# RAK Glass Fiber Antenna with 6dBi peak gain **URL:** \ **Category:** RAK Gateways\ **Created:** [January 1, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049 "2020-01-01T02:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/obaeyens/32/25844_2.png) [@obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/obaeyens)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/1 "2020-01-01T02:28:54Z")
Hello, Because I seem only to reach 250 meters from my gateway, I want to upgrade the antenna on my gateway. I am going to connect a RAK Glass Fiber Antenna with 6dBi peak gain, N-Type iPEX Connector, support 868MHz to my RAK2245 board. If I understand correctly because I have a +dBi + gain I must configure the RAK gateway to have lower transmission power. Anyone can tell me what to modify in the RAK gateway config? Is there also a good way to verify if the transmitted power is not exceeding the legal limit easily? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff-UK](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/jeff-uk/32/35697_2.png) [@Jeff-UK](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/Jeff-UK)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2020, 9:32am UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/2 "2020-01-01T09:32:32Z")
Personally if I was only getting 250m range from a gw (yes it has happened!) I would investigate why and what affecting - equipment or environmental issues - before looking to invest in better antenna. Can you take the GW elsewhere to run checks to eliminated built environment issues?..Check existing ant & kit correctly set up with tight connections using correct connectors (e.g. sma m/f, sma-rp m/f etc.). Check test node with other TTN gw’s etc. ---
**Author:** ![obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/obaeyens/32/25844_2.png) [@obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/obaeyens)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/3 "2020-01-01T21:12:55Z")
I live in an apartment second floor in a small village. By I also heard how bad antenna’s get shipped with products so I want to get one official one from RAK first. ---
**Author:** ![UdLoRa](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/udlora/32/45330_2.png) [@UdLoRa](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/UdLoRa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/4 "2020-01-02T19:42:54Z")
250m are so few that likely the antenna is not the only issue. One crucial thing is where the gateway is placed: if you put it in the middle of the apartment, table level, even with the new antenna you will not reach kilometers. Plus, checking connections is also a must. ---
**Author:** ![obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/obaeyens/32/25844_2.png) [@obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/obaeyens)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/5 "2020-01-02T20:41:57Z")
This one is at my window, But I am starting to wonder if this antenna is actually good: > **[RAK2245 RPi HAT Edition - LoRaWAN™ Gateway Concentrator Module](https://store.rakwireless.com/products/rak2245-pi-hat)** > > RAK2245 Pi HAT is an improved and modified version of the RAK831. The LoRa Gateway Module is fully compatible with Raspberry Pi and is available at a very low cost. It is developed based on the Semtech SX1301 module. You can find out more details... Seems tiny for something that can communicate long distance. ---
**Author:** ![obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/obaeyens/32/25844_2.png) [@obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/obaeyens)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/6 "2020-01-02T22:53:41Z")
I think I can answer my own question In the global\_conf.json file ``` "SX1301_conf": { "lorawan_public": true, "clksrc": 1, "antenna_gain": 0, ``` I probably have to set this to 6dBi peak gain for this newer antenna ``` "SX1301_conf": { "lorawan_public": true, "clksrc": 1, "antenna_gain": 6, <<<------------------- ``` ---
**Author:** ![kersing](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/kersing/32/44777_2.png) [@kersing](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/kersing)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/7 "2020-01-02T23:26:01Z")
That depends on which packet forwarder you are running, some older code bases do not handle the setting correctly resulting in no transmissions. ---
**Author:** ![PercyPrune](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/percyprune/32/37051_2.png) [@PercyPrune](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/PercyPrune)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/8 "2020-01-03T16:30:16Z")
I’d leave that alone for several reasons: - +6dBi (rounded up for marketing) is +5.1 … 5.8dBi (technical) - +5.1 … 5.8dBi (still marketing) is +2.95 … +3.65dBd gain (best guess) in real - you have cable and connector losses of the 1m RAK antenna cable of ~ -0.9dB - so in theory you have +2.05 … +2.85dBd gain for spare which is easily dampened by your 2nd story appartment’s walls. ---
**Author:** ![LoRaTracker](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/loratracker/32/48502_2.png) [@LoRaTracker](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/LoRaTracker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/9 "2020-01-03T17:31:56Z")
> [@obaeyens](#): > > I probably have to set this to 6dBi peak gain for this newer antenna > > ```auto > "SX1301_conf": { > "lorawan_public": true, > "clksrc": 1, > "antenna_gain": 6, <<<------------------- > > ``` You probably do, if you want to stay legal, which is good. I am not aware of any excemptions for what might possibly be absorbed by objects some distance from the actual antenna. ---
**Author:** ![obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/obaeyens/32/25844_2.png) [@obaeyens](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/obaeyens)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/10 "2020-01-03T17:52:55Z")
So “legal” is what the transmitter emits, now what gets out beyond the wall/window. Makes sense since this is a very easy rule to validate. ---
**Author:** ![PercyPrune](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/percyprune/32/37051_2.png) [@PercyPrune](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/PercyPrune)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/11 "2020-01-03T18:18:22Z")
I didn’t talk about exemptions. I referred to his bad reception capability which will not improve that much with an +6dBi antenna. “Big gain”-antennas for LoRa (with it’s huge link budget) are overestimated. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![kersing](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/kersing/32/44777_2.png) [@kersing](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/kersing)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/12 "2020-01-03T19:14:24Z")
> [@obaeyens](#): > > So “legal” is what the transmitter emits, now what gets out beyond the wall/window. Legal depends on the output of the antenna, not the output of the transmitter. So if you suffer a huge loss in the cables and connectors a 6dBi antenna might well be legal without changing the transmitter output. ---
**Author:** ![UdLoRa](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/udlora/32/45330_2.png) [@UdLoRa](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/UdLoRa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/13 "2020-01-03T21:33:08Z")
> [@obaeyens](#): > > Seems tiny for something that can communicate long distance. mmm. Looking at the antenna, likely you need something better. ---
**Author:** ![PercyPrune](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/user_avatar/www.thethingsnetwork.org/percyprune/32/37051_2.png) [@PercyPrune](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/PercyPrune)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/rak-glass-fiber-antenna-with-6dbi-peak-gain/33049/14 "2020-01-04T14:17:28Z")
Two days before I was able to establish a LoRaWAN link of 8.7km LOS in urban area with a tiny antenna similar to [THIS](https://cdn1-shop.mikroe.com/img/product/868mhz-straight-rubber/868mhz-straight-rubber-thickbox_default-12x.jpg) on a ~ +16dBm transmitting INDOOR node. The signal was received with an astonishing -137dBm. The relevant receiving gateway uses an λ/4-Ground Plane outdoor antenna. Most important for an antenna is it’s exact frequency band tuning. edit reason: typos