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Wireless & Mobility · Intermediate

Polarization

The orientation of an antenna's electric field: vertical, horizontal, or circular.

Definition

Transmitting and receiving antennas should share the same polarization for best performance. Mismatched polarization can cause significant loss on point-to-point links, though indoor multipath reduces the effect. Most indoor Wi-Fi antennas are vertically polarized.

Example

Rotating one bridge antenna 90 degrees can drop signal by 20 dB or more.

Exam tip

Polarization mismatch matters most on outdoor line-of-sight links.

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