3 antenna's vs 2 antenna's wifi card

phantom1421 · Jun 19, 2016

So i have come across 2 different wifi cards that i am considering on getting that being the TP-LINK Archer T6E AC1300 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016K0896K/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) which only has 2 antennas and the TP-LINK Archer T9E AC1900 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016K0896K/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) which has 2 antennas.

i have done various amounts of research and resulted in the T9E being a faster card overall but yet similar to the T6E, so what's the difference, which is actually better?

The big question is does the amount of antenna's matter? why is there 2 on one wifi card and the other has 3?

Any tips on how to pick will be helpful , thanks

Math Geek · Jun 19, 2016

the extra antenna helps with direction shaping and overall reception. remember it is basically a radio wave, so better antenna = better reception = better speeds.

none of this will matter however, if you have the case on the floor, under a desk, with a jumble of wires around it causing interference. i suggest cards with the antennas on cables so thye can be kept high and in a good place for better reception. again it's a radio signal. would a car antenna work better under the car or on top of it? i just have usb sticks and have them at the end of a long cable tacked to the wall and get my full net speed in every room of the house.

kanewolf · Jun 19, 2016

Each antenna is tied to a radio. If you have two antennas then you can have two data streams at once. If you have three antennas then you can have three streams. The router has to have the same (or more) antennas. On the 2.4Ghz band each stream has 150Mbit theoretical bandwidth. So a 2 antenna device would be an N300 and a three antenna device would be an N450 (at 2.4Ghz).

Math Geek · Jun 19, 2016

dang it, i forgot that part. thanks for filling in that gap. yah the 3rd antenna is why you get 1900 vs 1300 for the dual antenna one. that of course depends on your router being able to feed it that much. i doubt your net speed is fast enough to max either one, but in home data moving would be quicker with the tri antenna.

bill001g · Jun 19, 2016

In most cases the 2 antenna devices are your optimum choice. If the extra cost does not matter to you then more antenna may give you a little extra speed.

Most end device like laptops or phones have 2 antenna so a router that has more would not be used. The same is true you buy a nic with more antenna than your router.

The problem with this theory and why say you can't just run 100 antenna is these signals are transmitted over the top of each other and intentionally interfere. The radios are pretty good at separating out 2 signals but as you add more it becomes harder and harder. In theory you would add 150m per antenna/feed but in reality each signal you add in much less than the one you added before.

This of course is ignoring that you have neighbors attempting to do this and now your massive numbers of signals that radios are trying to sort out. The end router and the end devices will actually reduce the number of feeds and data encoding methods dynamically if it does not work.

phantom1421 · Jun 20, 2016

kanewolf :

So is it really only useful to only get a wifi card that can be fully utilized from the router? And I have been unable to figure out how many antenna's my router has, it's a Verizon Quantum G1100, and the antenna's are internal but it doesnt say how many? do you know a website how to figure it out?

phantom1421 · Jun 20, 2016

bill001g :

In most cases the 2 antenna devices are your optimum choice. If the extra cost does not matter to you then more antenna may give you a little extra speed.

Most end device like laptops or phones have 2 antenna so a router that has more would not be used. The same is true you buy a nic with more antenna than your router.

The problem with this theory and why say you can't just run 100 antenna is these signals are transmitted over the top of each other and intentionally interfere. The radios are pretty good at separating out 2 signals but as you add more it becomes harder and harder. In theory you would add 150m per antenna/feed but in reality each signal you add in much less than the one you added before.

This of course is ignoring that you have neighbors attempting to do this and now your massive numbers of signals that radios are trying to sort out. The end router and the end devices will actually reduce the number of feeds and data encoding methods dynamically if it does not work.

Is having a wifi card with 3 antenna's good for future compatibility? and is TP-LINK a good brand

USAFRet · Jun 20, 2016

phantom1421 :

kanewolf :

So is it really only useful to only get a wifi card that can be fully utilized from the router? And I have been unable to figure out how many antenna's my router has, it's a Verizon Quantum G1100, and the antenna's are internal but it doesnt say how many? do you know a website how to figure it out?

I have that same router. It has at least 2 antennas, all internal.

phantom1421 · Jun 20, 2016

USAFRet :

phantom1421 :

I have that same router. It has at least 2 antennas, all internal.

Damn looks like that third antenna may not be useful then ;(

Math Geek · Jun 20, 2016

it looks cooler sticking out of the back of the case

so there's that......

phantom1421 · Jun 20, 2016

So overall is getting a 3 antenna useless unless i have the router to go with in and so in my case getting the 2 antennas would be just as good?

Search

3 antenna's vs 2 antenna's wifi card

phantom1421

Honorable

kanewolf

Math Geek

Titan

kanewolf

Titan

Math Geek

Titan

bill001g

Titan

phantom1421

Honorable

phantom1421

Honorable

USAFRet

Titan

phantom1421

Honorable

Math Geek

Titan

phantom1421

Honorable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page