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TP-Link vs Lcom 15dbi Omni Antennas

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w8erd
TP-Link vs Lcom 15dbi Omni Antennas
The TP-link antenna is held to its base by only some feeble glue.
I have now had 2 of them fail, by pulling loose from the base.
It MIGHT be possible to repair them, by taking the innards completely out of the tube,
straightening everything out, and carefully putting it back in the tube.
And using superglue.
The Lcom is much more rugged.  The TP-link is less expensive.
But strangely the Lcom is a lot shorter than the TP-link, so how can it have the same gain?
 
Bob  W8ERD
KG6JEI
Better antenna design would
Better antenna design would be my guess.
I haven't  seen the insides of the two but a quick guess would be a simple colinear (tplink) vs a slotted waveguide(L-Com) meaning better accuracy and shaping of the signal.
kf7nqw
I had one fail in the same

I had one fail in the same manner. I didn't have to take it apart as the wind did that for me. I created a new mounting system from PVC pipe. It is much stronger. One piece of pipe goes half way up the antenna. Another houses the Bullet radio and it is that pipe that now mounts to the stand-off.

John
kf7nqw

w8erd
TP-Link antennas
I found many other complaints about these antennas on Amazon.
I sent a complaint to their support dept which did nothing.
Best advice is DO NOT BUY TP-link antennas!

If you already have one that is not broken, wrap wide heat shrink tape around the base and shaft and heat it as norrnal.  That may prevent the
antenna from coming apart.  Do the same if it is just mildly broken, such as twisting in the base.

If it has come out of the base somewhat, glue it with superglue and tape it.

If it has broken off internally at the crimp point, replace the crimp shaft with a short length of braid, so you can solder it.  Then as above.

If a lot of it has come out of the tube, remove the top cap (easily done, same poor glue as the base), and pull antenna completely out.  You cannot push it back in from the bottom because that is like pushing on a rope.  use a still wire to pull a nylon fish line thru the tube.  Tie the fish line onto the top coil, and carefully pull the
antenna back thru the tube.  Reattach the connector as above.  

See the attached photo for how bad it can get.

Bob W8ERD
Image Attachments: 
w7rej
Agreed!
Agreed!

Stay away from cheapo TP-Link antennae. I had one that came apart from a mildly windy day. It amazes me that they still sell these pieces of crap.
n1cz
n1cz's picture
Moral of the story, if the
Moral of the story, if the "antenna company" does not show radiation patterns, don't buy it. This includes so called radomes and anything else that affects far field patterns.
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Partly related...   I
Partly related...   I purchased a reflector to attach and use with the Ubuqiti NanoStations.  I discussed this issue with one of the sales guys at Performance Antenna.   The story was they could not publish radiation patterns for a 3rd party xmit device on the reflector.    Wondering if this is legit or an excuse.   It does work OK for the price taking a Nanostation range out to ~40 mile links on 3Ghz (since the nanobridges are getting harder to source). 

Joe AE6XE

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