Hi, my AP would really benefit with a directional antenna to focus energy in a targeted direction within my home.
I would think a patch style antenna would do the job. Have a few questions
I momentarily connected a large but inexpensive passive Yagi (thats destined to go on a outdoor camera)
to Antenna port C and saw a 10 db rise in signal on 2.4ghz. Was better than I had hoped.
But, this antenna can handle 100 watts and wondering if it could cause the radio in my router to fail due to mismatch or impedance issues??
What passive antenna would work and not cause problems with the radio over the long haul?
A small to med patch seems like it could be perfect but dont know which one to buy?
Hi Paul. Impedance and power handling are different issues. It’s highly unlikely that such antenna will damage your router. Most Yagis are about 50 Ohms and I think the SOHO is in that ballpark as well, with some variability based on frequency. Even a SWR mismatch of >2.5:1 should not be an issue. Indeed, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that the SOHO will not be damaged by far worse cases. And, all Yagi-Uda antennas are passive, by design.
I’ll defer to others on this part of your question. Generally, our approach would site APs in a location/scheme where directional antennas are not required. And, we’ve never used directional antennas with a SOHO.
Thanks so much Rick! Any idea which of the 3 antenna inputs should get the directional antenna for 2.4 ghz? Or are they all the same. I did a quick test and didnt really see much of a difference
Hi @Paul_P . I’d reiterate my general recommendation vis-a-vis placing APs where they’re needed – which may obviate the use of a SOHO [alone.] But more directly to your question, we have conducted no experiments in this an so far as I am aware, Peplink has not published information on this – likely because such use was not intended. I think that I’d do if you want to go this route is to experiment a bit yourself and see which configuration is best. Wish I could be of more help!
I’ll add a “note for the future,” though: All of Peplink’s Balance series routers include a nicely-integrated access point controller. It’s quite easy to place APs where you need them and have the router control them. Super-simple to set up. :<)