What antenna should I get for maximum performance

Sapphiron

Sapphiron

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ProAsm

I've heard a lot of things about dish antenna's having reliability issues, because of narrow transmitting beam.

I want to get a antenna with high performance (20db+), without it being affected by the wind (it is the cape after all)

what do you think about this antenna?
If I read(understanding is another question) this brochure correctly, the antenna has a transmitting angle of 12-14 degrees.
Would that be enough?

Since it is a grid mesh antenna, the wind would not affect it that much (even less than a panel).

Are my assumptions correct or am I being a Noobie.

http://www.poynting.co.za/antennas/pdf/DISH-A0011_BROC.pdf


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Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.
 
Look at it this way, DSTV comes in at about 12 GHz. It is rare to hear of people losing their DSTV signal due to wind (it is more common that the signal is lost during heavy rain)
The dish size for DSTV is of the same order compared to what will be used for MyWireless. The transmitting angle (or rather 3dB beam width) for DSTV signals received on a satellite dish is much smaller than the grid antenna on this brochure. In addition, on DSTV you are receiving a signal broadcast from 36000 km away. On MyWireless the signal is not coming from further than a couple of kms. I don't think wind will be a problem for the grid antenna or for a dish as long as you mount it on a short pole fixed FIRMLY against a solid wall as most DSTV installations are done.

Ajax
 
There is a BIG difference between DSTV and mywireless. With DSTV, recieving is important. With Mywireless transmitting is hyper-critical. If the tower does not recieve signal from your modem for a moment,click, your disconnected.

I agree with you that if it is mounted correctly, wind won;t be a problem.

I just want to increase my signal strength and maintain reliability in bad weather.


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Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.
 
Sapphiron, agreed any antenna is better than a dish but you have to be carefull.
A dish has a high wind loading but has excellent front to back ratio and good gain.
If you live high enough and get away with it under the eavs or better still in your ceiling, then go for it. Beware dishes normally only have a 3 to 5 degree beamwidth so alignment will be difficult.
A Grid antenna is great, good FB ratio, good gain, beamwidths like 10 to 20 degrees, almost no wind loading but wait till a bird flies into it or like here in Durban a pesty Hardidar sits on it and buckles the grid for you.
A 22 dBi panel I'd say is about the best for MyWireless, check my site at the bottom and you'll see the one I have, its a 19 dBi job, 320 mm square, beamwidth of 10 degree and works well. I also have a 28 dBi grid but whether I'll put it up as a permanent fixture I doubt.


<hr noshade size="1"><center><font color="blue">MyWireless Stuff</font id="blue">
<font size="1"><font color="black">The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer</font id="size1"></font id="black"></center>
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">With Mywireless transmitting is hyper-critical. If the tower does not recieve signal from your modem for a moment,click, your disconnected.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Granted, but I think Pro is talking about a very big dish (probably around 2 m diameter) given the 3dB beamwidth he has mentioned. I would be cautious about those too.

Found a site with a couple of 2.4 GHz dishes. http://www.connectronics.com/antennas/2_4GHz_Antennas.htm#2.4_GHz_High_Gain_Yagis__Panels__Parabolic_Antennas

Ajax
 
There are some very nice antenna there ajax.

I think the 20.7 dBi 2 ft. Parabolic Dish Antenna would be ideal for all conditions here.
It looks very sturdy, rear mounting and rear connection which is very important and a nice forward gain and only 61 cm.
14 degree beamwidth is excellent and will make it nice to work with.
Being a dish the FB ratio will also be good.


<hr noshade size="1"><center><font color="blue">MyWireless Stuff</font id="blue">
<font size="1"><font color="black">The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer</font id="size1"></font id="black"></center>
 
what is a radome kit?

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Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">what is a radome kit?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Its the nonmetallic part that fits over the dish that totally screens it from the sun and rain.
 
There are cheaper antenna's available than from Poynting .......

I guess wire mesh or dish would be a matter of choice and conditions.

We have tested them all with different grades of cable as well.
 
