JumboPackets Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Is it possible that using high gain antennas on the Nano could cause damage?Here's the scenario: I had my Nano for a few weeks and, after a slight learning curve, everything was working relatively well. I was having a little trouble getting anything but the closest clients to associate after they were de-authed and I assumed that it was because their "native" access point had a stronger signal. So, in an effort to boost the Pineapple's signal, I ordered a couple of 9dB antennas (inspired by this thread ).After installing the new antennas, I fired up the Pineapple and did a recon scan. Disappointingly, the only two AP's to show up in a five minute scan were the ones within a 20 foot radius (and even they had a less than 50% signal strength). Prior to switching to the new antennae I would typically see 15-20 access points from the same physical location. Using my keen troubleshooting skills, I decided the cheapo antennas were pieces-o-crap and chalked it up to a "lesson learned". I shut the Pineapple down, put the stock antennas back on, plugged in and did another recon scan. Still no access points but the two very close ones. I got to thinking about it and I wonder if perhaps boosting the effective output power of the radios overloaded and damaged one. Like wlan0 transmitted just a few inches away (the length of the Nano) from the receiver in wlan0 and burned up the front-end receive circuitry?I'd be interested to see if any of you have successfully (or unsuccessfully) used high gain antennas. Maybe it's just my crappy luck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0N3z Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 (edited) I have been using 9dbi antenna with my nano and in certian parts of my house i get maybe 3 ssid on a 5min recon. If I move the nano close to a window or even my router it works much better. I have also used the 9dbi antenna in an outdoor environment and got really good signal from about half a block away using Occupineapple. I did the same thing telot did with the wedding hack. I want to add the 5dbi amplifiers but cant pull the trigger on those yet. Edited February 27, 2016 by b0N3z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattltm Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 I doubt that using higher gain antennas would have damaged a radio. The power output of the radio's would have been the same, the antenna achieves gain by squeezing the radiation out in a specific area (like a frisbee disk) rather than all over (like a football shape). I could have damaged the front end receive of the radio if it was very close to an active AP but the chance is very. Hopefully my nano will arrive next week so I'll stick a couple of proper 9dbi antennas on it and see what happens! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry99705 Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Can you post a picture of the antenna connector? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i8igmac Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 if you remove a antenna while the device is still powered on, I think Andrew McNeill has said this may cause damage to the radio... I may have experienced this kind of damage when building my own antennas... but its hard to say the exact cause in my situation... if you see zero access points then I would say this damage is permanent... Bigger Xdbi Omni directional antennas, work very well in the right situation... you will achieve much farther distance but line of site matters greatly. Every wall or object will effect the signal, even rain fall can effect your signal when dealing with great distances... if you look at your smaller dipole antenna, it will produce a invisible radiation Bubble... this big bubble can cover multiple floors very well because of its height and width. If you look at a 9dbi omni directional antenna, it will produce the Same amount of radiation but squeeze this bubble into a pancake and now you can cover a greater distance but no longer reach the second floor of a building... Maybe look into directional or semi directional 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i8igmac Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 (edited) Edited February 28, 2016 by i8igmac 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricos Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 if you remove a antenna while the device is still powered on, I think Andrew McNeill has said this may cause damage to the radio... Well, *now* you're telling me... I had no idea this could happen. Good to know. ...sorta. I actually wish you wouldn't have told me; powering down and booting up again every time I try a new antenna is gonna eat up way too much of my life time. I've switched antennas on the nano a dozen times or so, while it was running, with no adverse effects (as far as I can tell). I guess I got lucky. Now, of course, I'm all paranoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumboPackets Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Thanks for the input, all. Can you post a picture of the antenna connector? I thought I was being careful in selecting the antenna with the correct connector, but for sanity's sake...pic attached Bigger Xdbi Omni directional antennas, work very well in the right situation... you will achieve much farther distance but line of site matters greatly. Every wall or object will effect the signal, even rain fall can effect your signal when dealing with great distances...if you look at your smaller dipole antenna, it will produce a invisible radiation Bubble... this big bubble can cover multiple floors very well because of its height and width.If you look at a 9dbi omni directional antenna, it will produce the Same amount of radiation but squeeze this bubble into a pancake and now you can cover a greater distance but no longer reach the second floor of a building...Maybe look into directional or semi directional That is a really good point and something I had not thought about before. I will file that little tidbit away for later. However, I don't think that is what is happening in this situation because, when I switch back to the original dipoles that came with the Nano (which were working fine before I swapped them), I continue to see the problem. I would think that if it was just an issue with the antenna parameters, it would go back to the way it was before once I went back to the antenna I was using before. if you remove a antenna while the device is still powered on, I think Andrew McNeill has said this may cause damage to the radio... I definitely did not connect or disconnect the antennas with power on. I've got a healthy level of paranoia the would prevent me from doinf something like that. I could have damaged the front end receive of the radio if it was very close to an active AP but the chance is very. This worries me a little becuase there was an active access point about 6 feet away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry99705 Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Swapping antennas while it's powered up shouldn't hurt it. Leaving an antenna off for extended periods of time will. I wanted to see a pic of the antenna to make sure you weren't using the wrong gender antenna(mk-v). That would be about the same as not connecting one. Having an active ap close by shouldn't hurt it either. There's always an active ap nearby, the device itself. I've seen aps get wiped out by leaky microwaves though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forkish Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 More Antennas=more SIDS More wires=stelth. 6' white ones are the best... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kapu Lanai Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry99705 Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 That little T thingy isn't going to do a damn thing for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forkish Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 That little T thingy isn't going to do a damn thing for you. I'm glad you said something, I wasn't sure yet. You said it won't do anything for me, what will it acconplish besides making me look super intel. Whatever that means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricos Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 I feel like perhaps I should post a pic of a Nano sitting amidst a nice bouquet of yagi antennas or something. I'm gonna go and plaster my walls with aluminium foil now. Maybe later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry99705 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) I'm glad you said something, I wasn't sure yet. You said it won't do anything for me, what will it acconplish besides making me look super intel. Whatever that means. Depending on how well it's made, it's going to cut the signal in half for each antenna, could be more. You can use them, but you have to design the array correctly for it to work, it's a shit ton of math to get everything right, then you will need the right test equipment to make sure it's right. As an example, the antennas need to be at least a wavelength apart from each other, which for 2.4ghz is 4.92 inches. Edited March 31, 2016 by barry99705 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuse8499 Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 More Antennas=more SIDS More wires=stelth. 6' white ones are the best... I thought my setup was good! That's awesome! With my setup I've pulled close to 120 access points at one time. I'd really like to know the range I'm getting. It seems to be about a half of a mile which is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.