A review of the EnGenius SN-920 by a user, 1/15/2001
a. All the antenna fittings for the EnGenius 920 are proprietary and have left hand threads. Not only that, the left handed fittings are different on either end of the connecting cables! The EnGenius customer support staff informed me that the FCC demanded this detail as a part of licensing the phone. One presumes that since the phone closely approaches the maximum allowable power of such devices, the FCC was afraid users would attempt to hot rod it by installing in-line signal amplifiers or high performance antennas. The proprietary fittings are a first line of defense against such hot-rodding. Here's the fitting on the base unit. It looks like a standard coax cable fitting, but look again:
b. The advertised gain of the outdoor antenna is 6 db, which is a substantial increase in signal strength. However, in order to connect the outdoor antenna to the base unit, you must use one of two proprietary EnGenius cables, the 10 meter cable or the 20 meter cable. According to the EnGenius customer service staff, the 10 meter cable has an attenuation of 3 db, so that the antenna/cable combination yields only a 3 db gain. It gets worse with the 20 meter cable--the cable which I used. The 20 meter cable has a 6 db attenuation which exactly cancels out the 6 db gain of the outdoor antenna. Thus, when using the 20 meter cable its purpose is solely to allow you to gain height--remember, the higher the better! However, this suggests an obvious strategy: mount the base unit very high (perhaps on a pole, contained in a weatherproof box?) without the outdoor antenna and you'll get the same range as if the outdoor antenna was mounted that high and connected to the 20 meter cable. Or another strategy, connect the outdoor antenna directly to the base with no attenuating cable (this would violate the warranty, and would be very difficult because the proprietary fittings are different on the antenna and the base) and stick that whole thing up high in a tree! An article in a "get off the grid" online journal suggests just this solution. Check out the article at http://www.homesteadtechnology.com/newsletters/20000412.txt
c. Related to the paragraph above, consider EnGenius Customer Service's response when I told them that I ALMOST had the range that I needed: they said to boost the signal another 3db I should switch from the 20 meter cable to the 10 meter outdoor antenna cable. Okay. I'd gain 3db--but I'd lose antenna height. I chose to leave well enough alone, but keep this in mind for your installation: the shorter the antenna cable, the stronger the signal from the antenna.
d. There was interference with other phones before I installed the outdoor antenna. When my next door neighbor called on HER 900 mhz cordless phone as she often does, and we tried to chat with me on the EnGenius SN-920, there was terrible interference: loud clicking pops, breakup of my voice, it was impossible! I had to switch to another phone. However, after mounting the outdoor antenna, the problem went away.
e. Like many folks these days, I spend considerable time at my computer and am on the phone some of this time. I have a multi-media monitor with built-in speakers and amplifier. The EnGenius 920 introduces a loud buzzing on my multi-media monitor when I use it within four feet. Thus, I cannot use the handset and use my computer simultaneously.
f. Although my review is of the EnGenius 920, here's an interesting note about the EnGenius 900 also: the two phones (according to EnGenius' official website) are backwards and forwards compatible with each other. You can see how this might be useful. For instance, if you wanted to add a 2nd handset, but didn't want to buy a new 920 one, you could pick up a used 900 handset for cheap on ebay and add it to your existing 920 system.
EnGenius SN-920 User Review Home Page
1) Purchasing the EnGenius SN-920
2) Installation Without Outdoor Antenna
3) Testing the Range Without the Outdoor Antenna
4) Installation With the Outdoor Antenna
5) Testing the Range With the Outdoor Antenna
6) Technical Details and Miscellaneous Observations
8) Conclusions about the EnGenius SN-920
10) Ten years later, the Project Ends
copyright Eric Geilker geilker5@aol.com