Sapphiron: Since you in ct contact scoop. They have quite alot of antenae's and such stuff. They in the same complex as Sahara. In the next road (behind sahara)

..- dot dot dash ;)
 
Thanks for the info freek

I will have a look when I go down there next week.

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Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.
 
Something for all the antenna & WLAN designers .....

http://www.poynting.co.za/tech_training/wlanmanual.shtml

MyDraadloos -Base 36 Bedfordview Signal=9%patch Freq=2518 Gain99db
 
Just an update on the Poynting 22dBi grid antennas: We installed ours in the roof of the building above the server room (read: its attached to the beams with cable ties), and it works fine. Signal is 28% with SNR at 14-15 according to MySignal 4.1. The roof has normal tiles on. We get a better signal outside, but then its a matter of drilling gigantic holes which our landlord doesn't like much ;).

The grid antenna is definately a lot easier to set up than a DSTV dish. My grid at home worked without any fine tuning, while I still cannot get my DSTV working after moving the dish :(

Groenie
 
Groenie, what did the grid antenna's work out to in total, VAT, etc?

Does poyinting now have loads of stock on these things? Did you get proper pigtails? And what cable are you running? C'mon, spit it out, I want details [:D]

Oh, and pictures, or it didn't happen...

<center><h5><font color="red">Oo. MyWireless <s>Hacks</s> Tweaks & Tech Info.oO </font id="red"></h5><h6>Have you checked the fawking FAQ?</h6></center>
 
The antennas and cable are very high quality and the pigtails work well. Its the same as the pigtail on the patch antenna I had previously. They also give you a little plastic clip that helps keep the connecter connected to the modem.

We paid R769 per dish, R99 per pigtail and R296 for 5 metres of Imr400 cable. Thats a total of R1164. All amounts VAT exclusive.
They now have the dish and pigtail as a kit, and that they sell for R1023. That's without any other cable. You can see what price and demand did :(

According to them they now have lots in stock.
I'll try taking a picture of the dish strapped S&M style to the roof beams!
I'm a bit dissapointed that I don't see an improvement over my coffee cantenna at home. I think the dish needs to be alligned carefully, but at the moment I get 22% with coffee can and 26% with antenna. Or maybe I'm just a brillant cantenna builder ;)

Groenie
 
Well, the most ideal solution is probably the cantenna. It's extremely cheap, and it works, way better than the scratch-patch antenna, yet at the unbeatable price of a can of Frisco coffee.

If you're looking at higher gain, in bad areas then yes, the Dish is prolly the best bet. But if your modem already receives signal without a dish, then a cantenna will boost it for the least buck, I believe.


<center><h5><font color="red">Oo. MyWireless <s>Hacks</s> Tweaks & Tech Info.oO </font id="red"></h5><h6>Have you checked the fawking FAQ?</h6></center>
 
now, this is something that befuddles me.. i spoke to one of the helpdesk professionals about signals... and he said to me that the signal strenght doesn't affect your connection speed...

this does not compute...

true?

<hr noshade size="1"><font size="1"><i><center><font color="red">i haven't lost my mind, it's backed up on disk somewhere...</font id="red">
tower82.ranburg.jhb|13% signal|256k package</center></i></font id="size1">
 
In ProAsm's words: It smooths out over 30%.
I've certainly seen that below 20% I loose packets and below 10% I don't get close to what you should get in terms of download speed. But there are guys that report no problems using 5-9% signal. They probably have a good signal to noise ratio.

Groenie
 
hmmm... i got 22% once with my cantenna (before optimi-break-everything-sation)... i have a grid antenna somewhere... maybe i should try that...

*ponder*

<hr noshade size="1"><font size="1"><i><center><font color="red">i haven't lost my mind, it's backed up on disk somewhere...</font id="red">
tower82.ranburg.jhb|13% signal|256k package</center></i></font id="size1">
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by groenie</i>
<br />I'm a bit dissapointed that I don't see an improvement over my coffee cantenna at home. I think the dish needs to be alligned carefully, but at the moment I get 22% with coffee can and 26% with antenna. Or maybe I'm just a brillant cantenna builder ;)

Groenie
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Ricofee or Koffiehuis?
 
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