I’ve chosen three antennas for range testing and compared their RSSI at a fixed distance and a frequency of 923 MHz. Oddly, the longest 8 dBi antenna shows a lower RSSI than both the 10 dBi (mid-length) and the 3 dBi (short) antennas.
Has anyone seen this before, or might the 8 dBi antenna simply be incompatible with my setup?
| Gain (dBi) | RSSI (dBm) |
|---|---|
| 3 (short) | –95 |
| 10 (mid) | –90 |
| 8 (long) | –110 |
All the time. Antenna quality varies more dramatically than the different M shaped golden arched burgers in my area for something that apparently has a standards manual. Price is rarely an indicator. The manufacturer’s reputation is the most important thing - which means you can’t really buy from AliExpress or no-name brands from Amazon.
Testing, as you’ve done, is the real world acid test. Here’s how Stuart of $50 satellite fame does it: https://github.com/StuartsProjects/AntennaTesting
I see, I always though the higher dbi and the bigger the size the better the performance:upside_down_face:
Size isn’t everything, particularly if you want to stay legal.
Just because it’s bigger doesn’t mean it’s well made either.
I know I am responding to an older post, but wanted to add, it is important to remember that higher gain antennas achieve that gain by concentrating the beam width, so depending on your set testing set up, it is important that you are in line with the maximum radiating power, perpendicular / centered on the antenna. it is possible your signal was focused over your head.
