Exactly two weeks ago on a Wednesday, I ordered an MFJ Wide Area High
Gain 1802 WiFi Antenna from www.MFJEnterprises.com (Hot New
Products)

Yesterday, I phoned MFJ Enterprises to check on the status of my
antenna.The lady at MFJ Enterprises told me it is on back order and she
will try to send it out this week.

That is OK with me though, I am not in a big hurry anyway, I don't know
why I ordered the antenna, sometimes I buy thingys I like and hardley
ever get around to using some of them.

What are some neat uses I can use my WiFi antenna for? As long as they
are Legal thingys, that is.
cuhulin, the WiFi Dummy

In article ,
wrote:

Exactly two weeks ago on a Wednesday, I ordered an MFJ Wide Area High
Gain 1802 WiFi Antenna from www.MFJEnterprises.com (Hot New
Products)

Yesterday, I phoned MFJ Enterprises to check on the status of my
antenna.The lady at MFJ Enterprises told me it is on back order and she
will try to send it out this week.

That is OK with me though, I am not in a big hurry anyway, I don't know
why I ordered the antenna, sometimes I buy thingys I like and hardley
ever get around to using some of them.

What are some neat uses I can use my WiFi antenna for? As long as they
are Legal thingys, that is.

The first thing that you ought to do, is check the specs and
literature for the WiFi radio (card, access point, etc.) you're
planning to use it with. Find out whether this radio was certificated
(i.e. tested for compliance by the manufacturer) with an antenna
having a gain level of 8 dBi or more.

If it hasn't - if the radio was only certificated with an antenna with
less gain - then you cannot use the MJF antenna with the radio, and
transmit, without violating the radio's Part 15 certification. You
would be transmitting illegally.

You could still use the gain antenna with the radio in a "receive
only" mode (turning off the transmitter entirely). This could allow
you to do site-surveys, "wardriving", and signal strength evaluations.

If your WiFi radio was certificated with an antenna of 8 dBi or higher
gain, then you can use the MJF antenna with that radio. The usual
"neat uses" would be for setting up area or point-to-point links, over
distances greater than what you could achieve with a lower-gain
antenna (or in the face of interference, where the front-to-back and
front-to-side rejection of the gain antenna would help reduce the
impact of the interference).

8 dBi isn't particularly high-gain, as such things go. Even a simple
dipole is around 2 dBi. The additional 6 dB of gain will roughly
double the distance over which you can achieve a WiFi link.

People doing long-distance point-to-point or point-to-multipoint WiFi
often use gains of 19 dBi or higher... parabolic dish antennas and the
like.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

Dave Platt wrote:

The first thing that you ought to do, is check the specs and
literature for the WiFi radio (card, access point, etc.) you're
planning to use it with. Find out whether this radio was certificated
(i.e. tested for compliance by the manufacturer) with an antenna
having a gain level of 8 dBi or more.

If it hasn't - if the radio was only certificated with an antenna with
less gain - then you cannot use the MJF antenna with the radio, and
transmit, without violating the radio's Part 15 certification. You
would be transmitting illegally.

The horror...

If the Wifi card has a standard connector it should be OK with an
aftermarket antenna. If it has an oddball connector it must be used
with a specific antenna.

In any case, there is no one enforcing Part 15 compliance in the field.

In article ,
dave wrote:

The horror...

In any case, there is no one enforcing Part 15 compliance in the field.

True... it's rare, and seems to happen only after strenuous
complaints. I *have* heard of it happening, though.

If the Wifi card has a standard connector it should be OK with an
aftermarket antenna. If it has an oddball connector it must be used
with a specific antenna.

That's not the intent of the FCC regulations.

The FCC requires that consumer-type WiFi radios *must* use nonstandard
connectors (for arguable definitions of "nonstandard"). Specifically,
47 CFR 15.203 says:

An intentional radiator shall be designed to ensure that no
antenna other than that furnished by the responsible party
shall be used with the device. The use of a permanently
attached antenna or of an antenna that uses a unique coupling
to the intentional radiator shall be considered sufficient to
comply with the provisions of this Section. The manufacturer
may design the unit so that a broken antenna can be replaced
by the user, but the use of a standard antenna jack or
electrical connector is prohibited... (snip)... the installer
shall be responsible for ensuring that the proper antenna is
employed so that the limits in this Part are not exceeded.

