At present, we can find ESP8266 WiFiboards of different flavors most with built in printed antennas but there are a few with coax connectors for external antenna connection.
Would a simple 1/4 wave external antenna improve the range ?
Also, would range be maximized when the transmit & receive antennas are parallel ?
I am referring to Omnidirectional range, where the receiving system has no 'pointing' information.
Thanks!

 

If you google "esp8266 wifi range" you will see several links to
folks that have worked on/tested range for these modules.

Regards, Dana,

 

Thanks, Dana.
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I was looking for specifics. However, those google hits are rich in content and one ends up learning a lot that comes in handy, possibly at a later time. That said, I lack the discipline to mine just what I need and end up wandering the web while my soldering iron gets cold.. Guess I would have to constrain my search further.
Regards, Ram

 

At present, we can find ESP8266 WiFiboards of different flavors most with built in printed antennas but there are a few with coax connectors for external antenna connection.
Would a simple 1/4 wave external antenna improve the range ?
Also, would range be maximized when the transmit & receive antennas are parallel ?
I am referring to Omnidirectional range, where the receiving system has no 'pointing' information.
Thanks!

Yes, a 1/4 wave antenna will outperform the meandered inverted F antenna on the PCB.
Yes, range is always maximized when both antennas are in the same plane.
An antenna removed from a wi-fi router is a half-wave dipole and will outperform a 1/4 wave whip.
You might be interested in this article. https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/projects/all-about-omnidirectional-wi-fi-antennas/

 

At present, we can find ESP8266 WiFiboards of different flavors most with built in printed antennas but there are a few with coax connectors for external antenna connection.
Would a simple 1/4 wave external antenna improve the range ?
Also, would range be maximized when the transmit & receive antennas are parallel ?
I am referring to Omnidirectional range, where the receiving system has no 'pointing' information.
Thanks!

I think that there is some good information already posted in the thread. I only want to mention the following: The ESP8266-07 contains BOTH an onboard ceramic antenna and a coax connector for an external antenna. The ceramic antenna is connected and it has been recommended that a 0-ohm resistor on the board be removed (disconnecting the ceramic antenna) if you want to use an external antenna.

See https://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1550 for more information.

 

Thanks Taracvom & Raymond all for the valuable info!
Ram