Customer Reviews

Cisco HGA7S HighGain Antenna for R-SMA Connectors

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

It is important to understand that antennas are passive gain devices. This means that they focus the signal or energy but do not actually increase the literal power of the signal. Think of it like placing your thumb over the end of a water hose. You can focus the water being expelled so that it travels farther, but there is no more water being expelled. In the same way, higher gain antennas (7 dBi being higher than 2 dBi) focus the energy coming out of the antenna so that it travels farther.

This can have the impact of increasing signal quality within a coverage area and extending the coverage area to a greater distance.

These 7 dBi antennas will work as well as any other 7 dBi antennas, generally speaking. The big thing is to be sure that the antennas have the right connector type to connect to your device. While these antennas will connect to a Linksys infrastructure device (access point or router) or some Cisco devices, you may need different antennas for your client devices. For example, the Buffalo card I mentioned uses an MC type connecter which these antennas do not support.

Keep these issues in mind and you'll be on your way to a successful and better functional wireless home or small business network. Good luck.

-Tom Carpenter
Author - Wireless# Certification Official Study Guide

I purchased a Linksys WRT54GC Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router for my in-laws place so I could have wireless access while visiting. My mother-in-law liked the little compact router because it was unobtrusive compared to the bigger routers. So, we bought it. After we installed it and got it working we found out the range on the little compact was router very limited (25 feet). To extend the range I purchased this High Gain Antenna. I attached it the router and it now has the range I need (50 feet). The down side of it is, now the router is very obtrusive with this tall ugly stick coming out of the top it and the cost of the two items purchased separately was a lot more than if I had just purchased a non-compact router.

My Router: Linksys WRT54GC - Compact G Wireless Router

I was skeptical at first because of all the negative reviews of this antenna, but my concerns are now put to rest because it really has improved the strength of my wireless range and quality.

I already had excellent signal connection throughout my apartment in terms of percentages (55% lowest, 3-4 bars) but my connection wasn't very reliable. I was experiencing dropped connections for no apparent reason besides possible interference from the neighboring APs in my apartment complex.

Even the strongest 100% connections were dropping every so often with the WRT54GCs internal antenna, which is very small when I last had a look at the internals.

Now with the HGA7S Linksys Antenna I am getting a 70-75% connection in the same area that was previously giving me 55%, and now my connection is Excellent with 5 bars and 54Mbps. The best thing about the new antenna is that I no longer have dropped connections and my internet experience is better: no more lag, faster throughput, and a stable connection.

The antenna swivels around 360 degrees and bends 90 degrees from vertical to horizontal. That feature also helped with my wireless G USB dongle that I have connected to my computer tower which is oriented to the horizontal. Aligning the antenna with the USB dongles orientation helped the signal quality go up.

Overall an excellent product if you are having problems with signal quality and dropped packets. Really helped in my situation.

Easy to connect and setup and an increase in 7dB is a substantial increase in RF propagation. No necessarily worth the full price cost at local retailers but good way to save on cost of improving your wireless network. Best route is a repeater if cost is not an issue.

I'm over 300' from my house to my shop and with the stock antenna I could only connect part of the time and then at 37 to 45 percent signal strength. And this is after installing the twin 7dbi antennas on my WRT54GS router. After adding just the 7bdi on my PCI card I am hooking up at 67% signal strength and haven't dropped the connection since.

Overpriced but it did help a lot in my circumstance.

Excellant product and works well with the linksys mini. This high gain antenna made a world of difference on the range in my home.

Price is a little high; but if you get the WRT54GC together with this antenna, you are getting an excellent deal; extended range for a decent price. No installation problems; range is excellent with the antenna (otherwise you need to be on the same room where the router is to get Excellent Connection.

I bought this antenna to increase the signal strength in some rooms of my house, i was expecting to change from low to good signal strength but for my surprise the antenna improve the signal to very good.

Great product i don't understand why all the bad reviews.

Interference is a very significant factor to keep in mind when trying to troubleshoot wireless communication problems. Interference causes the network to lose information and then it has to be retransmitted, sometimes several tries must be made to get successful transmission of the data.

Most wireless systems have the router/access point(s) placed fairly high in a room (i.e. on a desk or shelf) and away from AC power sources such as wall outlets, wall wiring, and power strips.

On the other end, the wireless adapter is placed inside the computer with an antenna hanging out the back of it right where all the aforementioned power sources are often located. In addition, several other cables -keyboard, mouse, power, monitor, sound system, etc. - are also sticking out the back of the computer. All of these wires and power sources can cause so much interference that the wireless antenna cannot do its' job properly.

Adding a higher gain antenna will likely improve the signal but it may not eliminate the interference. The solution is to get the antenna away from the computer and AC power sources. This can be done by adding an antenna extender cable and getting the antenna higher up on the wall(or a ahelf or tabletop) thus allowing the signal to be transmitted cleanly and clearly.

I did so and found that my signal quality and range were greatly improved even with the original +5db antenna that came with my wireless card. Now my internet is reliable, fast and consistent. No more dropped signals, no more fluctuating transmission rates and my internet page wait times have improved noticeably.

Interference is not the only cause of communications problems in wirless systems but it is one very important one to keep in mind.

Before adding this antenna to my wireless router, I had unreliable connections. Since adding it, I consistently get the high speed connection I'm paying for.