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I'm using an 11dbi omni directional antenna with a tplink tl-wr841hp router and 20ft of L400 cable.

The antenna is mounted on a 20ft pole. Line of sight care.

I'm trying to send the signal 200 meters to friends around me but I'm only getting about 130ft and after 80ft I'm getting a signal but unable to connect.

How can I improve this setup?

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First of all, I just want to make sure you're not under the common misconceptions:

  • The antennae should not point at each other, but be perpendicular. I will continue stressing this, until I stop seeing people pointing the antennae where they want the signal to go.
  • Higher gain isn't necessarily better. Gain is adjusted based on the antennae.
  • Higher Tx power isn't necessarily better, as signal reflection will cause noise. Adjust this up to find the sweet spot of highest signal to noise ratio. This is especially important for omni-directional antennae.
  • It's not enough to just select an available channel. Due to the high bandwidth, you need some channel separation.

With those out of the way, here are some things that can improve setups like yours:

  • Switch to a directional antenna
  • Use a pair of amplifiers. But beware of the signal reflection issue I've mentioned above. Also, beware of legal restrictions to transmit power.
  • Use a lower channel. Lower frequency allows for longer ranges, so avoid the 5Ghz band
  • As a low-cost DIY solution, consider building a cantenna for a directional approach.
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    directional antenna sounds like a very good idea (on both sides!). Be careful with the amplifiers, since the resulting signal strength might be rather high. Most countries have legal restrictions about high-power signals in this frequency range
    – Slizzered
    Apr 21, 2015 at 8:22
  • @Slizzered Good point about the amps. Edited it into my answer.
    – Jarmund
    Apr 21, 2015 at 8:26

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