The wireless antenna gain stated was 2dBi for 2.4GHz.
However, recently when I got the product on hand and tested out, I found out that the wireless signal was weaker than what I was expecting.
So after further checkout on the brochure : https://i.mt.lv/routerboard/files/hAP_ac_lite-170927121414.pdf
I found out that I’m screwed, because the brochure side is stating 2.4GHz antenna gain is 1.5dBi instead of 2.0dBi !
I have almost 60units of this model already purchased and they are incoming from overseas.
Now I’m kinda helpless and was being misleading by the info provided. Can anyone advise on this? I truly appreciate your input in regarding of this matter. Thank you!
http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/xiaomi-phone-low-wifi-tx-rate/93622/1
Most of mikrotik wifi devices (90%) suffer the same problem and Mikrotik lies about it and does nothing to fix it.
Access points are not able to utilize full wifi speed on 2.4ghz with most of mobile phones (except high-end models).
Phones get lock on 54 mbit which is around 24mbit max throughput in download.
Hi Nordex, thanks for the info provided. After I checked with my Mikrotik Vendor, it is confirmed that the hAP AC lite 2.4GHz antenna gain is 1.5 dBi instead of 2.0 as shown in Mikrotik website. This is truly embarrassing. As Mikrotik support don’t even bother my question log for their misleading info. I have bought quite some units of the devices and they don’t even bother me as a consumer.
Anyhow, thanks alot for giving me the link for some other WiFi issue on Mikrotik.
A difference of 0,5 dB in the “open field” (I mean not laboratory) you cannot measure. Heck, even 2 dB difference you will not notice, if your WiFi is correctly planned.
I work 18 years in the mobile world, and the gain of the antenna’s are usually not really taken into account. Except on professional indoor antenna’s (like Panorama, Kathrein, Commscope).
So make a good design, take into account scattering, diffraction and attenuation of different wall types. Since a normal person cannot do this, you will need a simulation program.
But definitely, the 0,5 dB will make NO difference at all.
Interesting… and what phone (or better: what program) uses more than 24 Mbps on a mobile phone? On my IPTV, when watching Full HD, I rarely go above 23 Mbps. And that is on a full 42 inch screen. When youtube notices that you have a small screen (portable device), it automatically reduces the amount of traffic to your phone. Have a look at home.
Run the same clip / movie on your phone, and see how much the traffic is. Then switch off phone, and do the same with a laptop, full screen. Same clip / movie.
Hi thanks for your advice. Possible for you to elaborate further on the functionality of antenna gain? What I understand is that the higher antenna gain makes the wifi more directional.
Previously I was deploying rb751 with 2.5 dBi on 2.4GHz and I was impressed with the signal result. Since this model already eol, so I switched to rb952ui 2hnd in which I thought it is 2.0dBi on 2.4GHz.
In fact it is lower(1.5dBi) than what I’m expecting and I did a realtime environment test after getting these unit. And I can tell that the signal penetration is much more weaker than rb751.
The higher gain does NOT make the antenna directional. There are omni directional antenna’s with 1 dBi, but also with 7 or higher. And they are still omni.
It is the physical construction of the antenna which determines the radiation pattern. Of course, if you have a panel antenna which “shoots” into one direction, then all the RF power is “concentrated” to a smaller area, that way creating more “gain”.
You can connect a panel or an omni to the routerboard (if it has a connector on the board).
But this is basic antenna theory, and you should know this only if you are doing professional installations of WiFi (any brand!!!). Mikrotik has nothing to do with it. You should also do a path loss calculation etc…
