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Antennas - A Guide to Design, Selection, Positioning and More

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Antennas - A Guide to Design, Selection, Positioning and More

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This article will present basic concept about antennas, give guidelines on antenna types used in systems such as GPS, LoRaWAN®, Cellular and compare RAK antennas.

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Antenna. A Guide to Selection, Positioning and More. - RAKwireless - IoT Made Easy

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This article will present basic concept about antennas, give guidelines on antenna types used in systems such as GPS, LoRaWAN®, Cellular and compare RAK antennas.

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How to expand the coverage of Helium hotspot? Antenna is the key

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How to expand the coverage of Helium hotspot? Antenna is the key

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Take RAK's glass fiber reinforced plastic antenna as an example. The default antenna for Helium hotspot is omnidirectional antenna.

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In LoRa applications or using Helium hotspots, the following situation often occurs: Helium hotspots cannot receive other hotspot information, or data sent through terminal nodes cannot be transmitted to the LoRaWAN server, resulting in very low coverage of Helium hotspots. Therefore, we need to use an external antenna to change this situation!

Why do I need an external/outdoor antenna?

This is not difficult to understand with the help of an external antenna, because Helium hotspots mainly rely on interaction with other hotspots to achieve coverage. As we know Helium hotspots include radio communication systems, like mobile phones or two-way radios. Therefore, only the signal is strong enough to receive more data. Simply put, it needs to receive the RF of other Helium hotspots in order to increase the coverage of the hotspots. Therefore, the key point to improve the coverage of Helium hotspot is to enhance the signal. At this time, we need to use an LoRa antenna outdoor.

However, the use of an external antenna does not mean that we can install an antenna, but we have to choose a "good antenna" based on the real-time situation and make reasonable use of it to better receive signals and expand the range of hot spots.

How can a good antenna help Helium expand its coverage?
1. High-gain antenna makes energy more concentrated
Take RAK's glass fiber reinforced plastic antenna as an example. The default antenna for Helium hotspot is omnidirectional antenna. The emission of these antennas on the plane is equal to the radio. These are basically omnidirectional dipoles, whose radiation direction is equal to the vertical axis. Each antenna has a gain number associated with it. Compared with isotropic antennas, the antenna gain measured in dBi refers to the degree to which the antenna can concentrate energy in a specific direction.

The additional antenna of the RAK Helium hotspot is 2.8 dBi in the EU and 2.3 dBi in the United States, while the gains of the RAK glass antenna are 5.8 dBi and 8dbi respectively (note: CN470 currently only has 5.8dbi).

Therefore, if the frequency range is 900-930 MHz, the peak gain is 8 dBi. This means that compared with the attached antenna, it will amplify the signal by more than 4 times and can reach a greater distance.

You may ask: Why not just choose the antenna with the highest gain? The answer is simple, that is, increasing the antenna gain comes at a price. The higher the gain of the antenna, the more concentrated its energy. Looking at the picture below, we can see how the antennas with different gains emit energy.

Therefore, if you just blindly increase the antenna gain, as the antenna energy becomes more concentrated, you may not be able to communicate with other hot spots that fall outside the beam.

At this time, the antenna itself must be considered in conjunction with other factors.
2. According to the location, choose the right antenna
To choose the antenna that suits your needs, one of the key factors is location. The main thing is where you are and where you want to receive other hotspots. If your hotspot is located on the top of a very far building, it is better to choose an 8 dBi booster antenna. However, if your nearby hotspots are relatively close, considering the 300-meter rule (the minimum distance between hotspots), it makes more sense to choose an antenna with a 5.8 dBi gain. So, the only way to understand what is best for you is to experiment. Try different antennas to see which antenna is best for your environment.

In addition, considering the antenna efficiency, you must pay attention to whether the location is shielded when you choose to deploy the antenna. Then, choose the antenna with higher antenna efficiency. Generally, the antenna can only radiate about half of the power provided to it. The efficiency of the RAK antenna is about 50%, which can be said to basically reach the top level.

In addition, it is recommended that the antenna installation be placed at the highest point that can be safely reached, such as the roof. However, it is more difficult to install and deploy antennas on the roof, and manual installation costs are more expensive. Therefore, it is very important to perfect the antenna of the accessory. For example: RAK's antenna has a very convenient magnetic base, which can be easily installed on the commanding height of the house and close to the window.
3. Complete antenna accessories make deployment more reasonable and faster
As mentioned above, the deployment of Helium needs to be in various locations, and deployment and installation are also a big difficulty. Dangerous locations, rainy weather, and thunderstorms often make the deployment "dead-term", so be sure to choose an antenna with perfect protection and accessories.

