Main Types of Wifi Antenna

Directional Antennas

These types of antennas focus their signal in a specif area. Think of it like when you spay a garden hose in one direction. The reason for these types of antennas is that their range can typically go out further than omnidirectional antennas can due to their tighter focused signal area.

These types of antennas a great when you have a signal in your house and you want to repeat that signal in your garage that may be far away.

Flat Panel Antennas

These are usually used in bigger building that need a repeater in order to get a better signal in a certain part of building. For example, if you have a signal in the office, but you also need one on the factory floor, these types of antennas can accomplish that.
Yagi Antennas

These are the least powerful of the antennas we have discussed do far. They are mainly used to send a signals shorter distances than the above, and due to their minimal power, they are also usually cheaper than the alternatives above.

Parabolic Antennas

These are the antennas that resemble a satallite TV dish. They also work on the same principles. They are the strongest of all of the antennas, and usually also th most costly. But if you need distace and not an onidirctional repeating signal, this is the one for you.

Omnidirectional Antennas

These are the kind that are usually in a coffee shop, or a home. They are a lot weaker due to the signal being sent in ever direction, and cover a much smaller distance than the units above, but the are perfect for small businesses or your home. They are also usually the easiest to use and set up. If you’re looking for a signal boost for your home, this is the kind to buy.

These are all 2.4GHz antennas. They will not work for 5GHz applications.

Yagi Plug and Play directional WiFi Antenna

This antenna comes with its own driver for a very simple and fast set up. It really easy pretty much Plug-and-Play. It also comes with a signal Amp that really adds power to its signal strength. All in all, this is definitely the best buy here and my number one recommendation.

• Has its own tripod
• This can be used to send or receive a signal as far as a half a mile away

This particular model only works with PC and Laptops only. It does not have any Apple drivers at all. It does however work well with Linux.

TP-Link TL-ANT2414A 2.4GHz 14dBi Outdoor Directional Antenna

The TP-Link TL-ANT2414A 2.4GHz 14dBi can be easily hooked up to your router and is made to be used outdoors which means it is weather proof and will withstand most climates.
This comes packaged with a 1m/3ft cable with a RP-SMA Male connector which is standard wifi connection, or it can be used as a wireless solution. Dual-Band with a data transfer rate of 1,300 Mb per second.

Telstra External Antenna

The Telstra 4GX USB+Wi-Fi Plus USB Huawei E8372 External magnetic antenna comes with its own 5 foot antenna adapter cable. The antenna measure one foot high and looks like a car antenna. It’s small, effective and easy to use. 

TP-Link TL-ANT2424B 2.4GHz 24dBi Directional Grid Parabolic Antenna

This unit is also an outdoor unit that can be either mounted on a pole or a wall. It can withstand winds up to 216 Km/h and measures 23.6 x 6 x 39.4 in. It only weighs 4.2 pounds, so you don’t need a very large mount. You can get it here with 2 day shipping.

This will connect to an antenna port on any router.