Buy it. Plug it to PC. And be surprised by improved reception.
Pros:
Sleek design, Versatile placing option.
Cons:
Does not work well when used for access point.
The Bottom Line:
Excels Linksys 7dB antenna HGA7S. This is the best consumer grade high gain wireless network antenna.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Good
(1) Gray metallic color is easy to blend to any occasion.
(2) Base and 1.5m extension cable provides placing option of this antenna.
Bad
(1) Did not improve performance of Access point. Only beneficial when installed to PC side. However, Linksys 7dB antenna (HGA7S) was the same.
I had to place my DELL C521 media center PC in a slot of TV stand. The rear of the computer is surrounded by the walls of TV stand and it is further blocked from Access point by VCR in slot above it. My access point was on second floor, which is four layer of wall away. Therefore it was no wonder that connection speed dropped and sometimes connection itself dropped.
I bought this antenna from Officemax with store discount coupon. First, I installed this antenna to my access point at second floor. The D-Link WBR-2310 wireless router should match with this D-Link ANT24-0700 7dB gain antenna.
To my disappointment, the reception at the PC on first floor did not help. So, I took the antenna and connected it to the wireless network adapter (another D-Link). Wow! It improved signal strength (from 24% to 50~60%) and it cured all speed drop and connection drop problems. Another way I found the antenna worked was that I found more working wireless access points in my neighborhood than when I used original short antenna. There was only two access points found but now I see nine working access points. Looks like almost all of my subdivision neighbors have one.
The phenomena that high gain antenna like this ANT24-0700 did not improve access point performance was not a surprise to me. I am in charge of computer equipments at my work. I have used Linksys HGA7S high gain (7dB again) antenna to improve coverage of access point but failed. In my experience, high gain antenna only improved reception when used at PC side.
In addition to performance, D-Link ANT24-0700 shines in the competition because it provide stand and extension cable. The extension cable is very helpful because it allow positioning antenna regardless of the location of computer. In my case, I placed the antenna next to my TV. The location provided clearer line-of-sight to access point. One of a competing product of D-Link ANT24-0700 is Linksys HGA7S. I have two of them at work. Unfortunately Linksys does not provide neither stand or cable. Therefore, I had to plug in the antenna directly to PC network adapter, and the computer metal chassis blocked line-of-sight to access point. The performance benefit of the Linksys antenna was negligible due to this reason. I solve it by buying a Hawking antenna which has integrated base and extension cable. However, the Hawking HAI6SIP 6dB antenna looks ugly, and I don't like to have it in my family room.
Another advantage of ANT24-0700 is that the stand is weighted. The weight provides stability, and keep it from drifting. The weight is important for the height of antenna is considerable (13 1/4") and it may tip easily without proper weight. The stand has two magnet to attach to metal surface. I test it to my computer chassis and the magnetic pull was awesome. The magnets are real thing.
The antenna can be used alone without stand. I will be useful when attach it to wireless router.
In summary, buy it and replace original short antenna at PC network adapter if you don't have less than perfect reception. The additional radio reception will improve network speed by reducing the number of corrupted packets and resulting re-sending of the packets.
