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Antenna Jacks
Some wireless cards have an antenna jack,
for plugging in an external antenna to boost your signal.
Click
here for cards with jacks for
external antennas
Orinoco cards in our eBay store have internal antennas.
The internal antennas have good range, up to
about 300 feet for Orinoco cards (depending on whether you have direct
line of sight to the
Wireless Access Point, in which case the range may be two miles (3
kilometers), approximately.
If the distance to the Wireless Access Point's antenna is more
than 300
feet, you should consider getting a card with an
antenna jack, and also
get an
external antenna. Without an external
antenna, you may have
issues with the signal fading out sometimes.
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Protect your Jack &
Connector
MC
is
the standard type of antenna jack of Orinoco cards and
all related
cards,
co-branded cards, etc.
MMCX
is the standard type of antenna jack of
Senao, Engenius, Ubiquiti and Cisco cards as well as
a few other
brands. RP-MMCX is the jack of Zcomax, SMC
and
a few other
brands
MC and MMCX jacks and connectors
are very small, therefore
vulnerable to damage unless properly protected.
Data Alliance offers several products to provide protection of antenna
jacks
and connectors, by enabling you to use a threaded connector (RP-SMA)
either through use of an adapter from MC or MMCX
to RP-SMA, or utilizing our
WiFi client (USB) with an RP-SMA connector: $29.99.
(see photo bottom-left of page)
ADVANTAGES of RP-SMA CONNECTOR vs. MC &
MMCX:
The connector is about 5x larger in diameter (10mm vs. 2mm),
and is a threaded connection.
Advantages:
1.
Extension cables can be used as needed,
so that the
cable length fits the need in any particular
situation.
2. It has much higher resiliency against wear.
MC & MMCX connectors will
actually break after a lot of plugging in,
pulling out, and the strain
from the cable
being tugged in day
to day use.
3. Less loss of gain with the RP-SMA because of the
threaded
connection and the lack of wear.
The
RP-SMA
antenna/adapter-solution will maintain it's functional integrity
much better and over a very long period of
time, compared
to the antennas that simply have an MC
connection.
ADAPTERS TO RP-SMA:
These adapters for MC or MMCX can be semi-permanently bonded to the
card, reducing stress on the fragile MC/MMCX connector, so that you
can remove & reattach the antenna as often as you wish without causing
damage to the fragile connector.
The MC or MMCX end can be permanently bonded to the jack
(using silicon cement) or
semi-permanently
(using
velcro). The
adapter
thereby provides
a second, more durable antenna connector (RP-SMA) with
the
capability to add/remove the external antenna with a screw on/off
connector, rather than using the (much smaller) plug-in/out
connector (MC) that is susceptible to damage over time.
7dBi Antennas with compatible RP-SMA connectors: $11.99
Combined package of MC > RP-SMA adapter and antenna: $19.99
Combined package of
MMCX > RP-SMA adapter and antenna: $20.99
Combined package of
RP-MMCX > RP-SMA adapter & antenna:$18.99
Velcro strips and "coins"
($1) cut to perfectly fit your card, and
hold the
MC
or
MMCX connector and jack together, so that movement,
wear and tear will
be
significantly reduced.
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