In other words, the light can reach beyond one room, but it won’t illuminate a whole room. Since the antenna’s power is more focused, they can send and receive a wireless signal from a further distance, but with a much smaller coverage area. The flashlight's beamwidth (radiation pattern) is triangular shaped, anything outside of that triangle does not receive an ounce of light. When you turn on a flashlight, it illuminates the area that the light is being shined on. A directional antenna works similarly to a flashlight. Have a look the antennas on the Tenda Wi-Fi 4G+ LTE AC1200 Dual-Band RouterĪs their name suggests, focus all their power in one direction.
Think of an omnidirectional antenna as an un-shaped incandescent lightbulb.
Radiate a signal at a 360-degree angle to deliver the widest signal coverage. There are two main types of WiFi antennas – omnidirectional and directional. However, the transmitting antennas convert electrical signals into EM waves to transmit the information packets. The receiving antennas pick up on the EM waves containing packets of information and change them into electrical signals for the device to process. Wireless networking devices, such as wireless routers, smartphones, laptops, tablets, and hotspots, have receiving and transmitting antennas. WiFi antennas convert the EM waves into electrical signals, and vice versa. These wireless signals are simply electromagnetic waves (EM waves) containing packets of information. Wireless devices use radio waves to wirelessly communicate with each other.
Learn more or call us for a free consultation: 1-80 How Do WiFi Antennas Work? Take advantage of our system design and installation services.