Spray on the antenna

[tomathur]

Can we spray the antenna of a 1240 AP without impacting its reception and transmission capabilities?

[jeff.kish]

Haha, there's a fun question. Spray what, exactly? Paint? Insulation? Cleaner?

[tomathur]

hehehehe...Funny indeed.But one of my customer wants to paint the antenna with the color on the building.

[jeff.kish]

Believe it or not, we had a request like that once. The customer was a campground site that didn't want white antennas scattered about. They wanted us to spray paint them black.

It wasn't my project so I didn't see it through to completion, but the engineer that did it claimed that he had done it before and that it wouldn't be a problem.

[tomathur]

Thanks a lot for your help Jeff .We got the answer. The customer can paint the antenna but then the warranty of the AP would be void.

[scottmac · Accepted solution]

I have seen, "wit' me oon two eyes I have," a document on the main Cisco site that says painting is OK, as long as it's an RF-benign paint (i.e., no metallic pigment or bases chemicals, like a latex paint).

I cannot locate the document now ... I'll look again when I have more time, but I've seen one.

I remember it because when I saw it, I thought about the paint possible absorbing moisture from the air and degrading performance in some environments.

FWIW

[scottmac]

Well, I couldn't come up with anything on Cisco's site, but I found the following with Google:

http://www.whotspot.com/p_wifi.htm

HG-2409: Flat Panel Patch Antenna

This very compact flat patch Wi-Fi antenna provides 8 dBi gain with very broad coverage. It is suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications in the 2.4GHz ISM band, including IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g, Bluetooth® and for public wireless hotspot applications. This WiFi antenna is lightweight and features an aesthetic UV-stable, UL flame rated white plastic radome which can also be painted to match the room or building structure. The HG2409P can be installed for horizontal or vertical polarization. It can be wall or ceiling mounted, as well as mast-mounted using U-bolts. Beamwidth: 75 Horizontal 65 Vertical.

http://products.wi-fiplanet.com/wifi/antenna/1155841475.html

YSC-HG2409P

This very compact flat patch antenna provides 8 dBi gain with very broad coverage. It is suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications in the 2.4 GHz ISM band, including IEEE 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth and for public wireless hotspot applications. This antenna is lightweight and features an aesthetic UV-stable, UL flame rated white plastic radome which can also be painted to match the room or building structure. It can be wall or ceiling mounted, as well as mast-mounted using U-bolts.

A thread from another forum:

http://www.olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=3050.0

http://www.nowdistribution.com/dist/antennas/antenna2.html

WA/A2408 - 2.4GHz 8dBi Wireless LAN Round Patch Antenna

Looks like a Smoke Detector!

2408This very compact round WiFi patch antenna provides 8 dBi gain with very broad coverage. It is suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications in the 2.4GHz ISM band, including IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g, Bluetooth® and public wireless hotspot applications. This antenna is lightweight and features an aesthetic UV-stable, UL flame rated white plastic radome which can also be painted to match the room or building structure. The HG2408P can be installed for horizontal or vertical polarization.

The HG2408P can be mounted flat against the wall or ceiling. Its unique design allows the cable to exit out of the side or from the back of the unit which is ideal for mounting in locations that require the cable to be hidden.

So, at the least, some folks are painting their antennas, and apparently having decent results. Non-metallic paint (like latex) would make sense for radomes, you'd probably have to rough up the surface first to help it stick.

If it's a metal antenna (like a Yagi), almost anything ought to work ...

Thanks for the points!

Good Luck

Scott

[Sushil Kumar Katre]

Guys, really interesting post. I was under the impression that paints should not be used, but got some really interesting facts here.

Pretty comprehensive info Scott!!!

Here's what I found on CiscoWiki -

https://supportwiki.cisco.com/ViewWiki/index.php/Does_painting_of_wireless_antenna_cause_RF_interference%3F

-> Sushil

[tomathur]

Thanks a lot for this elaborate information Scott. That's some really useful stuff for all the wireless users. Though we are using the A radio (5GHz).

[scottmac]

It shouldn't matter that much.

If you think about it, the signal is often expected to penetrate light walls (dry wall)... most of which will have several coats of paint on them.

Although in the second post I said something (semi-stupid) that for metallic antennas {blah blah } you could use almost anything ... of course, all antennas are going to be metal, some just have "radomes" of fiberglass or plastic. The difference I was trying to point out was applying the paint directly to the metal of the antenna, versus applying paint to the radome ...

FWIW

Scott

[Matthew Fowler]

Yes, you can paint them as long as the paint is non-conductive. Keep in mind, though, that it will void the waranty as parts must remain in 'reasonable resale condition'.

[hammadk1]

Good job.

[srimal99]

Found some documents related to APs ,Changing the painting on Ap will void the warranty. It may come in handy in the future.
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/catalyst-9100ax-access-points/guide-c07-742311.html?dtid=osscdc000283#ChangingthecolorofanAP