Thread: antenna dilemma
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Old 08-19-2002   #3 (permalink)
renderman
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Anywhere but Utah
Posts: 1,802
I'll replay an experience;

Wardriving Vegas at DCX, I had my 5db mag mount and the CSIS agent in the back seat (ask later) had a 10db hyperlink. When we went through areas with large buildings (read: casinos) I was getting hits she was not, we tracked it down to the width of the radiation pattern because she started getting hits the same as I was.

When we got out on the edge of the city, she was getting AP's before I did. Her line of sight range was longer, but not very effective in cities.

Basically the 5db is a good size and style for urban driving. I've tested and I can usually cover about 1 block in either direction on a typical street with buildings , or 3-4 if there's a field in between or a 'line of sight hole' that the signal can cross.

It's your choice, but also consider that a higher gain means you will be able to detect AP's from farther away, but your GPS lats/longs will be at your current location, making tracking the AP a bit more difficult and your maps less accurate.

Just my $0.02, I could be totally wrong

Render
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