1850 or 1542 external antenna question

[dnordenberg1]

Hi!

Is it possible to place the external antennas on different floors to increase area covered if you don't need the enhanced speed MIMO gives? Does each antenna work individually then if it was an old SISO AP? I want to build a mobile phone WiFi for phone calls where there are no cellphone coverage in industrial buildings and I want to maximize coverage, not speed/capacity. There are very few employees so there will be like max 1 simulations call per AP and each call requires only like a few kbit/s so that is why MIMO is of little use to me

[Leo Laohoo]

Your question cannot be answered adequately because there are so many factors that can affect WiFi coverage indoors and outdoors.  This is why we always recommend getting a wireless site survey done correctly.

 NOTE:  1542 is an outdoor AP and it is not designed to be installed indoors.

[dnordenberg1]

It is harsh industrial, moist environment, I think you can call that equivalent to outdoor. I'm also thinking about using a standard AP like 1850 in a protecting box. That is why I mentioned both.

My question was not about how coverage works indoors, it was if the MIMO antennas must be placed at the same location or if you can add like 1m antenna patch cable to go through the floor to another level and cover a area on that too like if I was using two SISO APs.

[Scott Fella]

“How” you do it is up to you. External antennas give you the flexibly to place them away from the ap and also depending on the antenna, provide a different pattern. When using external antennas, you must also be aware of if the unit can be placed in that environment or not. There are indoor and outdoor antennas with outdoor having drain holes to let moisture out.
There is not one way to do what you want, but survey the area and determine where antennas/enclosure/access points can be placed or not and if or where you can core holes for the antenna leads.