MR18 - what is the AP orientation in the published signal coverage patterns

[GeorgeN]

I'm trying to figure out if the MR18's are made to be mounted upside down. Unlike the the MR33 diagrams, there is no way to tell how the APs are oriented in the published signal coverage patterns (radiation). In the diagram, there appears to be a 5dB difference between AP top and bottom for horizontal signal. Question is, what is the top and bottom for the AP in the diagram? Also, is the diagram in dB or some other measurement?  

[TylerJ · Accepted solution]

Hi George,

The MR18 has an omni directional anteanna, and the orientation is biased horizontally if the AP is mounted on a vertical wall. 

The coverage pattern is available on the MR18 datasheet here and it's difficult to see, but the Cisco logo is at the bottom in the upright/vertical pictures (as if it was mounted on the wall), and the Cisco logo is pointing up towards the ceiling (as if the ap was sitting on your desk) in the cross section/horizontal orientation pictures.

Hope this helps!

[GeorgeN]

Thanks for the info! I have one on a tall shelf and was wondering if the signal would be better if I inverted the AP. It appears to propagate down towards the base more than up vertically, so I will leave it with the base down on the shelf.

[GaryShainberg]

Hi there George,

If it helps I have used the MR18 (and MR33) upside down and there appeared to be no performance degradation, that said, other than for cable issues I am not sure why you would need / want to mount one upside down.

BR

Gary