Currently, Wi-Fi antennas have advanced so much that it is already possible to establish connections between two points far apart. Right now it is already possible to connect two houses separated by several kilometers through a Wi-Fi link of several kilometers, although logically, it will not always be possible and you must take into account many factors before doing so, and, above all, look at which Wi-Fi antennas. Fi are the most recommended to do this job.
Until not so long ago, these types of connections were only possible using powerful professional devices, communication towers, or high-rise masts. Nowadays, making a Wi-Fi link of several kilometers is already a reality without having to spend thousands of euros, but we have to take into account several aspects, and use simulators to make the task a success.
The latest studies reveal that users want to have a quality WiFi signal that reaches every corner of the house. The problem is that we are no longer satisfied with having WiFi inside the house, we want it to reach the garden, and we even want to have WiFien the warehouse, garage or business that is located in front of us a few kilometers away. For this reason, the purchase of long-range outdoor WiFi antennas have become very popular.
Also, an important fact is that the internet routers that providers provide in some cases leave a lot to be desired. If some already find it difficult to provide coverage inside the house and if we ask them to do so in the surroundings, it is impossible. Today in this article we are going to explain in a basic way what types of antennas exist and how we can create a Wi-Fi link of several kilometers if the right conditions exist.
Types of Wi-Fi antennas
To improve the signal of a wireless connection, we found several types of WiFi antennas, each one is oriented to a goal, and not all the existing WiFi antennas are valid for all uses. We must carefully choose the equipment we buy and know in detail the type of antenna we have.
Omnidirectional antennas
Omnidirectional antennas are those that emit and receive in all directions in the horizontal plane, that is, they emit and receive at 360º of the antenna. In the vertical plane it will depend on the gain that we have in the antenna itself to have more sensitivity, so it will be very important to look at this detail in the technical specifications when we go to buy an antenna.
Omnidirectional antennas have a circular corona-shaped spectrum, radiate in all directions, so they are not focused in one direction only, and are therefore less “powerful” than their directional antenna counterparts. The radius of action is not restricted to a specific beam. This type of antenna is ideal for extending existing wireless networks a few tens of meters, such as, for example, improving the coverage of our garden.
The vast majority of household equipment such as routers, access points, PLCs with Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Mesh systems have these types of antennas, since they radiate in all directions.
Sector antennas
The sector antennas are capable of irradiating horizontally at certain degrees (º), there are sector antennas of 45º, 60º, 90º and even 180º. These types of antennas are capable of going further, and are normally used by WISP operators to provide coverage to multiple clients simultaneously.
If you want to give homogeneous coverage to a certain space, this type of antenna is ideal for you. This type of antennas provide greater power than omnidirectional since they radiate less angle.
Directional antennas
This type of directional antennas emit only in one direction, with very little horizontal and also vertical angle. These types of antennas are ideal for making point-to-point links, since they concentrate all of their radiated energy in a localized way, increasing the power to the receiver, and, in addition, avoiding interference that other Wi-Fi networks can generate.
When using these types of antennas, a fairly detailed study of the position of the emitter and receiver must be done, since the angle is so small that you will have to “aim” to get a good wireless link.
Connection types of Wi-Fi antennas
We can also differentiate the antennas according to the way of connection:
- WiFi Ethernet .
- WiFi USB .
An important difference between WiFi Ethernet antennas and USB antennas is that the latter offer a shorter range and connect directly to the equipment.
The one on the left would be a WiFi antenna with an Ethernet interface, with a coverage of between 10 and 30 km. The one on the right would be a planar-type USB antenna with a range of 2 to 3 km.
Another classification that we could make is between a simple WiFi antenna and an antenna with a built-in operating system. Some of the equipment that we can find today are not a simple antenna, they have something else inside. In this case we are going to differentiate between two types:
- The simple antenna uses a RG58 or RP-SMA connector in most cases, we will connect it directly to the router, AP or Wi-Fi card, and we will automatically obtain better signal reception. They are the cheapest and we can buy them both outdoors and indoors. No configuration is required.
- The antenna with operating system is a Wi-Fi AP or CPE, and it comes with CPU, RAM and integrated operating system for device management. If we want to configure it, we can connect via the web, either via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and even via SSH. Built-in Wi-Fi antennas can be omni-directional, sectorial, or directional.
In this image you can see the difference between a simple antenna and an antenna with embedded system.
Criteria to consider when making a Wi-Fi link
A WiFi antenna installer technician never determines the distance of a WiFi product simply by its specifications. This is because the distances that manufacturers usually put are theoretical, measured in the laboratory and in optimal conditions.
Therefore, we will determine the range distance of a WiFi antenna in relation to:
- The environment where it is located.
- External factors such as weather.
- External interference
In this sense, the location of the antenna at a sufficient height with respect to the ground, its orientation and, above all, the shape and size, are determining factors in the maximum range of the antenna. You must also take into account the orography of the terrain, a flat terrain is not the same as a mountainous one. For example, in the first one the distribution of the signal will be easier and we will have fewer problems.
Next, we are going to put examples of antennas that will allow us to make a Wi-Fi link of several kilometers.
Recommended Wi-Fi antennas to make WiFi links of several kilometers
Today the manufacturer Ubiquiti is one of the best to make Wi-Fi links of several kilometers, its equipment is very good and it has a really competitive price. Thanks to its operating system, we can monitor the wireless link in detail easily and quickly, through the web and even with the mobile device.
To talk about Wi-Fi links of several kilometers is to talk about Ubiquiti, and we are going to recommend several families of Wi-Fi antennas from this manufacturer, each oriented to a different use.
Ubiquiti Nanostation
The Ubiquiti Nanostation are the best value for money you can buy, they are easy to install and configure, although logically we will need minimal knowledge to do so. The main characteristics of this family are that it works in the 5GHz band, so we will not have interference with neighboring networks. There are two models in this family, the Loco5AC that reaches a distance of up to 10km, and the NS-5AC that is capable of up to 15km.
Before buying this equipment, we must be careful since there is an old version of the same product, that is, this Nanostation family has had different models over the years, this model is the new one:
And this model is the “old”:
The Ubiquiti operating system for antennas is the best that exists today, since it will give us a large amount of information visually, without having to enter too many technical parameters.
In addition, it integrates airMAX technology, just like the rest of the Ubiquiti families. Unlike standard Wi-Fi protocol, with Ubiquiti Networks AirMAX and Division Multiple Access Protocol (TDMA) we will improve our multi-kilometer Wi-Fi link. This time slot method eliminates hidden node collisions and maximizes air time efficiency.
We recommend you visit the official website of Ubiquiti Nanostation where you will find all the details of its equipment.
Ubiquiti Nanobeam
These antennas are similar to the previous ones, but they allow us to have a great link quality when we have a lot of external interference. We currently have different teams in this family, both working in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Depending on the distance at which we make the link, it will be advisable to choose one or the other model, then you can see all of them:
These teams also have a great value for money, as you can see:
We recommend you visit the official website of Ubiquiti NanoBeam where you will find all the details of its equipment.
Other Ubiquiti families
Currently we have other Ubiquiti families oriented to make long-distance links, an interesting family is the LiteBeam which are 23dBi high-gain antennas, although this type of equipment is more professional than the previous ones. Finally, we also want to name the PowerBeam family that allow Wi-Fi links of up to 30km.
