It's more true to say that both signals need to be amplified, whether that happens in the antennas (directional versus omni), at each end using a TX amplifier, or at one end with a TX/RX amplifier. In the case where a PoP site will serve a wide area, it may be best to use a TX/RX amp coupled to a hi-gain omni antenna at the PoP site, which allows the use of a standard OEM antenna at each node. As the distance between node and PoP site increases, the node's chance of connecting are improved by replacing the OEM antenna with a hi-gain omni or directional antenna mounted in a good location, and/or by amplifying its own TX signal.
Amateur radio operators will equate this (well, I will, anyway) to VHF/UHF communications (up to about 1.2GHz, that I'm aware of), where a repeater station (PoP site) is located high up, like on a mountain or tall building, with a premium antenna and both a high power transmitter and very sensitive receiver, and used by lower powered portable and mobile radios (nodes) that could not otherwise communicate with each other because of the distance. The higher powered radios (nodes with TX amplifiers) will be able to communicate from further away than others, and a gain antenna (node with a beam or dish) will also increase the distance. -----Original Message----- From: Jason Lewis Sent: Friday, July 05, 2002 11:17 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Wireless LAN question > > given that "the other wlan device" is equipped with a directional > antenna, too.. > Nope. You can amp your signal and use a directional antenna and the other end can be using a low power antenna. It is a common belief that both ends need to use the same antennas or be amplified. This is not true. I can compensate for your weak signal with my stronger one. Sometimes the polarity of the antenna doesn't match, which is easy to correct by rotating the antenna. Do not rely on the antenna for security.
