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I would like to extend the range of an omnidirectional WiFi router (e.g. this one) in one direction.

Is it possible to connect a 2.4 GHz directional antenna (e.g. this one) to the router, by disconnecting one of the omnidirectional antennas and replacing it with the directional antenna?

What I'm looking for is a point to point long distance (over 20 miles) connection and a multi-points access in a radius of 100 feet around the router. Everything must be connected to the same network.

Greelings
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That antenna is for point to point connections, up to a couple miles. It creates a tightly focused beam pattern that isn't going to help you in a home/soho scenario. The general rule for wifi antennas: the higher the dbi rating, the more directional the radiation pattern.

I wouldn't recommend taking out an antenna from the phase array and using a directional in its place. These routers already use semi directional antennas for beamforming. A better option is to enable beamforming in the configuration. If you don't see a significant improvement from beamforming it most likely means your client devices do not support it, and your best option would be to upgrade your client side wireless cards/adapters.

If you haven't done so already, take some time to figure out what channels in the 2.4ghz band have the least interference, and what channels in the 5Ghz band are not in use. Just doing this should significantly improve reception.

Tim_Stewart
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  • Ok thank you, unfortunately I don't think Beamforming can work at a distance of several miles. What I'm looking for is a point to point long distance (over 20 miles) connection and a multi-points access in a radius of 100 feet around the router. Everything must be connected to the same network. – Greelings May 12 '21 at 13:06
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    @Denis: It sounds like you're assuming that "same network" requires "same router". **It doesn't.** You can perfectly well have multiple _separate_ local omnidirectional APs and long-distance point-to-point APs all giving access to the same subnet. _(In addition, "same network" doesn't even necessarily have to be the same subnet, but that's a separate topic.)_ – u1686_grawity May 12 '21 at 13:14
  • @user1686 You are right, I can do this with 2 routers. I just wanted to reduce the latency as much as possible by avoiding an intermediary. A low latency is crucial. – Greelings May 12 '21 at 13:22
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    @Denis: How low is "low" for you? I have consistent 0.9ms ping to a device that's separated from me by a 5 km point-to-point wi-fi link, 3 switches, and even 2 routers (not just APs but actual routers that separate subnets). And because Wi-Fi is half-duplex, I actually suspect that having separate APs on different frequencies may result in _lower_ latency than everything sharing the airtime of one AP. – u1686_grawity May 12 '21 at 13:59