5G external antennas for 5G access – some considerations

5G external antennas are necessary when your 5G router does not receive sufficient signal where it is installed. If you are not able relocate your router to a position where it can receive sufficient signal, then you will probably need an external antenna.

An external antenna will typically attach via one, two or four coaxial cables to antenna connectors on your router. Most 5G routers* have connectors for attaching external antennas, the most common connector for this is SMA.

So, if the location where you want to install your 5G has insufficient signal for a stable connection, apart from the common parameters like gain and directionality, what are some key considerations for using an external antenna?

1. Distance from the router and cable selection – is there a location close to the 5G router with a better or good 5G signal? The word close is doing some heavy lifting as it will depend on what kind of low loss cable you can use to connect up the antenna. A 400 type cable like LMR400 or RF400 will typically facilitate the external antenna being installed up to 25 to 30 metres from the router. 400 type cable is approximately 10.3mm in diameter and some find it a little heavy and cumbersome, but it offers excellent RF performance. Using 240 type cable such as RF240 low loss coax will allow an antenna up to 15 metres from the router. 240 cable is 6.2mm diameter and is relatively light and flexible. Coaxial cables with a small diameter typically have inferior RF properties and cables runs with these may only achieve 5m before the attenuation/loss across the cable negates any benefit of using an external antenna. Choosing your low loss cable effectively can determine how far away from router you can install your antenna.
2. Mounting method – the type of antenna you choose often reflects the mounting method available to install the antenna. Wall-mount, pole-mount, magnetic mount, adhesive mount, through-hole permanent enclosure mount are some of the options. Each option can have some advantages and disadvantages. Wall and pole mount antennas are usually a little larger with better RF performance whereas through-hole mount antennas are typically lower profile and more discreet for environments where deliberate damage is possible. For 5G access, marrying a 5G external wall or pole mount antenna with a 10M RF240 or 20M RF400 cable is quite common as the antenna generally sits a good distance away from the router.
3. Waterproofing / Outdoor suitable antennas – If you are installing an external antenna outdoors and subject to the weather, it is worth considering whether the antenna you are selecting is truly built for long term outdoor deployment. Some budget antennas are clearly not built to handle a few months of continuous outdoor deployment. You can check specifications to see if the antenna specification states IP66 or IP67 ingress protection and if the antenna radome is UV resistant. Also, you can use common sense when looking at a potential antenna choices to assess the quality of the materials used and how the antenna is designed. Sometimes it is fairly obvious that an external antenna is not going to last long when the rain is hammering down.
4. Connector type and how many – before choosing a 5G external antenna and low loss cable(s), double check the antenna connectors on your router. Depending on the type of router, you might need to connect up to four antenna ports for maximum performance. A single port, 2 port MIMO or 4 port MIMO might be required to match the number of antenna ports to the router. In addition, the physical connector on the router needs to be confirmed. As mentioned previously, the most common option is SMA, but others such as TNC or N-type connectors are possible.

For more information or assistance with selecting the correct 5G external antennas for you application, talk to EAD. You can e-mail us at sales@ead-ltd.com.

*please note that some 5G routers do not have external antenna connectors