Tech Support
Antenna Jacks: U.FL, MHF4, RP-SMA, SMA: Add/Upgrade Antenna to Vastly Increase Range
mini-PCI wireless cards have either MMCX, U.FL, or MHF4. MHF4 is the newest type and is the smallest RF connector. MMCX connectors provide a stronger connection to antennas than
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Posted by George Hardesty on 30th Sep 2020
Directional Antennas: Longer Range / High Gain by narrowing the beam
Directional Antennas provide much better link quality than omni-directional antennas, which have a 360-degree pattern. Antennas for long-range point-to-point and point to multipoint links are alwa
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Posted by George Hardesty on 24th Sep 2020
LTE & GSM Bands: Frequency Allocations 4G & 3G
LTE BAND # (FDD)
UPLINK (MHz)
DOWNLINK (MHz)
1
1920 - 1980
2110 - 2170
2
1850 - 1910
1930 - 1990
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Posted by George Hardesty on 24th Sep 2020
Top Tips for Cellular Signal Improvement: LTE / 4G, GSM / 3G Wireless
Why do I have a poor cellular signal?Diminished cellular connectivity may be due to
one or a combination of these common causes:[A]
Being too far away from a cell-tower. Cell towers are
usually spa
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Posted by George Hardesty on 11th Sep 2020
Cellular Wireless Technologies: 5G, LTE / 4G, GSM / 3G, 2G and 6G
Cellular networking has become essential for
the high throughput data transfer needed to support not only communication and
entertainment but commercial and industrial activity. In this article, we
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Posted by George Hardesty on 11th Sep 2020
Antenna Cables: Definitions of Components and Terms
AAmerican Wire Gauge (AWG) is a wire gauging system
used in electronics that works on a logarithmic scale. As the AWG number
increases the actual cable cross-sectional diameter decreases. It may als
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Posted by George Hardesty on 26th Aug 2020
WiFi: A Complete Guide
This
quick guide provides a comprehensive overview of WiFi networking as well as
useful tips and tricks to assist you in optimizing the performance of your
WiFi-based networking.
Here
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Posted by George Hardesty on 24th Aug 2020
WiFi: Top Tips To Boost Your Signal Strength & Performance
Get the
most out of your WiFi network with these top 11 tips to boost WiFi connectivity.
1. Add external WiFi antennas
External antennas added to a router or access point may be able
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Posted by George Hardesty on 24th Aug 2020
WiFi Channels: Complete Guide with Tips to Boost Signal Performance
Channel planning will help you get the best WIFI connection.
Using non-overlapping channels can boost WiFi network performance.
What are the best WiFi channels?
How can I change WiFi channels
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Posted by George Hardesty on 24th Aug 2020
Fresnel Zone: Key for Long Range WiFi Links
The wireless or WiFi signal travels in a shape like an elipse and the frenzel zone is the lower part of the elipse.
The Fresnel zone is the elliptical shape created between a transmitte
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Posted by George Hardesty on 25th Jul 2020
ZigBee Antennas: Frequencies, Types, Applications
A ZigBee antenna is a radio
frequency antenna
that can send or receive radio waves in accordance
with the ZigBee technology standard
IEEE
802.15.4
. They perform a critical role in the f
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Posted by George Hardesty on 25th Jul 2020
Spatial Diversity Overcomes Multi-Path Interference | Wireless Links Over Water
Spatial diversity is a useful feature for overcoming multi-path interference. By providing spatial diversity, the radio's internal circuitry can select between the two receive antennas for better w
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Posted by George Hardesty on 25th Jul 2020
GPS antennas: Key Physical and Electrical Characteristics
What is
a GPS antenna?
A
GPS antenna
is a radio frequency antenna that provides
connectivity with the
Global Positioning
System
, a proprietary, satellite-based radio navigat
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Posted by George Hardesty on 25th Jul 2020
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Networking Protocol for Internet of Things
BLE stands for Bluetooth Low Energy and is also known as Bluetooth Smart. It is a variant of Bluetooth, a wireless protocol and short-link radio technology developed in the late 1980s through 1990
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Posted by George Hardesty on 25th Jul 2020
5GHz Wireless Frequency: Properties, Applications & Comparison to 2.4GHz WiFi
What is the 5GHz frequency?
