Posted by Eric Meyer

Most if not all wireless access points and wireless routers come with the standard omni -directional rubber duck wireless antenna. Omnidirectional antennas used in the wrong situations are such a waste of money and can be a secuirity risk. Directional antennas can be used to focus your signal where it’s needed.

Reasons to use a directional antenna:

1. Save money- Long hallways are common in office buildings. Don’t try to use the defualt Ominidirectional antennas on a long hallway. You will have to purchase more equipment to extend the bubble of coverage. One directioal antenna with a 60 degree focused signal would be able to extend your coverage area twice as far

2. Security- When your wireless signal bleeds outside your operational area you will attract hackers, crackers, leeches, wardrivers and social engineers. The higher the DBI on the antenna the more focused your signal is, so if you have an 8dbi antenna your probably looking at a 60 degree cove or signal comming from your antenna. A 14dbi antenna might have a 30 degree focused signal that might not provide the width of coverage you need and it might send your signal to far.

3. Less Equipment - Cut down on your epuipment that you have to install and manage

4. Shoot Signals around corners - Take an access point, two panel directional antennas and a signal splitter ( The splitter will allow you to hook two antennas to one access point). Now you can mount the directional antennas on a corner mount, shooting the signal down two hallways at onced. This solution is very common and will save you money.

5. Distance - Omnidirectional antennas usally have half their signal wasted by walls. Directional antennas don’t have that waste they focus their signal in one direction thus extending your signal much farther that an Omni. There are two different types of directional antennas: directional and highly directional.

6. Smaller Profile - Omnidirectional antennas are hard to blend into an office enviroment or building. They stick out like a sore thumb and advertise your wireless network to everyone. Directional antennas like the panel type have a smaller profile and often look like lights or smoke detectors.

This articles purpose isn’t saying that there isn’t a purpose for omnidirectional antennas. What I”m saying is that most people don’t even think of changing their antennas after purchasing their wireless router or access point. My next article will discuss the advantages of combining directional antennas and Omnidirectional antennas

Article Source:http://www.4free-articles.com

Join the most popular wireless networking newsletter on the internet http://www.wirelessninja.com If you are looking for some directional antennas to boost your signal try these out http://wirelessninja.com/?page_id=9

Routers Articles

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Routers... Which Wireless Router Is Better? Which Router Is Better? (D-Link / Belkin / Hawking Technologies) You know, when you have about 3 different routers, you get to know what is good and what's not, at least when it comes to routers. You also tend to learn a lot about how they work and what their settings are for and all that stuff. Frankly, I find it a big waste of brain space but then again, this review will not write itself. The following routers will be looked at today: D-Link 11mbps 802.11B Belkin 54mbps 802.11G Hawking Technologies 54mbps 802.11G First and foremost, I want to say that given the right circumstances and/or equipment, any router can perform optimally unless you ran over it with your car. However, most people don't always have the cash to purchase pricey equipment to make their wireless network better. Hopefully this will help...someone. All the routers were placed in the same place. Lets start of with the D-Link 11mbps 802.11B. The...

Routers, Computer Networking News