Explain to me Bluetooth antennas.

[Excalibur418]

I've seen them mentioned on here and the internet and I was wondering how they worked. Can you connect them to mini pci cards in to replace the antenna leads that are marked MAIN and AUX?

Ex

[gator]

No ... antenannas are usually made for specific frequencies and bluetooth and wi-fi work on different frequences (antenna lenght also directly translates to range of each, BT is much smaller than wifi).

[aaa]

BT and b/g wifi use the same frequency... and range does not equal antenna length, there's more stuff involved than that. The antennae are interchangeable.


However (not sure which Thinkpad this is), you have to keep in mind that Thinkpads have alot of metal in them, reducing reception. Generally the IBM designed antennae get the most reception because IBM made special metal-free spots for them in the lid.

[sjthinkpader]

These are mostly dipole or folded dipole antennae in the lid. The length of the dipole is usually some fraction of the wavelength.

WiFi cards usually put out about 0.5W of power.

And yes, BT and WiFi antennae are interchangeable.

[gator]

Thanks for correcting me guys, I was not aware that wifi and BT antennas are interchangeable.