ESP32 range enhancement with external wifi antenna. How far will it go?

Показать описание

How far we can extend the range of the standard ESP32 by attaching a external wifi antenna. ESPNOW is used as communication protocol.

Рекомендации по теме

Комментарии

In most ESP u can turn on Long Range mode. I could reach more than 1km with omnidirectional antennas and clear view

qooras

In the world of antennas, bigger is not better. You want an efficient antenna (probably 1/4 wavelength) that radiates as much of the transmitted power as possible. I would think a good starting point is to use your phone running the app WiFi Analyzer which will give you an indication of the transmitted power increase as you change the antenna. This way you can put a number to the dB gain by using the external antenna for transmit. Also I wonder if ESP has the equivalent of WiFi Analyzer where you can display the received power. Again this gives you a quantative number for the gain of the receive antenna - I would expect roughly the same Tx/Rx gain. You could then experiment with different antennas to see which are more efficient.

fredbloggs

Awesome content!

And sense of range is hard to judge sometimes. Good results

jamiegoegebeur

Nice test! 40 meters is MUCH more than I'd have expected from the builtin antenna...

EctoMorpheus

Your antennae orientation is all wrong. With the antennae pointing like swords at each other, the radiation is being is being focused 90° away from where it should be. With dipoles like these they’re supposed to be parallel to each other.

wattage

I would think the better approach is to use directional antennas at proper lengths per frequency used, and/or boost power to them? Andreas Spiess has done a lot on this.

jackd

Hi I just tumbled on this video and am also messing with ESP32 in Japan. I think Jeany is likely into something with her comment about your new antenna not being used even though you soldered it in. The esp32-cam comes with an antenna connection, but to make it work you need to move a resistor to away from the internal antenna and on to the external antenna. You can only use one at a time. I assume a similar process is required for the wiring in an antenna for esp32 prime.

ultrabob

It's a nice test :) Can you please share the link of the wifi antenna ? :)

TheSharathbhushan

Good job! I wanna ask about the antenna ? Any specific characteristics ?

njoudsaleh

Hmm.... I did a test yeasterday and went out to 620m and still had signal. I used a 32U version with U.fl connector and a shorter antenna

ijustwants

150Meter is not bad at all, do you think putting on hight will give you more range?

ashishmalaviya

It will be better with panel directional antennas.

saokogroup

Size matters, but it's still not always as bigger as better. Your optimism to get a bigger reach because of the size of this anttennas makes me a bit suspicious. Antennas dont have toi be big, their length must match the frequency. I think those ESP modules you buy with an external antenna, come with shorter ones. So maybe it makes sense to try another antenna or even buy an Esp module with external antenna.
Another thing is, that you have to cut some traces to disconnect the integrated antenna when you add an internal one. The video doesnt show if you did that.

jeanyluisa