Does adding more WiFi antennas to your pc improve WiFi connection?
Posted by True-Ad2962@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 12 comments
Recently I have bought myself a pretty decent pc but I was still struggling with my WiFi connection. Tried everything I could have possibly thought of and it’s still at a level where I’m not satisfied. My next best idea is adding a usb antenna with my already there pc antennas. But I have no idea if it makes the connection better or just averages both signals.
lichtspieler@reddit
You can improve a WiFi connection with additional WiFi repeaters or better MESH repeaters with a wired connection to your router / switch.
The WiFi transmission power is heavily restricted and varies from country to country. While you could use with your mainboard or USB WiFi device a "better" antenna with more dBi, this will not magically improve issues with reflections, issues with simply to much dampening from the walls or issues with collisions caused by other WiFi network or worse other devises using the WiFi frequency.
With RP-SMA contacts you could try antenna designs outside of the basic OMNIDIRECTIONAL ones, like the more directional panel designs for example something like the Alfa Network APA-M25 Dual-Band WLAN Antenna. It is more directional and might allow a higher singal strength.
You can go even further with indoor / outdoor YAGI antennas - highly directional and allows you to connect even over multiple km distances or snipe otherwise covered hotspots behind buildings etc.
Adding MESH repeaters is IMHO best since you will improve the connection for other hardware, phones etc. aswell. Cheaper is to experiment with different RP-SMA antenna designs - just keep in mind with longer antenna cables, that the cable extension is PART OF THE ANTENNA AND WILL EAT PART OF THE TRANSMISSION POWER.
You might want to keep the cable short between RP-SMA and your antenna and rather extend USB cables to a USB WiFi device instead of using a long cable.
There is a good reason why a cable connection is recommended, especially if you care about a stable connection for gaming.
For video/audio streaming with buffers and surfing the web, it doesnt really matter if the connection drops from time to time. With gaming its usually not that easy to ignore packet loss caused by collisions or time outs/disconnects.
VersaceUpholstery@reddit
Have you considered a better router?
pragomatic@reddit
That's not going to work like that, no. A WiFi 7 enabled router and network card that can aggregate upload and download across different frequencies is the best you can do to get closer to ethernet.
True-Ad2962@reddit (OP)
Ok thank you, I’ll try that
pragomatic@reddit
Multi-Link Operation (MLO) is the name of the feature. Greatly reduces one of the main disadvantages of WiFi which is standard WiFi cannot send and receive packets at the same time. However if your issue is the router is many walls away from your PC, it might not help that.
Over-Extension3959@reddit
Those simultaneous MLO Wifi APs essentially don’t exist because none support Simultaneous Transmit-and-Receive Multi-Link Multi-Radio (STR-MLMR).
See the rtings article from a few weeks ago:
https://www.rtings.com/router/learn/research/wifi-7-mlo
Elitefuture@reddit
Nope. There are 2 sides to the equation.
1) The router's strength by itself, if it has poor signal by the time it gets to the room, then more antennas won't do anything.
2) The antenna location + size. So this one you could control, but you could just turn the pc so the antenna is not getting blocked by the metal case.
The biggest issue is usually #1. The easiest solution is just getting a mesh network NOT wifi extenders. You can get budget mesh networks from woot for $20-$40 very often. This would let you spread the wifi out around your home easier. You put one where your current router is, then you spread the other 2 in between areas.
So if your router is in the living room, there's a hallway, and you want better connection in your bedroom, you put 1 in the living room, then you put one in the hallway as an inbetween. Think of it like passing a ball between people.
Naerven@reddit
You would have to choose one or the other. If anything you can try replacing your wifi chip with something newer or moving the antenna if you are able. It could also have to do with the router that you use.
AverageRedditorGPT@reddit
Here are the things I would try:
There are lots of guides online on how to best place your Wifi access point. If it is tucked in a cabinet, or behind a TV that will kill your signal strength.
You only want 1 wifi card on your PC. Some wifi adapters have large antennas that can be placed anywhere nearby your PC. This better placement can help your signal quality.
MoCA is networking over coax cable (e.g. cable TV cables). It works really well in a lot of situations giving 2.5Gbps. However, some cable modems conflict with it so YMMV. Some people also like powerline adapters, but I've never had any luck with them.
Finally, I'd consider buying a high end wifi access point with Wifi 7. Wifi 7 works a lot better, but good ones are pricey.
-UserRemoved-@reddit
How are you going to add more antennas?
You're going to add another wifi adapter?
Generally speaking, improving the receiving end of the wifi signal is going to do nothing if the issue is the source of the signal is weak.
Table-Playful@reddit
No ! !
True-Ad2962@reddit (OP)
Very strong reaction, good I didn’t