The antenna, this little thing, is an indispensable part of the wireless signal. Without it, that router can basically only be used in a single room. It is also an important element of appearance. The appearance of the router cannot be separated from the square or oval barrier, but manufacturers can decorate the difference with antennas. Netgear's R8000 is a spider-shaped monster with six antennas, and the Mi Dalu is a small elliptical column with an external antenna. The images of the two are almost completely different. Antennas are also an important promotional element for manufacturers. For example, the external signal of the antenna is better, the more the number, the stronger the signal, and the omnidirectional signal is more comprehensive. These words seem to be correct and are solidified in everyone's impression. But in fact, there is a hidden mystery. In many cases, it may be wrong, and manufacturers will only guide it in a direction that is beneficial to it. We hope to clarify those twists and turns about the antenna.


   Built-in vs external


   If you have no idea about routing, you may not care about whether the antenna is built-in or external. After all, there are many mini-type routing. On the contrary, some children shoes who know and will take the initiative to buy routing will think that the routing antenna is better than the built-in antenna because the built-in can't see it at all.


   Most of everyone's cognition comes from the manufacturer's publicity. And the manufacturer says this because it is easier to do externally than internally. The external antenna solution has been implemented for many years and has a large display space. It has been very mature; the internal antenna is not that long relative to the development time. It is necessary to consider the trade-off between space and antenna performance, which is difficult for hardware engineers. The realization.


   But this does not mean that the external signal is better than the built-in signal. Engineers from at least four router manufacturers have said that a well-designed built-in antenna router has a signal that is not inferior to an external antenna router. Of course, there is another situation where an external connection has an advantage. It can replace an antenna with a stronger gain, but there should be very few players who can replace the antenna.


   1 root vs multiple roots


   The number of antennas is the focus of the manufacturer’s marketing. It can often be seen in computer towns that two antennas are ordinary routes, three are through walls, and four are villa-type routes. But in fact, there is another parameter that the manufacturer has not mentioned-MIMO.


   If it is a normal routine, then one antenna is a normal design, and two antennas are a special design. Under normal circumstances, no matter whether it is built-in or external, one antenna can take care of the entire room, and two antennas are not necessary.


   If you need two, then the router must support MIMO, that is, it supports multiple signal input and output, and each antenna has one signal. This can greatly increase the speed. It is also helpful for signal coverage, but it requires manufacturers to have better algorithm capabilities. Because of multiple antennas, it is necessary to determine which one the terminal should access the route from (if the terminal also supports MIMO, both signals can be connected, and the speed It's faster, but this speed can only be used by LAN, the width speed is not so fast).


   omnidirectional vs directional


   Omnidirectional and directional is also an interesting topic. A few years ago, everyone discussed these two terms mainly on manual antennas. By installing a directional antenna with a large gain on the computer, you can "snap" to the network farther away. This is what the author's friends who lived next to the school did.


   At present, the routers on the market basically have omnidirectional antennas. At present, I have not seen the routers with directional antennas on sale. The big manufacturers don't say this word very much, but some new routing players have to advertise their own characteristics, and then translated the word out. Don't pay too much attention.


   There are other smaller propaganda slogans, such as whether the antenna material is copper or iron, which was controversial at 360 pk Xiaomi in January. This belongs to the signal design considerations of a router. What materials, parameters, and how to adjust are all ready.


  In the end, we still talk about signal quality.


After reading the above, you should understand the router antenna. For more articles related to router antennas, we will continue to organize and publish the blog on the website. Interested users should remember to pay attention to our latest developments.