III. Wireless LAN
ExpiredReplacing Antennas ( Aerials ) on Routers & Access Points
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All DrayTek routers and access points are supplied with 3dB omni-directional antennas as standard and can be replaced with higher gain antennas to alter the signal or to beam the signal in a specific direction. A common reason for replacing an antenna may be to use a directional antenna for point to point WLAN bridge with a couple of AP's or to direct the signal in a way that's more appropriate for the environmental topology. For further information on Antenna Theory please see here
The sockets for wireless LAN (WiFi) on the back of all of our routers/access points use an RP-SMA connector. The router has the male socket and the aerial or cable has the female connector/plug. If you have a 3G/4G equipped router, the 4G aerials are the other way around to prevent you connecting aerials to the wrong sockets.
Female RP-SMA
Replacing Antennas
When replacing antennas, it is recommended to replace all antennas (both Transmit and Receive) rather than a Receive Only antenna to make the most difference to signal range and achievable throughput and to maintain the diversity that having multiple antenna offers.
Routers with 2 Antennas
| Router Model | Antenna 1 | Antenna 2 |
|---|---|---|
|
Vigor 2860n |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive | 2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
|
Vigor 2762ac |
2.4GHz & 5GHz Transmit & Receive | 2.4GHz & 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
| Vigor 2620Ln | LTE - SMA fitting1 Transmit & Receive |
LTE - SMA fitting1 Transmit & Receive |
1 - These antennas are SMA fitting for the LTE radio. More details on replacing LTE antennas can be found here.
Vigor 2620Ln
The 2.4GHz wireless antennas are located inside the router and are non-replaceable.
Routers with 3 Antennas
| Router Model | Antenna 1 | Antenna 2 | Antenna 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vigor 2820n, Vigor 2820Vn Vigor 2830n, Vigor 2830Vn Vigor 2920n, Vigor 2920Vn Vigor 2710n, Vigor 2710Vn Vigor 2110n, Vigor 2110Vn Vigor 2130n, Vigor 2130Vn Vigor 2930n, Vigor 2930Vn Vigor IPPBX 2820n |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
2.4GHz Receive Only |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
| Vigor 2830n-Plus, Vigor 2830Vn-Plus Vigor 2850n, Vigor 2850Vn Vigor 2750n, Vigor 2750Vn |
2.4/5GHz Transmit & Receive (switchable) | 2.4/5GHz Receive Only (switchable) |
2.4/5GHz Transmit & Receive (switchable) |
| Vigor 2860n-Plus Vigor 2925n-Plus |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive | 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
| Vigor 2860Vn-Plus Vigor 2925Vn-Plus |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
5GHz Transmit & Receive |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
| Vigor 2860ac Vigor 2860Vac Vigor 2925ac VigorBX 2000ac |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
5GHz Transmit & Receive |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
Routers with 4 Antennas
| Router Model | Antenna 1 | Antenna 2 | Antenna 3 | Antenna 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vigor 2862ac Vigor 2862Lac Vigor 2926ac |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
5GHz Transmit & Receive | 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
| Vigor 2860Ln Vigor 2862Ln |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive | LTE - SMA fitting1 | LTE - SMA fitting1 | 2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
| Vigor 2927Lac |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
LTE - SMA fitting1 | LTE - SMA fitting1 | 2.4GHz Transmit & Receive 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
1 - These antennas are SMA fitting for the LTE radio. More details on replacing LTE antennas can be found here.
VigorAP Access Point Antennas
| VigorAP Model | Antenna 1 | Antenna 2 |
|---|---|---|
|
Vigor AP-700 Vigor AP-800 Vigor AP-710 Vigor AP-810 |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive | 2.4GHz Transmit & Receive |
|
Vigor AP-900 VigorAP 902 VigorAP 903 VigorAP 920R VigorAP 918R |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
2.4GHz Transmit & Receive 5GHz Transmit & Receive |
VigorAP 910C & 912C
The VigorAP 910C access point has four internal and non-replaceable antennas, with two antennas used for 2.4GHz and two antennas for 5GHz.
VigorAP 1000C
The VigorAP 1000C access point has six internal and non-replaceable antennas, with two antennas used for 2.4GHz and four antennas for 5GHz, two for each radio.
VigorAP 802
The VigorAP 802 access point has two internal and non-replaceable antennas, with both antennas used for 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
Using a single antenna
In some scenarios i.e. when making a point to point wireless link using an antenna such as the DrayTek ANT-2510 10dB directional antenna, it is best to replace the two transmit/receive antennas to retain the MIMO functionality but if replacing just one antenna, using that antenna along with the standard antennas will cause problems with the antenna diversity functionality and could give a less usable wireless connection than with the standard antennas.
To resolve that, the routers can be set to use a single antenna which may give a reduction in speed potentially but can improve range over allowing it to use all three antennas.
Access the router’s telnet interface and enter “wl ht antenna 3” followed by “wl restart” and the router will then use only antenna number 1 (refer to the earlier antenna image).
It can be put back to its original state by entering “wl ht antenna 0” followed by “wl restart”.
On the Vigor Access Points (AP-710, AP-800, AP-810, AP-900), this can be set from the [Wireless LAN] – [General Setup] page by changing the Antenna setting to 1T1R.
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- First Published: 25/09/2014
- Last Updated: 22/04/2021