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Forum Discussion

rvtips's avatar
rvtips
Tutor
Jan 23, 2021

antenna why two

Why do you need two antennas ? I have a Wilson trucker antenna can I use it on one of the conntector on the nighthawk? Phil
plemans's avatar
plemans
Guru - Experienced User
Jan 26, 2021

And what end type is on the wilson trucker antenna?

And what nighthawk do you have? 

rvtips's avatar
rvtips
Tutor
Jan 26, 2021

I have the night hawk mr1100,the antenna has the same connection as the night hawk,it will srew right on.

I just want to know if I can use just one of the antenna ports on the night hawk.

  • plemans's avatar
    plemans
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jan 26, 2021

    you can always try it if the connector is the same. Not out anything to try. 

  • antinode's avatar
    antinode
    Guru
    Jan 26, 2021

    > I have the night hawk mr1100, [...]

     

       Whew.

     

       I know nothing, but my first attempt to get some useful info from an
    MR1100 User Manual (Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model
    number, and look for Documentation. Get the User Manual.) got me only:

     

          o TS9 antenna connectors. Two SMK-TS9 connectors for an optional
            MIMO antenna. For more information about connecting an external
          antenna, see External Antennas on page ?.

     

       Of course, there is no "page ?".  And the equally useful:

     

          For more information, visit netgear.com/XXXXaccessories.

     

       My guess is that someone left this noise in the Manual to identify
    places where someone was supposed to fill in actual information later.
    Which apparently didn't happen.


       There are many variants of the MR1100, so someone who cared more than
    I might check the documentation for them.

     

    > I just want to know if I can use just one of the antenna ports on the
    > night hawk.

     

       I wouldn't expect any damage, so I'd run the experiment.  (But what
    do I know?)

     

       A Web search for terms like, say:
          Netgear MR1100 antenna
    might reveal some interesting material.

    • schumaku's avatar
      schumaku
      Guru - Experienced User
      Jan 27, 2021
      antinode wrote:

            o TS9 antenna connectors. Two SMK-TS9 connectors for an optional
              MIMO antenna. For more information about connecting an external
            antenna, see External Antennas on page ?.

       

         Of course, there is no "page ?".  And the equally useful:

       

      Netgear's always brilliant QA and the Harward Business School fire and forget behaviour 8-/  The MR2100 (M2) manual is a little bit more informative in this aspect.

       

      "External Antennas
      Using an external antenna might be recommended in areas of lower coverage to improve
      your device performance. MIMO Dual RF antennas are available from your retailer. Insert
      the connector carefully to avoid damage to your device."

       

       

      These units (like many earlier AirCard) make use of two radios doing Dual MIMO for the 4x4 system - that's why there are two antennas, and that's why Netgear is offering dual MIMO antennas - at least in some markets. The US site Nighthawk M1 4G LTE Mobile Router - MR1100 | NETGEAR does not list any antenna offer.

       

      The KB MIMO Antenna (6000450) | Product | Support | NETGEAR does point to a data sheet for an indoor antenna MIMO_antenna_DS_07Aug14.indd (netgear.com) from 2014  stating "For complete list of compatible devices please go to:
      www.netgear.com/ServiceProviders/AirCardAccessories ... as antinode would say again equally useful 404. I can't understand what they are making all days long 8-(

       

      rvtips you can't hurt anything by conncting just one antenna - permitting it's the correct matching connector.  If it does help overall with the reception in your use case ... hard to say.