Manufacturers have asked that the "unique coupling" rule be relaxed...
they complain that every time they come up with a new "unique"
connector (e.g. reverse-polarity or reverse-threaded versions of SMA,
TNC, etc.), it rapidly becomes so popular and so easy to acquire that
they have to stop using it and find a *different* new non-standard
connector... lather, rinse, repeat.

The FCC refused to remove this requirement, the last time that the
issue was the subject of a rulemaking (although they did add the above
language which permits a broken antenna to be replaced by the user...
previously even this was essentially forbidden).

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

Dave Platt wrote:
In article ,
dave wrote:

The horror...

In any case, there is no one enforcing Part 15 compliance in the field.

True... it's rare, and seems to happen only after strenuous
complaints. I *have* heard of it happening, though.

If the Wifi card has a standard connector it should be OK with an
aftermarket antenna. If it has an oddball connector it must be used
with a specific antenna.

That's not the intent of the FCC regulations.

The FCC requires that consumer-type WiFi radios *must* use nonstandard
connectors (for arguable definitions of "nonstandard"). Specifically,
47 CFR 15.203 says:

An intentional radiator shall be designed to ensure that no
antenna other than that furnished by the responsible party
shall be used with the device. The use of a permanently
attached antenna or of an antenna that uses a unique coupling
to the intentional radiator shall be considered sufficient to
comply with the provisions of this Section. The manufacturer
may design the unit so that a broken antenna can be replaced
by the user, but the use of a standard antenna jack or
electrical connector is prohibited... (snip)... the installer
shall be responsible for ensuring that the proper antenna is
employed so that the limits in this Part are not exceeded.

Manufacturers have asked that the "unique coupling" rule be relaxed...
they complain that every time they come up with a new "unique"
connector (e.g. reverse-polarity or reverse-threaded versions of SMA,
TNC, etc.), it rapidly becomes so popular and so easy to acquire that
they have to stop using it and find a *different* new non-standard
connector... lather, rinse, repeat.

The FCC refused to remove this requirement, the last time that the
issue was the subject of a rulemaking (although they did add the above
language which permits a broken antenna to be replaced by the user...
previously even this was essentially forbidden).


They should just worry about the input power to the antenna. So what if
I take radiation off the floor and ceiling to make it go a little
farther sideways? So what if I have a narrow beam in only one
direction? It reduces congestion in the directions it's not pointed in.

I can understand the restriction for FM Modulators or IFB transmitters,
but for a device that shares a band with microwave ovens I think the FCC
better have a hundred higher priorities.

My Aluratek Internet Clock Radio showed up here about a week and a half
ago. www.aluratek.com

The radio requires either a wired or wireless router.Also an ethernet
cable if used with a wired router, connected to a computer.I do own a
Velocity Micro ProMagix desktop computer.I need to buy a router.I like
Linksys products.I think I will buy a Linksys wired router.

I am not interested in doing any WiFi wardriving, driving around for
that purpose.I only drive to the food store and the discount tobacco
store and to a vetirinary supply store for dog food for my little doggy.

A few days ago, I phoned MFJ Enterprises.The lady said my WiFi antenna
is on back order.
cuhulin

--snip2save---------------
I couldn't agree more if I had to. I always whent my own way
with building a BIGGER antenna. Never conciously cared about
subjective law makers frowning on the intellect getting ahead.
Through the use of an antenna. Now why I have a guilty
concious about buying an illeagle linier amp for my cell phone
or wifi? I don't know, always agreed to the morals behind
power limits, but never will concider a better antenna as
"More Power", it's just making better use of the power you
have wich shouldn't even be counted. Come get me and my Big
Dish WiFi setup, Watch out for the Pit Bulls, there are 3 of
them, One of them has AIDS, you guess witch one.


They should just worry about the input power to the
antenna. So what if I take radiation off the floor and
ceiling to make it go a little farther sideways? So what
if I have a narrow beam in only one direction? It reduces
congestion in the directions it's not pointed in.

I can understand the restriction for FM Modulators or IFB
transmitters, but for a device that shares a band with
microwave ovens I think the FCC better have a hundred
higher priorities.




--
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