WGR614 Antenna
on 04.14.04, 06:29am in wireless • comments (13)
A few months back, I picked up a Netgear WGR-614 802.11g router to replace the crappy D-Link that I had been using. While the Netgear has been performing really well, I ended up moving it to the ‘media closet’ where all of my structured wiring is located, which had the effect of dropping my signal upstairs to around 40%.
I went ahead and picked up the Netgear ANT-05 Omnidirectional antenna, thinking it would be an easy fix and really extend the range.
Silly me, I didn’t realize at the time that the router’s antenna wasn’t detachable.
Since the antenna has a standard RP-SMA connector, I think I might crack the router open this weekend and see if I can hack on a removable antenna connector, similar to what this page shows on the ME102.
Of course, this could completely turn the 614 into a doorstop. We’ll see. If everything works out, i’ll post instructions here.
corey (July 17, 2004 @ 11:53 pm)
hey, please tell me if this works out. i was toying with the idea of manaually replacing the antenna as well
Diaconal (December 20, 2004 @ 7:09 am)
I was also wondering if you got it to work?
Kaneda (January 30, 2005 @ 5:12 am)
Did it work?
Has anyone else been sucessfull at this yet?
Hit me back
Fredrik J (March 24, 2005 @ 2:56 pm)
Im very interested in this matter aswell, please post an update
John Woo Fan (April 28, 2005 @ 10:55 am)
definately interested.
will post my results as well. Should not be too hard given the appearance of the antenna, but as we all know, looks can be decieving. Carefully opening mine right now, but only going to take some pictures. Will post em….
In my opinion, every company should include schematics in the box and sell two versions of the same thing, pro and consumer, with the pros coming with schematics and the consumers without.
John Woo Fan (April 28, 2005 @ 12:23 pm)
Step one, set up a clear working space.
Step two, the screws are under the footpads, and they are the small 6 point star type, 4 of em, and the footpads have no lose connecting tabs so don’t rip em off. In the event that the foot pad comes off, it is some kind of decent polyvynil and it ismade to go in sideways, be turned and then it is back in operating position. Put the screws somewhere safe, and get ready to party! The Shell slides right off. No forcing neccesary and it would be undesirable anyway. Inside, the PCB comes right out anyway. I didn’t unplug mine, and everything is still running, in fact I am posting this with it all opened up, but I strongly reccomend you have your old ethernet router ready just in case. The antenna connection is not soldered, and it looks like it uses the same connection as my Orinoco Wireless A/b/g gold combocard, a u.fl connector, but in fact the combocard does not use a u.fl connector and has a different female port than the netgear’s u.fl, the MC orinoco. This is the only place I know for pigtails to my orinoco combocard gold: [url]http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/cable_radio_pigtails_switchcase.php?connection=MC-Card&pgType=mc-card/url
So much for the thought of using the old antenna to boost my combocard without adapters. Anyway, the netgear uses a u.fl female and therefore requires a u.fl male to a male coax port that can be secured into the hole where the antenna goes. So, now that you all know the specs, here’s a parts list that may not even require soldering if you can find a good company that makes custom pigtails.
1-6 point star screwdriver bit
1-u.fl to n-female bulkhead
1-sweet antenna like a 15.4 dBi Omni Directional Antenna from comet that goes for around 114 bucks + S&H (outputs as N-female)
1-50ft. nmale to nfemale cable
1-pack of 50 decent gauge staples to secure the cable from window to roof
1-50ft. length of flexible outdoor electrical cable insulation for the cable and staples
You can take it from here. I can’t economically afford to set it up like this for now, so I am going to build my own 4ad antenna, but the essentials are all here. No photos for now, but will come soon.
Scale up or down for capabilities, and you might need an amp in there to boost the signal and maximize the antennas output. Have yet to attempt a dual broadcast on an antenna like this, of both micropower FM and WiFi, but it is totally possible because they are different frequencies so far apart. The possibilities of multipupose antenna use are limited only by your imaginations… Have fun.
John Woo Fan (April 28, 2005 @ 12:26 pm)
damn, no account = no edit
in the parts list I wrote 1 u.fl to 1 n-female bulkhead but forgot to mention that it should be a fairly short pigtail, not some massive cable.
I also meant to write “my own 24d antenna”, shows my 31227dom… Heheheh. =)
John Woo Fan (April 28, 2005 @ 12:52 pm)
OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!
PUT A LIGHTNING/SURGE ARRESTOR IN BETWEEN THE ANTENNA AND THE CABLE ON YOUR ROOF, NOT BETWEEN THE CABLE AND THE ROUTER, AND GET A BACKUP JUST IN CASE.
Damn I need to study the electrician’s code. Hehehe.
John Woo Fan (May 13, 2005 @ 6:51 pm)
MAJOR UPDATES, but waiting for authorization from admin to post URL riden update, so sit tight and use that melon to figure out what kind of connector the abg combocard gold uses, as I recently found out it is not an MC-Card connector as some would have us believe…
Amir Dekel (December 4, 2005 @ 10:48 am)
I followed the instruction above and I succefully added a new external antenna to my Netgear wgr614
Thanks,
Martin F. (March 14, 2006 @ 3:01 pm)
I have Netgear WGR614 v4 and the cable inside is soldered on the circuit board ;(
Seems like you guys are having an older revision than 4 and the changed that sometime…
John Woo Fan (March 26, 2006 @ 11:31 am)
The Router I refer to is WGR614v5, it has a u.fl connector, and the Pasadena Wireless pigtail and 15db omni antenna are perfect for it, their surge arrestors are expensive though, not comaparatively, but safety is an investment.
HDTV guy (July 14, 2006 @ 5:08 am)
I have Linksys router. Anybody has an experience with Linksys + external antenna?