Cisco HWIC-AP-AG-A, What Kind Of Antena?

cerberos

Hello Everybody,


I just bought this card for my CCNA Wireless lab, but card is without antenas, I read it should be a dual band antenas hence the A/B/G, 2.4/5.0... Now my questions, please, are :

1- What's the antena part number? Or something cheap on eBay that would work with this card?

2- What's the acceptable gain, DBI, for a lab?


Any help would be highly appreciated guys... Thanks in advance .

SteveO86

http://www.cisco.com/asiapac/campaigns/isr/files/datasheet/hwic_ap_isr_ds_v1.pdf

Looks like typical RP-TNC connectors on the HWIC. (Antenna part numbers are towards the end of the page/document)

As far as gain and dBi for a lab, probably something small, if you go with anything high gain you might interfere with your own home Wi-Fi. Also depends on large your lab area.

All depends what you want to do.

cerberos

Thanks a lot Steve, your help was too appreicated... I can see that it can host 2 Antennas, will it work with only one? Can they be mixed (different bands)? or they should be matched (Same band)? I wasn't able to find all antennas mentioned in the data sheet on eBay and what I found was way too expensive, found other cheap, unbranded stuff that can go from 4 to $10, but I think it is a standard type, the RP-TNC Male connector.

Just interested to know, does anybody has a conversion tool to calculate ranges of Antennas based on DBI Gain? I know that this matter depends on a lot of facts, but in it's best out of curioisity... Found a monster antenna, 15 DBI! Wonder what's the range for this guru... And will a Cisco 3825 be able to host an antenna that has a power consumption of 50W?

Forgive my many questions friends .

SteveO86

You should be able to find some of Azimuth and Elevation chart for the antennas you are looking at. It's usually provided by the vendor of the antenna. They just show you how the signal will propagate. No vendor will guarantee any "range" of a Wi-Fi signal, just because their are so many variables. (Output Power of the AP, Clients output power, client WLAN devices, client software, interference, and etc)

I looked the HWIC-AP-G-A again at Cisco's site Cisco HWIC-AP WLAN Module for Cisco 1800 (Modular), 2800 and 3800 [Cisco High-Speed WAN Interface Cards] - Cisco Systems


Product Number
Production Description
HWIC-AP-G-A
Cisco 802.11 B/G Access Point High Speed Wan Interface Card for the Americas (FCC configuration)

Looks like it's only b/g capable, so you would only be able to use a 2.4 GHz antenna.

Also antennas don't have a power drain. WLAN antennas offer passive gain, so the energy will just come from the HWIC card travel through the cable and be propagated passively out from the antenna (depending on the antenna type will depict the propagation). A 15 dBi should a fairly good signal, if you going to be labbing from your home, I would honestly expect that to provide coverage for your whole house. (I don't know how big your house is but it will be a good signal)

cerberos

Thanks a lot steve, this is too informative pal! It is A/B/G compliant, according to this, it can operate on 2.4 and 5, not really sure if it can operate on both at the same time with 2 different antennas, one 2.4 and the other 5, I'm just guessing anyway.

SteveO86

Ahh, you are correct! I re-read the summary/conclusion and it does support a/b/g.

May want to look for 2x dual-band antennas. Although I would guess it would work with 1 antenna at each frequency. (I just can't say that with certainty since I've never personally worked with one of these)

tiersten

cerberos wrote: »

1- What's the antena part number? Or something cheap on eBay that would work with this card?

The Cisco part is AIR-ANTM2050D-R. They're not that expensive even new (~£15). I have them on HWIC-AP-AG-Es which are the Euro version of the same WiFi card.

cerberos wrote: »

2- What's the acceptable gain, DBI, for a lab?

Just a regular omnidirectional dipole is what you want and thats the part listed above.

cerberos

Thanks alot steve, tiersten... Too appreciated. Just a question out of curiousity tiersten, since you already worked with this card, can this card host 2 antennas each running at only one frequency? For example, 1th running at 2.4 and the 2nd at 5? Also, can this card power a 50W antenna? I think this totally depend on the router's power supply. Thanks in advance guys .

tiersten

cerberos wrote: »

can this card host 2 antennas each running at only one frequency? For example, 1th running at 2.4 and the 2nd at 5?

Yes. You can force each radio to use a specific antenna.

cerberos wrote: »

Also, can this card power a 50W antenna? I think this totally depend on the router's power supply. Thanks in advance guys .

Not sure what you mean by this. If you want a 50W WiFi signal then you're going to need an amplifer but I would seriously doubt the design if this is a requirement. I'd also check with your local regulations as to whether this is even legal or not as I doubt it is since anything even remotely within the range of your installation will be swamped by this extremely powerful signal.

If you want a high gain antenna then you're going to have to compromise on the radiation pattern or have it be directional. You don't get something for nothing with the gain on an antenna. Any gain is achieved by reducing the output in a specific orientation. If you want a very powerful omnidirectional link or a long distance directional link then you're going to have to purchase a suitable amplifer.

As this is for a lab, just buy two of the AIR-ANTM2050D-Rs and fit them. If you know that you'll never use the 802.11a frequency range then you can use any 2.4GHz antenna that fits.

cerberos

Way too appreciated! This is the kind of book I was searching for, I even downloaded the whole configuration guide... It always has to be you dude!!! Thanks again steve, it was too informative as well .