Directional antenna suggestions??

[mes36@psu.edu]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a directional antenna for use with AirMagnet spectrum analyzer to help find sources of interference? Does AirMagnet's antenna work well or is there a better/cheaper alternative (link below)? I've tried other directional Yagi antennas and they don't seem to work any better then the one that comes with AirMagnet. Also, I found a source of interference, if anyone is willing to see if they can figure out what it is please let me know. It is near one of the labs at the university that I work for it seems to be spread across the entire 2.4 spectrum.

Thanks,

Mike

http://www.airmagnet.com/assets/AirMagn ... ntenna.pdf

[dilip]

You can send me the trace file at dilip.b.advani@airmagnet.com for review.

[ADVjcet]

You can also send it to me. I would be happy to take a look.
justin.cetko@advancednetworks.eu

[mes36@psu.edu]

Thanks guys, I just sent it.

Anyone have a recommnedation on a directional antenna????

[ADVjcet]

Hello Mike,

Were you using the yagi antenna during those captures that you sent? those AP signals seem pretty strong.

Justin

[ADVjcet]

Hi MIke,

As far as antennas go, I use the standard omni-directional antenna to detect the interference and then the flag type directional antenna that AM furnishes to lock in on the interference and find it.
Works fine for me. I tried the yagi but the gain is too high and i was picking up everything from here to Cheyenne.

The flag is a good little antenna.

Justin

[mes36@psu.edu]

Thanks for the antenna suggestion. Do you know how much this antenna costs. I did some Google searches and they were around $250. That seemed a little steep. And to answer your question I was using the stock AirMagnet antenna when doing these captures.

[ADVjcet]

Hi Mike,

I have no idea how much ANYTHING costs but 250 does seem steep.
Cisco sells the same antenna. Maybe you can find a better price down that route. Make sure to confirm compatibility first.
part number AIR-ANT-SE-WIFI-D=

For the captures i wasn't able to decipher anything but WLAN traffic/signals. I use the same tool but bought it from Cognio before they were acquired by Cisco. I don't know if that makes any difference when reading the captures taken from the AM tool. I will ask in a separate post.

It does seem like the duty cycle is pretty high though. I would try disabling lower data rates on your WLAN to see if that clears up the duty cycle issue.
Have you had any feedback from AM about the captures?

Justin