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Extending range of PCB antenna

Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 1:20 pm
by Albert
Hi Guys

I have a Node MCU ESP32 Board and wondering if i can somehow extend the wifi range?

Is it possible to connect an external antenna to the board using any of the pins on the chip? I currently do not see in any provision on rhe schematic.

Albert

Re: Extending range of PCB antenna

Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:42 am
by Franco
Hi Albert, the maximum power you can radiate from your antenna is 20dBm, this is limited by law. If you use an antenna with higher gain, you must decrease the output power to stay within the 20dBm limit. On the other hand you are free to use antennas with higher sensitivity. There's a brand new version of ESP32 module named ESP-WROOM-32U, that has an U-FL connector for an external antenna, check the DS, the new module is pin to pin compatible with the regular ESP-WROOM-32 http://espressif.com/sites/default/file ... eet_en.pdf. You will have to dig into the antenna matter to increase the range, keeping in mind that Wi-Fi communication between the AP and the Station is bidirectional. There's a very interesting thread in the forum that you may want to read as well viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3096#p14475