Antennas & Accessories
104 results
Antennas & Accessories
104 results
Accessories that complete a wireless deployment: external antennas in omnidirectional, sectoral and high-gain panel variants for outdoor and long-range installs; mounting brackets for ceiling, wall and pole; PoE injectors for switches that lack PoE; replacement power supplies for indoor APs; and lightning arrestors and grounding kits for outdoor antenna installations exposed to thunderstorms.
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Antennas, mounts and accessories for wireless networking deployments
The access point gets the attention; the antennas, mounts and PoE hardware around it decide whether the install actually works. External antennas extend coverage where built-in antennas fall short. PoE injectors let APs work on switches without built-in PoE. Lightning arrestors keep outdoor installs alive through the storm season.
What this category covers
External Wi-Fi antennas in omnidirectional, sectoral, panel and dish variants; mounting brackets for ceilings, walls, poles and outdoor masts; PoE injectors and PoE++ injectors for higher-power APs; replacement power supplies for indoor APs; and lightning arrestors, grounding kits and weatherproofing tape for outdoor installations.
How to choose antennas and accessories
Pick the antenna pattern for the coverage area
Omnidirectional antennas cover 360 degrees, suited to indoor open spaces. Sectoral antennas cover a 60 to 120 degree arc, useful for outdoor patios facing one direction. Panel antennas focus a narrower beam (30-60 degrees) and reach further. Dish and high-gain panels are for point-to-point bridges between buildings.
Match antenna gain to the install
Higher gain reaches further but in a narrower beam; lower gain covers wider area at shorter range. For omnidirectional indoor APs, 3-5 dBi is typical. For outdoor sectoral patios, 8-12 dBi. For point-to-point links, 18-30 dBi. Higher gain is not always better; over-aiming a high-gain antenna leaves dead zones to the sides.
Pick PoE injectors for switches without PoE
PoE injectors sit between a non-PoE switch and a PoE-powered AP, sourcing power from a wall outlet. PoE+ (30 W per port) covers most Wi-Fi 6 APs; PoE++ (60-90 W) covers Wi-Fi 6E and 7 APs and outdoor APs with built-in heaters. Confirm the injector's PoE class against the AP's PoE input requirement.
Specify outdoor protection for outdoor installs
Outdoor antenna installs need lightning arrestors at the building entry point, proper grounding to the building's earth, weatherproofing tape on connectors and outdoor-rated cable. Skipping any of these turns the first thunderstorm into a hardware replacement.
Key features to compare
Antenna connector type
Most APs use RP-SMA female connectors; some use N-type for outdoor and high-gain antennas. Confirm the AP's antenna connector and any cable connectors match before ordering. Adapters exist but introduce loss.
Cable length and loss
Antenna cable loss is significant at Wi-Fi frequencies. Each metre of standard LMR-400 cable loses around 0.2 dB at 2.4 GHz and 0.4 dB at 5 GHz. Keep antenna cables short (under 5 metres) where possible; for longer runs, mount the AP closer to the antenna and run Ethernet over the long distance instead.
Mount type
Ceiling mounts for indoor APs; wall and corner mounts for warehouses; pole and mast mounts for outdoor sectoral antennas; T-rail clips for suspended ceilings. The right mount depends on where the AP needs to live.
What to check before buying
- Antenna pattern matched to the coverage area shape?
- Gain level matched to the install distance?
- Connector compatibility with the AP and any cables?
- PoE injector class matched to the AP's input requirement?
- Lightning arrestor and grounding for any outdoor install?
Frequently asked questions
Do I need external antennas for office Wi-Fi?
Almost never. Office APs with internal antennas cover typical floor plans well; external antennas add complexity, cost and weakness without much benefit. External antennas earn their place in warehouses (long, narrow corridors), outdoor patios (sectoral coverage of one direction) and point-to-point bridges between buildings.
What is the difference between dBi and dBd?
dBi (decibels relative to isotropic) compares an antenna to an idealised omnidirectional point source. dBd (decibels relative to dipole) compares to a half-wave dipole. Most Wi-Fi antennas are specified in dBi; subtracting 2.15 converts to dBd. The same antenna's dBi figure is always 2.15 higher than its dBd figure.
Do I need lightning arrestors on every outdoor antenna?
Yes, in any climate that gets thunderstorms. The arrestor is a small device installed at the building entry point that diverts surge currents to ground before they reach the AP. The cost is small (under 50 USD per port) and the alternative is replacing the AP and any switch port it was plugged into after a strike.
Can I run a Wi-Fi antenna 30 metres from the AP?
Mechanically yes, but cable loss at that distance kills most of the signal. The standard practice is to mount the AP close to the antenna (within a few metres of cable) and run Ethernet over the longer distance instead. Outdoor APs with internal antennas are often the simpler answer.
Are PoE injectors a long-term solution or a stopgap?
For one or two APs they work fine for years. For a dozen APs they become a tangle of injectors and cabling that takes more rack space and effort to manage than a PoE switch. The break-even is usually around four APs; above that, replacing the existing switch with a PoE-capable model is cleaner.