How To Install Outdoor Wifi Antenna

With the purpose of testing it and, why non, using information technology when at a nearby lunch identify we installed an outdoor Altai A8 antenna in our office roof. Since our focus is in Voip nosotros tested with Hitachi wireless IP 5000 wi-fi phones registering with Pbxnsip IP Pbx. Below are the take aways from the installation experience.

Important points to consider:

Minimizing interference: Before installing the access point perform a wireless scan to discover all possible interference the antennas will get. Identify what channels are beingness currently occupied and signal strength of them so y'all can pick the best channel for your new Access Point. In the United states of america and Canada there are 11 channels available for use in the 802.11b two.4GHz WiFi Frequency range, only three of then do not overlap (channels 1, vi and eleven) . This standard is divers by the IEEE.

Aqueduct	Lower Frequency	Middle Frequency	Upper Frequency
1	2.401	2.412	2.423
2	2.404	2.417	ii.428
3	2.411	2.422	2.433
4	two.416	2.427	2.438
5	2.421	2.432	2.443
6	two.426	2.437	2.448
7	2.431	2.442	2.453
8	2.436	two.447	ii.458
9	2.441	2.452	2.463
ten	2.451	2.457	2.468
eleven	two.451	ii.462	ii.473

After scanning the site yous need choose the aqueduct that has less number of other wi-fi AP working in overlapping channels with the least signal strength to avoid adjacent channel interference.
I used a popular tool to browse wireless networks called netstumbler ( http://www.netstumbler.com/ ).
Below is the output of running netstumbler in our location.

We made the decision of using channel eleven considering information technology presented weak interference from simply i other AP.

In many cases you would not able to get a clean channel to utilize but it is especially important non having other Access Betoken less than 30 feet from the Altai AP even if information technology is not in one of the overlapping channels considering it would be actively generating traffic most of the time and there is depression power harmonic frequencies irradiated that extend over the assigned frequency range. That produces an increased constant noise level and would diminish Altai unique algorithm to differentiate weak signals from noise.

Antenna location and coverage: Altai is an outdoor antenna that will cover following nominal outdoor distances:
o Rural : 1,000m;
o Sub-urban : 500m;
o Urban : 300m
It is an art predicting actual coverage but the numbers above can give yous a good guess. Many surround elements affect it, being the near important EMI and landscape of the site. Different Structures, their geometry and material block the signals differently. Buildings, trees and even the traffic can create some dead spots.
Nearly of the times at that place is no a lot of places to utilize for mounting the antenna but the higher you lot tin can become the better. We had no pick but installing it in our roof.

Physical installation: All the above can help find the all-time location for the antenna or, if possible motility effectually other APs but when mounting the antenna information technology is important correctly adjustment each of the iv panels according to the desired coverage area. Nosotros decided to aim the panels most to the horizon (with only iii degrees inclination) so we could cover equally far places a possible. An of import have away is that each panel is directional and since none of them aimed downwards we would had a dead spot of aprox. 20 ft. radius correct under the antenna. A 7 human foot pole seemed high enough without having to require civil engineering science calculus on attaches strength, wind speed, and weight. No strings or major engineering would be required to secure the pole but proficient mental attitude and help from ABP staff helped a lot.

Since the antenna apparatus is little heavy, we pre-mounted the pole and installed the brackets first, then we took it downward and assembled all the panels and attached them to the pole and mounted the pole dorsum over again. We connected the pigtail cables before raising it.
Since the cables take just 1 correct guild, Altai recommends having special intendance when connecting the cables. Altai A8 device was mounted next to the pole.
Other thing to consider is that yous need to bring power and Ethernet next to the antenna. We run a couple cables from our office and continued them to an outdoor water proof plastic box.

Best solution in the market place: In that location are several offerings in the market today but I find Altai unique technology the best solution for outdoor 802.11a/b/chiliad. Mesh networks offer large coverage (and requires installing a higher number of antennas) but the virtually of import issue that bear upon real time communications is the latency since in mesh networks the packets take to hop several AP before getting to the backhaul link.

Allow the professionals do it: For more complex scenarios like municipalities or campuses I'd recommend always having professional person RF engineers developing the project and dimensioning the number of antennas needed and the backhaul links. Many times it takes applying electromagnetic propagation calculus and using very expensive equipment to run spectrograms in the locations to be covered.

Henry

Source: https://www.abptech.com/installing-outdoor-wi-fi-antenna-experiences.html

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