This
is a frequency at which electromagnetic energy can be transferred from one
point to another in waves. One gigahertz is equal to one billion Hertz, which
me
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Posted by George Hardesty on 25th Jul 2020
C-V2X and DSRC: Connected car / Autonomous Vehicle technologies
The development and implementation of
connected car and autonomous vehicle technology is currently accelerating and
carries with it the expectation of a major transformation of how vehicles and
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Posted by George Hardesty on 15th Jul 2020
Antenna Radiation Patterns: H-Plane, E-Plane, XY XZ YZ Planes
This article explains
radiation patterns, detailing how polarization (linear and vertical) relates to the E-Plane and H-Plane, and how XY, XZ and YZ planes correspond to E-Plane and H-Plane.
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Posted by George Hardesty on 19th Apr 2020
1.37mm Low-Loss Cable for U.FL Connectors
1.37mm coaxial cable has similar signal loss as RG174 and RG178, but is thinner and more flexible: It has same size conductor as RG178 cable, but smaller overall diameter. It's fl
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Posted by George Hardesty on 4th Mar 2020
GPS Applications in IoT (Internet of Things)
Key characteristics of GPS make it critical to a variety of mobile IoT solutions.
Location of objects: GPS uses its proprietary constellation of military satellites to provide locating data f
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Posted by George Hardesty on 3rd Mar 2020
RG58 Compared to LMR-200 & LMR-100 Coax: Shielding & Signal Loss
ATTENUATION dB/ft.
Frequency (MHZ)
RG58
LMR-200
100
0.048
0.038
200
0.073
0.048
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Posted by George Hardesty on 12th Nov 2019
RG174 compared to LMR-100 Coax : Shielding and Signal Loss
RG174 and LMR100 Both are compatible with WiFi, Cellular, and most IoT wireless applications.
LMR-100 is double-shielded and suitable for outdoor as well as indoor use.
RG174 has a single
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Posted by George Hardesty on 7th Nov 2019
Maximum Input Power Rating of Antennas
Maximum Input Power is defined as: The maximum amount of power (voltage given in Watts) that is able to be transmitted to a single antenna without damage to the antenna port from overloading.
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Posted by George Hardesty on 6th Nov 2019
U.FL Cables Coax Types Compared: 1.13mm, 1.32mm, 1.37mm, RG174, RG178
1.13mm coaxial cable is the most commonly-used coax for U.FL cables - especially short cables. 1.13 is the only coax that can be used with MHF4 cables.
When
connecting U.FL connector
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Posted by George Hardesty on 6th Nov 2019
LMR-200 cable specifications / characteristics
LMR-200 "Low loss cable" differs from RG58 and other coax standards by double shielding and less attenuation (signal loss in the cable) than the standard cables (e.g. RG58). &n
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Posted by George Hardesty on 27th Oct 2019
Double Shielding of Antenna Cables for Low Signal Loss
Interference and Cable Shielding
Shielding protects against both leakage and absorption of stray radiation of electrical noise by cables.
Electrical "signal noise" interferes with th
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Posted by George Hardesty on 20th Oct 2019
LMR-100 Coax for Antenna Cables: Shielding & Structure
LMR-100 is a low loss, double-shielded coaxial cable type that is Data Alliance's standard for short versions of antenna cables with all of the following connector types: RP-SM
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Posted by George Hardesty on 20th Oct 2019
Antenna Polarization: Vertical, Linear: Key Factor in Selection of an Antenna
Polarity is a key electrical characteristic to be considered when selecting an antenna. Like-matched antennas in an RF set-up will have optimal power or signal transfer in point-to-point appli
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Posted by George Hardesty on 11th Oct 2019
Antenna Beamwidth
Beamwidth is the angle from which the majority of the antenna’s power, as illustrated on the radiation pattern's main lobe, radiates. It may be measured in the horizontal or vertical planes an
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Posted by George Hardesty on 11th Oct 2019
FPV (First Person View) Antennas for Drones
FPV (First Person View), are remotely controlled vehicles from a pilot’s or drivers point of view. They include unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones and ground vehicles such as RC cars and land
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Posted by George Hardesty on 11th Oct 2019
Nickel and Gold-Plated Brass Compared as Platings for Antenna Cable Connectors and Adapters
Rust Proofing and Corrosion-Protection: Best Options Among Nickel, Gold-Plated Brass & Brass Alloys:
For outdoor applications, nickel-plated brass is the best option.
Nickel-plated brass
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Posted by George Hardesty on 2nd Oct 2019
RFID Wireless Technologies, Frequencies and Applications in IoT
Wireless Technologies used in RFID applications
RFID transmits across three main frequency ranges on the electromagnetic spectrum.
