What the best antenna to get RIGHT NOW?

**BradJ81** · 04-01-2007, 08:10 AM

For a CarPC I am building. What is the best at this present time?

**DarquePervert** · 04-01-2007, 09:50 AM

First of all, we need to know what you need the antenna for.
Since you posted in the Wireless Communications forum, I'm going to assume (possibly incorrectly), that it would have to do with either 802.11b/g or cellphone, as opposed to radio, satellite radio, GPS or SatTV.

Now that we've done some deduction, the BEST is subjective and would completely depend on your circumstances, really. More details, please.

**BradJ81** · 04-01-2007, 01:34 PM

Has to do with 802.11b/g.

Btw, whats the difference between g and b anyways?

[Edit:] Oh, I see. "G" has a higher data rate.

802.11b
Release Date Op. Frequency Data Rate (Typ) Data Rate (Max) Range (Indoor)
October 1999 2.4 GHz 6.5 Mbit/s 11 Mbit/s ~30 meters (~98 ft)

802.11g
Release Date Op. Frequency Data Rate (Typ) Data Rate (Max) Range (Indoor)
June 2003 2.4 GHz 24 Mbit/s 54 Mbit/s ~30 meters (~98 ft)

**crez79** · 04-01-2007, 01:41 PM

Google is your friend

The best is this by far because it supports mp3car.com. But as said, it depends on your circumstances.

**BradJ81** · 04-01-2007, 03:33 PM

What is the gain on that one?

The only reason I'm asking, and I've checked the FAQ section. In the FAQ section they have threads on "whats the best GPS software" or "Whats the GPS receiver", "whats the best ..." But not one on the subject of wireless.

I searched tons of pages on this sub-forum trying to deduce what the general consensus for best antenna was. However, I was unable to draw a definitive answer. Many people here are using different types of antennas, so I assume that there's no REAL best?

However, what are the differences between 5Db and 7Db or even 15Db going to be like? I read somewhere that 5Db is better than 7Db, is this true?

**mnielsm** · 04-01-2007, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by BradJ81

...
However, what are the differences between 5Db and 7Db or even 15Db going to be like? I read somewhere that 5Db is better than 7Db, is this true?

For this question i would look at wikipedia and find this:

Decibel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

there under the chapter 'Typical abbreviations' you will find where you are looking for

To help you a little bit this is the text you search for:

0 dBm means no change from 1 mW, in other words 0 dBm is 1 mW.
3 dBm means 3 dB greater than 1 mW. 3 dBm is 2 mW.
−6 dBm means 6 dB less than 1 mW. -6 dBm is 250 μW (0.25 mW).

The higher broadcast strength the longer the distance between the sender and receiver can be.

But the problem is just like a chain, it is as strong as the weekest chain.

**BradJ81** · 04-02-2007, 01:08 AM

So you're saying I could have the best wireless antenna but that might not matter because of environmental factors? Also depending on the strength of the AP signal as well?.

**BarryWoods** · 04-02-2007, 02:55 AM

Originally Posted by BradJ81

So you're saying I could have the best wireless antenna but that might not matter because of environmental factors? Also depending on the strength of the AP signal as well?.

Correct. The "best" antenna is one that works.

**2k1Toaster** · 04-02-2007, 03:11 AM

Originally Posted by BarryWoods

Correct. The "best" antenna is one that works.

Like this one -->

Originally Posted by BradJ81

So you're saying I could have the best wireless antenna but that might not matter because of environmental factors? Also depending on the strength of the AP signal as well?.

And if your router is a little POS, then you could have some huge dB antenna and it would make little difference. Also obstacles still affect these signals. So if your plan is to get a huge antenna and use it around your neighbourhood or something, not going to work.

A higher dB antenna might allow you to park a couple of spots farther back from the Starbucks and still get a signal, but if you have a house, and will use it for data transfer/backup only kind of thing, I don't think you will see very much improvement.