External WiFi antennas for MX68W

[btgraber]

Is there a supported solution for connecting external WiFi antennas to the MX68W?  

[Ryan_Miles]

There's no 3rd party recommendation. But the connectors are RP-SMA if you want to try something at your own risk.

[double_virgule]

We did a lot of testing of external RP-SMA antennas on a different gateway provider. Same form factor, same size, just different vendor. The problem we kept running into was output power from the gateway itself. No matter how big the antenna was, or what it promised, the included gateway antennas provided roughly the same output because the gateway was the limiter on the power, not the antennas. Often, because of the severe signal fall-off in the cable, an external antenna placed just a few feet from the gateway was significantly worse than the screw-on antennas. 

It was theoretically worth it for us as some of our locations have the network cabinet behind a steel or thick cinderblock wall, so signal loss was already severe. We investigated the antennas because we planned to run the cable through the ceiling and install it in the ceiling tile above the point of sale counter. Even with the signal loss from the cable, it would still be better than the nearly non-existent signal from the included antennas. 

The only improvement we saw overall from using an external antenna was when we utilized a directional antenna and pointed it directly at the Point of Sale counter. That seemed to "jump through" the wall and provide decent signal at the POS, but there was almost no signal anywhere else (as expected). 

We investigated a few antenna providers, and the one we finally decided on was Panorama Antennas. They shipped us a bunch of POC units and we tested them extensively. 

For the ceiling drop, we decided on this model: https://panorama-antennas.com/product/cmx-24-58-2-low-profile-mimo-wifi-antenna/

And for the directional, we decided on this: https://panorama-antennas.com/product/wmmx9g-24-72-nj-directional-mimo-antenna-2-3-7-2ghz/

Now, all that to say: We ended up pivoting away from that solution entirely in favor of an external access point and have not deployed this en masse to the field, but I was happy with these antennas. 

If you reach out to Panorama, they will likely ship you a POC unit to try with the MX68W. 

Also: Not affiliated with Panorama in any way. Just liked their product. 

[GreenMan]

In most cases, I'd recommend dedicated wifi APs - you can put them just where you need to put them, to provide the coverage required.  You can also add more, if one isn't enough.   This leaves you free to put your MX in the best place for an SD-WAN appliance - most often this is in a steel cabinet, somehere in the bowels of your building - the worst possible place for delivering WiFi.   Sure; it's more expensive, but it generally works miles better - and there are so many additional features available from dedicated APs.

[double_virgule]

This is the same response we got from the gateway manufacturer we pivoted away from. If that's your recommendation, why do you sell a MX68 model with built-in wifi antennas? 🙂 If the expectation is that it will be locked away in the bowels of a building, why would anyone buy a box (MX68W) that is specifically made to broadcast its SSIDs directly from the gateway? 

[GreenMan]

MXxxW existis because not all MXs are / need to be / can be locked away in the bowels of a building.   The best use case I came across for these was for a customer who hired out large meeting rooms / small offices for relatively short periods and wanted to stand up a secure 'office in a box' at very short notice - simply by sticking the MX on the desk.    Getting coverage from there was not a problem, with the built-in antennas.

For me this comes back to good practise for WiFi ; survey what's needed on a site-by-site basis.

It's then about using the right tool (or right set of tools) for the right job.

I should probably have caveated my own initial comment too;  'in most cases'  probably reflects the larger businesses I cover.   In SMB 'most cases' might well best suit an appliance with built-in Wi-Fi.