The low frequency band of 120-150kHz is used for ba
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Posted by George Hardesty on 21st Sep 2019
LTE-M - Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) for IoT
LTE-M also
known as
Long Term Evolution for Machines, LTE-Machine Type
Communication
or eMTC is a form of Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) developed by 3GPP to support a variety of
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Posted by George Hardesty on 19th Sep 2019
RoHS 3 Compliance of Coaxial Antenna Cables , Connectors and Adapters
All of Data Alliance’s
antenna cables and adapters for antenna cables, are compliant with RoHS 3 and REACH.
Our antenna cable
connectors and adapters' composition is mainly of
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Posted by George Hardesty on 18th Sep 2019
M2M Communication & mMTC - Massive Machine-Type Communication
Machine to Machine Communication, also abbreviated as M2M is a modality of communication between machines or devices without any human interaction or control. These devices can speak’ to one a
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Posted by George Hardesty on 14th Sep 2019
NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT)
NB-IoT is a wireless IoT protocol using Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology, and that uses licensed frequency bands. The range is up to three miles u
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Posted by George Hardesty on 13th Sep 2019
Front to Back Ratio: Directivity of Antenna to Reduce Interference
Front to Back Ratio Applies to Directional Antennas Only
Front to Back Ratio Defined and Explained:
The measure of directivity of a directional antenna: It is dependent
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Posted by George Hardesty on 7th Sep 2019
Alfa AWUS036H: Does not auto-renew IP address when you change networks
Very good insight into the Alfa AWUS036H card: Sent to us by customer Troy Wilson
If you connect the first time to any signal at all, the IP address of that connection will appear
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Posted by Troy Wilson on 26th May 2019
45-degree Slant Antenna Polarization Overcomes Interference and Issue w/ Dual-Polarization
Signals received at base station
antennas are typically elliptically polarized in a way more like vertical polarization than horizontal polarization. This creates a common problem with dual pola
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Posted by George Hardesty on 19th May 2019
Use USB cable(s) to place WiFi adapter outside for line-of-site (negligible signal loss in cable)
USB CABLES for WiFi Adapters are a much better choice than standard coax Antenna Cables because antenna cables (coax) lose a lot of signal-strength. USB cables lose little signal: Hardly any, in
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Posted by George Hardesty on 19th May 2019
VSWR: Impedance Matching in Antennas & Antenna Cables
Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (V.S.W.R.) is a key Indicator of antenna performance (along with gain / dBi): The lower the VSWR, the more efficient the antenna.
VSWR is a measure
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Posted by George Hardesty on 18th May 2019
50-Microns Gold Plating on RJ45 Connectors & Jacks: Up to 4X Throughput Increase
The speed/throughput of an Ethernet Cable connection is increased by a multiple of as much as 4X, if the RG45 connections have 50 Micron Gold Plating, as compared to standard metal contacts.
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Posted by George Hardesty on 12th May 2019
dBi, dB, dBm dB(mW): Defined, Explained and Differentiated
dBi = dB(isotropic): The forward gain of an antenna, nmeasured in decibels (dBi), The dBi value reflects the antenna's directional / beamwidth characteristics, i.e., directional as opposed
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Posted by George Hardesty on 27th Apr 2019
Operate 2 Antennas from One Radio: Use a "Power Divider" or "Antenna Combiner" - NOT a T-adapter
Do not use a "T connection" to get one AP to service two
antennas: This causes many problems, further described below. By "T connection," we mean T-adapter (see photo below) to combine two
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Posted by George Hardesty on 26th Apr 2019
If Antenna frequency band exceeds needed range: Use Filter on system board to reduce excess band
Example: You need only 860-960 MHz
GSM band but the antenna covers
800-960MHz: One customer told us that using an antenna that includes 824-960 band allows too much interference, that comes
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Posted by George Hardesty on 12th Apr 2019
LoRa: Long Range Wireless for Internet of Things (IOT): Frequency Bands, Antennas
LoRa is a French wireless
networking standard currently owned and developed by the Californian company
Semtech and overseen by the LoRa Alliance. The protocol outlines a Low Power
Wide Area Netw
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Posted by George Hardesty on 12th Apr 2019
5G, 4G & 3G Standards: LTE, GSM CDMA, ISM, WCDMA, HSPA
LTE (4G), GSM (3G & 2G), CDMA (3G & 2G), 5G and ISM. The fundamental differences between these four modern technologies is the way they transmit and receive information.
