does the positioning or direction of the little antennae

[aidanjm]

to strength of reception?

 

[cmetz]

Yes. 802.11 antennas are linearly polarized, and typically you put them in a vertical configuration (up and down). If the transmit antenna is oriented in that direction and your receive antenna is oriented at an angle, you will only be able to receive a fraction of the transmitted signal due to that angle. I forget the exact equation (many years of work has paid off - I'm starting to forget my EM Fields 😉 but the executive summary is that if the angle between the antennas is 0 you get best reception and if the angle between the antennas is 90 you get approximately no reception.

 

[aidanjm]

Originally posted by: cmetz
Yes. 802.11 antennas are linearly polarized, and typically you put them in a vertical configuration (up and down). If the transmit antenna is oriented in that direction and your receive antenna is oriented at an angle, you will only be able to receive a fraction of the transmitted signal due to that angle. I forget the exact equation (many years of work has paid off - I'm starting to forget my EM Fields 😉 but the executive summary is that if the angle between the antennas is 0 you get best reception and if the angle between the antennas is 90 you get approximately no reception.

could you have them both in horizontal position? it's just that there is not much room behind the back of the PC (cords, plugs get in the way of antenna being in vertical position)

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: aidanjm

Originally posted by: cmetz
Yes. 802.11 antennas are linearly polarized, and typically you put them in a vertical configuration (up and down). If the transmit antenna is oriented in that direction and your receive antenna is oriented at an angle, you will only be able to receive a fraction of the transmitted signal due to that angle. I forget the exact equation (many years of work has paid off - I'm starting to forget my EM Fields 😉 but the executive summary is that if the angle between the antennas is 0 you get best reception and if the angle between the antennas is 90 you get approximately no reception.

could you have them both in horizontal position? it's just that there is not much room behind the back of the PC (cords, plugs get in the way of antenna being in vertical position)

If it is so cluttered in the back that the Antenna is obstructed it does not matter what position it is in it would not work well to begin with. Antenna has to be High and in the open free of obstructions.

:sun: