Is it possible to extend the antenna on a Linksys WAP54GP?

[Roveer]

We've got an infrastructure of Linksys WAP54GP's (These are the high
end Linksys Vlan Trunking WAP's). They are black with a single
antenna (smaller round connector vs the larger antennas on the blue
wap54g's TNC?)

We've put the AP's themselves in strategic locations to achieve
aesthetics, but of course this does not always give a good radio
signal.

Question: Is there an antenna extension that I can use to move the
antenna closer to the area's that need coverage? In most cases it
might be just a few feet, or from inside a cabinet to above the
cabinet. It's much easier to place a little antenna than to try and
hide a honking AP.

Has anyone had any experience doing this? Did it help? What products
have you used?

Thanks,

Roveer

[Joker7]

To restore balance to the world Roveer wrote in
d6e920b7-645b-4d77-8fc4-5bf166284cae@p25g2000hsf.googlegroups.com
>> We've got an infrastructure of Linksys WAP54GP's (These are the high
>> end Linksys Vlan Trunking WAP's). They are black with a single
>> antenna (smaller round connector vs the larger antennas on the blue
>> wap54g's TNC?)
>>
>> We've put the AP's themselves in strategic locations to achieve
>> aesthetics, but of course this does not always give a good radio
>> signal.
>>
>> Question: Is there an antenna extension that I can use to move the
>> antenna closer to the area's that need coverage? In most cases it
>> might be just a few feet, or from inside a cabinet to above the
>> cabinet. It's much easier to place a little antenna than to try and
>> hide a honking AP.
>>
>> Has anyone had any experience doing this? Did it help? What
>> products have you used?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Roveer

Should be easy :)
http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/

Chris

--
Superb hosting & domain name deals http://dn-22.co.uk

[LR]

Roveer wrote:
> We've got an infrastructure of Linksys WAP54GP's (These are the high
> end Linksys Vlan Trunking WAP's). They are black with a single
> antenna (smaller round connector vs the larger antennas on the blue
> wap54g's TNC?)
>
> We've put the AP's themselves in strategic locations to achieve
> aesthetics, but of course this does not always give a good radio
> signal.
>
> Question: Is there an antenna extension that I can use to move the
> antenna closer to the area's that need coverage? In most cases it
> might be just a few feet, or from inside a cabinet to above the
> cabinet. It's much easier to place a little antenna than to try and
> hide a honking AP.
>
> Has anyone had any experience doing this? Did it help? What products
> have you used?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roveer
You can buy a range of ready made cables e.g.:-
http://www.hyperlinktech.com/productfamily.aspx?id=262
They have a range of mounting brackets as well:-
http://www.hyperlinktech.com/productfamily.aspx?id=274

[Bill Kearney]

> Question: Is there an antenna extension that I can use to move the
> antenna closer to the area's that need coverage? In most cases it
> might be just a few feet, or from inside a cabinet to above the
> cabinet. It's much easier to place a little antenna than to try and
> hide a honking AP.

As you add antenna and cabling you lose signal. Sometimes that's an
acceptable risk. If your existing locations are providing 'more than
enough' coverage then adding various antennae would probably work. Just
make sure you use very good quality cabling and keep it as absolutely short
as possible.

There are ceiling antennae: http://www.hyperlinktech.com/item.aspx?id=2011

That one is listed as using an N-female connector. I believe it's an
RP-SMA connector on that AP. So an RP-SMA to N-male pigtail should be
what's needed.

There are also on-wall units: http://www.hyperlinktech.com/item.aspx?id=2115

Look at the technical datasheet PDF when picking antennae. Those polar
chart (round) diagrams will give you a good idea about how the antenna
covers a given area. That's important when it comes to mounting them.
Make sure the antenna is aimed properly to best match it's pattern with the
area in question. What sort of antenna to use will depend on the area you
need to cover. As in, an open room might be great for a centrally
positioned ceiling antenna. But that sort of antenna might be useless for a
long straight hallway sort of area. For that a wall-mounted sector antenna
might be a better choice.

Make sure to use ONLY as much cable length as the situations actually
requires. As in, if you only need a 2ft length then don't get a 10ft one
and coil it up. You're just losing signal strength over the longer cabling.
Buy the right lengths necessary. And avoid using connector adapters, get
the cabling with the correct ends on them from the start. Note there are
right-angled N connectors so a ceiling antenna's cable can exit without
being bent into too tight a curve. When using coax you really want to avoid
bending the wire. There's a minimum bend radius all cabling of this type
requires. If the lay of the cable needs a different exit angle then get the
correct end to the cable instead of bending the coax. The more cable,
connectors, and adapters you use the more signal you lose.

If you've never made cables of this type, save yourself that hassle and just
order them ready-made. Dealing with tiny SMA and N type coax connections is
less than trivial. If you're doing it all the time that's one thing. But
for a DIY situation you're just asking for yet another source of signal loss
and debugging hassles along the way.

-Bill Kearney

[DTC]

Bill Kearney wrote:
> If you've never made cables of this type, save yourself that hassle and
> just order them ready-made. Dealing with tiny SMA and N type coax
> connections is less than trivial. If you're doing it all the time
> that's one thing. But for a DIY situation you're just asking for yet
> another source of signal loss and debugging hassles along the way.

Connector kits are less than $100 for several different sizes of cox,
but the SWR meter to test them is $900. DIY is only feasible if you
build more than a dozen a week.