RAK provides a series of matching accessories while providing antennas. Like the RAK fiberglass antenna, it is composed of glass fiber, which is very sturdy and not affected by the outside world (protection level is IP67). This is one of the most important aspects of the antenna-it can be used outdoors and can be installed at the viewing height of other Helium hotspots. In addition, this in turn eliminates a large amount of attenuation due to obstacles in the signal path, resulting in lower path loss and greater coverage.

In addition, RAK's indoor environment antennas will be matched with: indoor deployment antenna magnetic base, antenna low-loss extension cable, antenna glass sticker, etc.

Outdoor environment antennas will be matched with: outdoor enclosure kit, antenna lightning arrester, antenna pole kit, etc.
Three, summary
In general, if you want to enhance the deployment of Helium, it is recommended that you try different frequency antennas, such as RAKwireless 5.8 dBi and 8 dBi antennas to maximize your coverage; also, place the antenna at a high point In order to maximize the communication with node devices or other Helium hotspots; in addition, it is also very important to improve the antenna accessories, which can make the installation and deployment of the antenna more convenient.

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How to expand the coverage of Helium hotspot? Antenna is the key

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In LoRa applications or using Helium hotspots, the following situation often occurs: Helium hotspots cannot receive other hotspot information, or data sent through terminal nodes cannot be transmitted to the LoRaWAN server, resulting in very low coverage of Helium hotspots. Therefore, we need to use an external antenna to change this situation!

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What is an antenna?

An antenna is a transducer used to transform RF (radio-frequency) signals traveling on a wire into an electromagnetic wave or vice versa. It plays a crucial role in strengthening the wireless connectivity of your IoT devices. There are different types of antennas that you can choose based on their respective functions.

What are the different types of antennas?

LoRa® Antenna

LoRa antennas are used to receive and transmit radio signals between the end devices (sensors) and the gateways.

LTE Antenna

Long Term Evolution or "LTE" antennas are used for cellular communications. They can be used for your Cellular IoT solution utilizing Low Power Cellular Networks like NB-IoT.

GPS Antenna

GPS or "Global Positioning System" antennas are primarily known as part of tracking solutions. In IoT gateways, GPS is used to give accurate timestamps to the data received.

Now that you know the difference between the types of antennas, the next question is where can you get one?

Solution providers like RAKwireless offer LoRa, LTE, and GPS antenna. Most of these are made of fiber optics to ensure long life. LoRa antenna 's typically have omnidirectional elements to receive and transmit data from multiple directions and support different LoRa bands. They also vary in antenna gain to increase the ranges they can reach.

Finally, we ask the most important question: what can you do with it?

With LoRa antennas, you can optimize the coverage and sensitivity of your LoRa gateways and improve the range of the sensor without changing its location. Choosing the right antenna for your RAK hotspot miner can extend coverage, and with more reliable network coverage, you can maximize your $HNT revenue.

With an LTE antenna, you can create your cellular IoT using already well-known cellular networks worldwide.

For GPS, you can create precise asset tracking solutions for logistics, manufacturing, and industrial applications.

Whether you choose LoRa, LTE, GPS or BLE antenna, these antennas will ensure your devices can easily communicate with each other and extend your network coverage.

Discover our different kinds of antennas today! Visit the RAK Store.

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An antenna is a transducer used to transform RF (radio-frequency) signals traveling on a wire into an electromagnetic wave or vice versa. It plays a crucial role in strengthening the wireless connectivity of your IoT devices. There are different types of antennas that you can choose based on their respective functions.

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Make the most out of outdoor gateways with the RAK LTE antenna – RAKwireless Store

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Make the most out of outdoor gateways with the RAK LTE antenna – RAKwireless Store

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Take advantage of worldwide 4G bands of 698 ~ 960 MHz and 1710~2690MHz for outdoor LoRa® gateways with the RAK vertically-polarized omnidirectional LTE antenna.

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2dbi Fiberglass WiFi Antenna – RAKwireless Store

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2dbi Fiberglass WiFi Antenna – RAKwireless Store

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Extend your IoT application's reach with our fiberglass WiFi Antenna. The 2dBi WiFi antenna is compatible with WisGate and other IoT boards.

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GPS Antenna for High-gain and High-efficiency Connection – RAKwireless Store

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GPS Antenna for High-gain and High-efficiency Connection – RAKwireless Store

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GPS Antenna increase the connection for any LoRaWAN® kit with this high-gain, high-efficiency antenna! The RAK antenna features a low-noise amplifier to strengthen its signal.

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BLE-PCB Antenna 5.5dBi – RAKwireless Store

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BLE-PCB Antenna 5.5dBi – RAKwireless Store

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This BLE-PCB Antenna 5.5dBi offers a small footprint with superior gain characteristics ideal for WisBlock. Its size offers flexibility & high performance.