There are a variety of these Intel Centrino Wifi Adapters on the market, though I couldn't find any useful information as to what the best antenna configuration is. Do I need three antenas? Can I use one antenna? Who knows!
I did a little bit of testing to attempt to determine the answers.
These units are PCIe Half MiniCard with three antenna IPEX MHF1 ports.
The port order is 1 | 3 | 2, usually marked numerically on the PCB and either numerically on the sticker or with little triangles.
Port | Triangle | Cable | Purpose |
---|---|---|---|
1 | White | White | MAIN |
3 | Grey | Grey | MIMO |
2 | Black | Black | AUX |
I took 2,000 samples from /proc/net/wireless
with each antenna combination as well as none for a baseline. Using Antenna 1 & 2 scored the highest, but only slightly higher than any other combination. I only have two antennas in the machine I'm testing, so that is what I will be using.
Antenna Combination | Level | Link | Noise |
---|---|---|---|
1 & 2 | 57.72 | -52.28 | -256 |
2 Only | 55.41 | -54.59 | -256 |
3 Only | 55.08 | -54.92 | -256 |
1 & 3 | 54.94 | -55.06 | -256 |
1 & 2 & 3 | 54.62 | -55.38 | -256 |
2 & 3 | 54.62 | -55.38 | -256 |
1 Only | 53.33 | -56.67 | -256 |
None | 35.90 | -74.10 | -256 |
Data collected is available in this spreadsheet: Intel Centrino Wifi Adapter