back down to switch, NAS, modem, etc in basement (ps the keystone jacks are color coded to mean different things, the cables are color coded to mean I ran out of same colored cable ).

I tried the weird mini-directional antenna Asus sells and got bad results from it. I haven't had good results using any kind of directional antennas and multiple stream routers ever, it might be possible - I'm not sure.

 

[DSwit]

I'm hesitant to mix antennas due to the possible difference in gain confusing the beam steering process. But at the same time I am not sure if spreading the antennas further from each other to increase overall sensitivity will cause similar issues.

The only way to tell would be to take some signal strength measurements with each individual set in use. One of the popular wireless trouble shooting programs should provide accurate enough signal strength measurements I'd imagine?

http://www.mediafire.com/view/l94ozzc48d6wad4/2013-09-12_09.15.00.jpg

 

[PrivateJoker]

I'm hesitant to mix antennas due to the possible difference in gain confusing the beam steering process. But at the same time I am not sure if spreading the antennas further from each other to increase overall sensitivity will cause similar issues.

The only way to tell would be to take some signal strength measurements with each individual set in use. One of the popular wireless trouble shooting programs should provide accurate enough signal strength measurements I'd imagine?

Well for this, and other purposes (firmware rev testing) I'm starting to gather measurements every time I make a change in my network, now I just have to find that stock middle antenna.

http://bit.ly/PrivateJokerWifi

*Edit - @DSwit - After seeing your photos, I would try moving your router to the upper shelf and taking those antennas out of their bases and connecting directly to the back of the router. (Try measuring some good RSSIs and other relevant info before & after of course). The 1-m cable is so thin (granted, it's only a meter. . .but it's spaghetti, if not vermicelli thin), which makes it susceptible to some RF loss, and then adding another connector (in the magnetic base) for the antenna to go into adds some insertion loss of probably 1-2dB beyond the cable's connector into the router. I used this antenna on a (peaceful) war-driving setup several years ago scanning my neighborhood and found it to perform better in that situation connected directly to the wifi adapter. In that situation the 1-m cable and convenience of the magnetic mount were only of a benefit if it radically changed my ability to position the antenna (like inside a window bay in an apartment, vs, outside a window, stuck on a drain pipe - where the loss was worth the added RF exposure). It's worth measuring at least.

 

[PrivateJoker]

Still testing (am continuing to update link above) but it looks like my RSSIs are a few % better (like going from a -48 to a -47, a small yet consistently repeatable delta) in both bands when having 3 x stock antennas, vs. one high gain D-Link in the middle. I don't own 3 of them and can't test running 3.

Dang I wish I tested the quasi directional one that Asus makes (which they show connected just to center antenna connector in pictures that I've seen), it led to very inconsistent "seat of the pants" #s.