LTE (Long Term Evolut
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Posted by George Hardesty on 12th Apr 2019
ZigBee for Internet of Things (IOT). ZigBee Antennas
ZigBee has many similarities to Bluetooth but is simpler and cheaper to operate.
Simpler and lower-cost alternative to Bluetooth for IoT (Internet of Things) applications: ZigBee's low
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Posted by George Hardesty on 7th Apr 2019
ISM Band of Frequencies and Allocation
ISM means Industrial, Scientific and Medical frequency band. This is a band of radio and microwave frequencies clustered around 2.4GHz, reserved and designated for industrial, scientific and medica
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Posted by George Hardesty on 31st Mar 2019
dBm to Watt Conversion Table
Upgrading your antenna, even just a small increment in dBm, makes a HUGE impact on the range of your device:
dBm
0
1
2
3
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Posted by George Hardesty on 31st Mar 2019
Legal & Illegal Frequencies & Channels In the United States
LEGAL & ILLEGAL FREQUENCIES IN THE BAND 4.9GHz to 5.825 (United States only)
Channel
Frequency
United States
(MHz)
40/20 MHz
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Posted by George Hardesty on 30th Mar 2019
Definitions: Wireless & WiFi Terms
Access Point (Wireless Access Point): Often referred to as a "wireless router:" Stationary radio station that has a connection to the Internet. Other names for the WIFI Access Point are: Access Poi
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Posted by George Hardesty on 30th Mar 2019
LMR-400 Coax Specifications / Characteristics: Lowest Signal Loss in Its Class
Structure: LMR-400 is a 50-ohm coaxial cable that was originally made to replace lower quality coax cables such as the RG-8. The 400 represents the cable diameter. The LMR-400 actually has a diamet
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Posted by George Hardesty on 22nd Mar 2019
CLF-100 Coax Specifications / Characteristics. Comparison to LMR-100
CLF-100 and LMR-100 have the same structure and shielding
CLF-100 "Low loss cable" differs from RG174 and other coax standards by double shielding and the resulting less attenuati
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Posted by George Hardesty on 21st Mar 2019
Signal Loss (Attenuation) in LMR-100 & LMR-200 Cables Five to Ten Feet in Length
Six feet is not too long for the LMR-100 and LMR-100-equivalent cable that we use for shorter
antenna cables.
However, it is right at the threshold at which we would recommend
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Posted by George Hardesty on 18th Mar 2019
IoT (Internet of Things) Wireless Protocols and Their Frequency Bands
IoT (Internet of Things) is a growing network of objects, devices and machines each able to communicate with the other using a wireless network to access the Internet. IoT devices have a
… read more
Posted by George Hardesty on 18th Mar 2019
WiFi Network Standards Compared: 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b and 802.11a
802.11ac is the latest WiFi standard and uses the 5.8GHz frequency band. Older standards 802.11n and earlier used 2.4GHz as its frequency band.
Advantages of 802.11ac over 802.11n
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Posted by George Hardesty on 16th Mar 2019
WiFi Frequency Bands: Uses, advantages & disadvantages of 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 900MHz Ranges
2.4GHz: Older Consumer WiFi products (before 802.11ac) are 2.4GHzFar better at traveling through walls than 5GHzDisadvantage is that it is typically more cluttered with signals than 5GHz
5.2
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Posted by George Hardesty on 16th Mar 2019
802.11B for Long-Distance Links on Older Gear
If you are trying to reach a distant or weak network signal for internet access:
802.11b will provide better range/distance than 802.11g, and
802.11b provides plenty of bandwidth for in
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Posted by George Hardesty on 16th Mar 2019
MIMO: Multiple In / Multiple Out Technology in 802.11ac and 802.11n
MIMO technology: By overlaying the signals of multiple radios, Wireless-N's "Multiple In, Multiple Out" (MIMO) technology multiplies the effective data rate. Unlike ordinary wireless net
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Posted by George Hardesty on 16th Mar 2019
U.FL & MHF4 Antenna Cables: Thickness of Cable & other Key Considerations
Data Alliance offers three options of thickness of the coaxial cable for U.FL cables: 1.13mm, 1.32mm and RG174:
All three have a black jacket.
All three are RoHS and
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Posted by George Hardesty on 10th Mar 2019
BNC Cables 50 Ohm & 75 Ohm Distinctions, Applications, Connectors
50 Ohm and 75 Ohm are Two Distinct Types of BNC Connectors & Cables:
BNC connectors are manufactured in 50 Ohm and 75 Ohm specification versions.
The two types of connectors are physic
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Posted by George Hardesty on 9th Mar 2019
