Guide to Using an Antenna Indoors

If you've read our other guides, you'll know that weak service in suburban and built up areas is mostly caused by the nearby buildings, trees, or even the building you're in.

So to notice a significant improvement to your connection, an antenna placed outside or on the roof will minimise building and other obstructions.

Location location location!

There will be times when mounting an antenna outside is not possible - many renters may not have this option.

There may also be those that are picking up some service inside and just need a little boost - this is where an indoor antenna can work quite well. The key to success with a indoor antenna is location, location, location.

As radio waves cannot penetrate well through thick walls or metal, signal often flows into the building through open doors and windows. It reaches around corners and into rooms by reflecting off just about every surface, creating an extreme multipath environment.

Because inbound radio waves come from just about every possible angle, the best performing antenna for this situation is a 0dBi antenna (i.e. one that can receive from every spherical direction), such as the one that's already in your modem.

This means that to use an indoor antenna successfully, you'll need to locate it in the source of the signal - i.e. in the window or doorway.

It's also worth mentioning that these antennas must be connected into your mobile phone or modem with a patch lead.

If your device doesn't support an external antenna, the best choice is a Smart Repeater unit.