Does anyone understand antenna db gain?
Looking to buy a better magnetic mount antenna for a Wilson Sleek cellular booster cradle. This is for the truck, I have a fixed on the rv. The one the booster came with produces very little if any ga...
Forum Discussion
In simple laymen's terms - antenna gain is a measurement of increased signal strength compared to a reference antenna that transmits equally in all directions (a sphere) at a specified distance. Total transmission power is never changed, only the pattern in which it is distributed. A gain of 0 (zero) would mean that at the same distance from either antenna, the received signal strength is the same. A 3 db gain means the signal strength at the receiving end is twice as strong as from the reference antenna. A 6 db gain is 4 times (3db + 3db = double x double; it's a logarithmic thing). A negative number means the signal strength at the receiver end is less than a reference antenna.
Now, the gain in reception comes at a price, and the price is you are limiting your transmission footprint. In most cases this is not an issue as the transmission usually becomes a flattened sphere, so you aren't transmitting up in the sky or down to the earth as much but out to the sides. A directional antenna gets far more gain, but then it will only transmit or receive from specific directions.
Now, the gain in reception comes at a price, and the price is you are limiting your transmission footprint. In most cases this is not an issue as the transmission usually becomes a flattened sphere, so you aren't transmitting up in the sky or down to the earth as much but out to the sides. A directional antenna gets far more gain, but then it will only transmit or receive from specific directions.
