The Five Antenna Placement Mistakes We See on Almost Every Site Walk
Common, costly, and almost always preventable — these are the antenna placement errors that destroy coverage budgets.
After hundreds of site walks across public safety, industrial, and commercial deployments, the same antenna placement mistakes show up over and over.
1. Mounting Below the Roof Line
Putting a donor antenna below the roof or behind a parapet creates a shadow region that can cost 10–15 dB on the relevant azimuth. The cable savings never make up for the link budget loss.
2. Co-Locating Tx and Rx Without Isolation Math
Even with great filtering, transmit power can desensitize a nearby receiver. Run the isolation math before you commit to a mounting location, not after.
3. Indoor Antennas Above Acoustic Tile in the Wrong Direction
Omnis above ceiling tile work fine — until the tile gets replaced with metal-backed acoustic panels during a build-out. Document antenna locations and orient stakeholders that future ceiling changes affect coverage.
4. Stairwell Antennas Mounted on the Door Side
The door is the highest-loss obstacle in the stairwell. Mount on the opposite wall to avoid putting it directly in the radiation path on every floor.
5. Ignoring Pattern Distortion from Nearby Metal
Antenna patterns published in the data sheet assume free space. A panel antenna mounted 6 inches from a structural steel column has a pattern that bears little resemblance to the spec sheet.