Antenna Polarization and How it Works for You

One of the least understood properties of a wireless signal is its polarization, especially if you are installing a lot of antennas in one location, like on a tower. Polarization is determined by the way that an antenna is mounted, and can usually only be either horizontal or vertical. This is important, especially in point-to-point wireless communication, because only antennas with the same polarization will be able to communicate the signal from the transmitting antenna.

L-com outlines the signal width of all of our antennas for both vertical and horizontal polarization. This helps you to visually determine the antenna type you need.

Because polarization determines the antennas that can pick up the signal, you could set up two antennas in close proximity, and pointing in the same direction, but with different polarization. The result would be that antennas which are vertically polarized would only pick up the signal from the vertically transmitting antenna, while only horizontally polarized antennas would pick up the horizontally transmitting antenna.

Some antennas have "dual polarization" such as many of our Parabolic Dish Antennas. These special antennas have two ports to plug in: one for the vertical polarization and one for the horizontal polarization. Once properly installed, these special antennas can communicate with antennas of both types of polarities at the same time from one antenna.

Proper installation of antennas, especially in regards to the polarization required, is essential. For this reason,
L-com provides installation guidelines for all antennas. For instance, HG5158D antennas have a great "swivel" feature allowing them to be precisely aimed at another antenna for great throughput and connectivity.

Check out the installation guide for this antenna here.

You can get all of our installation guides on our website here.