Noob: RF Amplifier question

[regnaleb]

Hey there, I'm new here, this is my first question. I Googled alot and you guys seem to be the one who could give me a straight answer. I don't know much about antennas, but I have a biquad antenna that I wish to use for wifi at our secondary house since we are friend with our neighbor and he is willing to let us share his connection. So, frankly, as much as I want to make it work by myself, I'm not into learning the whole antenna theory, I just want a straight answer to my situation, maybe you can help me?

My question is; my 12dbi biquad antenna has an N-Connector on the back of it. I know (from what I read) that I cannot run a long cable from it since I will lose like 1db for each foot of cable. I found out I have a CATV 15db RF amplifier lying around. Using N to F connectors, can I connect my antenna to this amplifier and then output with an F to RP-SMA connector?

The amplifier is a Lindsay Broadband 151-EQ8, 8db Equalizer, 54-1000mhz 15 db, 5-42mhz that powers on with a 15vdc coaxial power supply.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ramal121]

Hey there, I'm new here, this is my first question. I Googled alot and you guys seem to be the one who could give me a straight answer. I don't know much about antennas, but I have a biquad antenna that I wish to use for wifi at our secondary house since we are friend with our neighbor and he is willing to let us share his connection. So, frankly, as much as I want to make it work by myself, I'm not into learning the whole antenna theory, I just want a straight answer to my situation, maybe you can help me?

My question is; my 12dbi biquad antenna has an N-Connector on the back of it. I know (from what I read) that I cannot run a long cable from it since I will lose like 1db for each foot of cable. I found out I have a CATV 15db RF amplifier lying around. Using N to F connectors, can I connect my antenna to this amplifier and then output with an F to RP-SMA connector?

The amplifier is a Lindsay Broadband 151-EQ8, 8db Equalizer, 54-1000mhz 15 db, 5-42mhz that powers on with a 15vdc coaxial power supply.

Thanks in advance!

Simply, NO. Among other things, this is a receive only amplifier. With WiFi you'll need to receive AND transmit. What you are thinking of is a bi-directional amplifier. These work but can go sideways on you if they are not implemented right.

What are you going to hook the antenna to, a wireless card or AP or what?

 

[regnaleb]

First, thank you for your reply.

Yes I wanna hook it to a DD-WRT flashed router and use it as a repeater. I understand what you mean, and today I looked for something maybe more adequate; a 2.4ghz amplifier. But I also found they are very pricey, about 250$. I was afraid of getting a weak signal after a 20' cable run, that was my main concern.

 

[ramal121]

That was the RF geek answer. I didn't mention the $$$, but I see you're reeling. Heck if really want to hot rod it, I can set you up with a BDA for abt $8K!

If you have a router capable of wifi repeater, then by all means use that. The question is how to set it up. I would connect your antenna to the router by a short jumper and move it around the house to see where you get a reliable signal from your neighbor. If that happens to be on a 10 foot pole on the chimney, so be it. If outside, consider a weatherproof box. Now if the computer has another wifi card, it just needs to talk to the repeater and you're set. If not, get another USB wifi for cheap or maybe a cat-5 cable from the router to your ethernet port. Either way, keep your router/repeater and antenna as kinda one unit and make it work.

 

[poltergeisty]

USB.org - FAQ: Cables, Connectors, and Networking

Newegg.com - Wireless Adapters, PCI Adapter, Wireless-G Adapter, Wireless-G Network Adapter, PCI Wireless Adapter, Linksys Wireless Adapter

wifi amp items - Get great deals on Computers Networking, Business Industrial items on eBay.com!

If you can run USB connected to a USB WIFI ant, use that instead of messing around with RF loss.

 

[larry80]

I picked up a few antennas advertised as 10 dbi on eBay. Whether or not they are actually 10 dbi is open to question, but I tested them with a healthy degree of suspicion and they DID do the job better than some 6 dbi antennas I own.