DWL-R60AT and DWL-2000AP

Hello,
I have a D-Link DWL-2000AP (802.11g access point) on one end of my
home and a computer at the other end. The connection is spotty, and
drops out on a regular basis. I'm thinking an antenna would do the
trick, and am looking at the DWL-R60AT (6 dBi Microstrip):
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=57
Does anyone have experience using this antenna with the DWL-2000AP?
Should this work? I'm assuming that an antenna designed for 802.11b
should work fine for 802.11g... right?

Thanks,
Anodos

I'm a complete newbie to wireless, so someone please educate me. I
wrote D-Link support and asked if the DWL-R60AT would work with the
DWL-2000AP, and they said it would not (no explanation,
unfortunately). They recommended the ANT24-0801. Now, the DWL-2000AP
has a "reverse SMA" connector while the ANT24-0801 has a "N-female"
connector... Obviously, I don't understand antenna connectors, because
I don't see how two different connectors are supposed to connect?

Thanks,
Anodos

(E-Mail Removed) (anodos) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed) om>...
> Hello,
> I have a D-Link DWL-2000AP (802.11g access point) on one end of my
> home and a computer at the other end. The connection is spotty, and
> drops out on a regular basis. I'm thinking an antenna would do the
> trick, and am looking at the DWL-R60AT (6 dBi Microstrip):
> http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=57
> Does anyone have experience using this antenna with the DWL-2000AP?
> Should this work? I'm assuming that an antenna designed for 802.11b
> should work fine for 802.11g... right?
>
> Thanks,
> Anodos

anodos <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

> I'm a complete newbie to wireless, so someone please educate me. I
> wrote D-Link support and asked if the DWL-R60AT would work with the
> DWL-2000AP, and they said it would not (no explanation,
> unfortunately).

Maybe you need the DWL-M60AT instead? I don't have all the info at
hand but this one is in their catalog of 2.4GHz antennas. The R60AT
isn't...

> They recommended the ANT24-0801.

This is a slightly tighter pattern, but the two remain very close...

> Now, the DWL-2000AP
> has a "reverse SMA" connector while the ANT24-0801 has a "N-female"
> connector... Obviously, I don't understand antenna connectors, because
> I don't see how two different connectors are supposed to connect?

You'd need an adapter, or better a short piece of cable with the
appropriate connectors on each end, mainly because the N is big and
heavy and the SMA is small and fairly light. Don't want to over
stress the dinkly little SMA connector..

Or better just go with an M60AT - it not only comes with the right
connector it's cable is also shorter which means lower signal loss
in the cable itself.

Billy Y..

> Maybe you need the DWL-M60AT instead? I don't have all the info at
> hand but this one is in their catalog of 2.4GHz antennas. The R60AT
> isn't...

I finally got to a terminal where I can look - this one would also be
fine, the main difference seems to be it screws directly on to the AP
but the other one has a short cable between it and the AP. So -- if
you don't think you need the cable to get the antenna aimed correctly
then go for the R60AT - no cable at all is less lossy than even the
very best of wire...

And then - the R60AT is circularly polarized too. This will usually
deliver better performance than antennas radiating in just one plane.

Billy Y..

I really appreciate your very helpful replies. The only question I have
now is, why did the Dlink support person say the R60AT would not work
with the 2000AP? Did he/she not know what he/she was talking about?

- Anodos

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>Maybe you need the DWL-M60AT instead? I don't have all the info at
>>hand but this one is in their catalog of 2.4GHz antennas. The R60AT
>>isn't...
>
>
> I finally got to a terminal where I can look - this one would also be
> fine, the main difference seems to be it screws directly on to the AP
> but the other one has a short cable between it and the AP. So -- if
> you don't think you need the cable to get the antenna aimed correctly
> then go for the R60AT - no cable at all is less lossy than even the
> very best of wire...
>
> And then - the R60AT is circularly polarized too. This will usually
> deliver better performance than antennas radiating in just one plane.
>
> Billy Y..

Anodos <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

> I really appreciate your very helpful replies. The only question I have
> now is, why did the Dlink support person say the R60AT would not work
> with the 2000AP? Did he/she not know what he/she was talking about?

Well... I think they just looked at the list of stuff (like on the
web page for the R60AT) D-Link says it's compatible with... Which
brings up the question of why whoever inside D-Link that writes all
this stuff would leave anything out. Maybe the list was made up
before the 'g' stuff was ready, or ???

But -

All this stuff is actually just pcmcia cards inside little tiny boxes,
they all must weigh about the same (just in case there was some worry
about the thing tipping over with this relatively big antenna hanging
off its side), the boxes are the same, the antenna connectors are the
same, the frequency range is the same, the rf power levels are the same
(no danger of burning anything up due to excessive rf power coming out
of the box), etc, etc. Not to most mention all the 'g' stuff includes
a 'b' mode too. Hard to get much closer, eh?

It's probably tough to provide 24x7 support and fill it with people
who can easily think this sort of thing through - as opposed to just
relaying whatever info they currently have in hand about some product...

Billy Y..