nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Hung Bui — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 08:55:54 GMT

Here is the application note on antenna tuning. And here is on matching network tuning.

The nRF52840 can do both, talking to nRF24/nRF5 via radio directly, or ESB or BLE and talking to the phone via BLE.

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Bukhtawar — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 05:33:28 GMT

how can we tune pcb antenna of nrf? i am not getting this point. please elaborate it if possible. and nrf52840 is bluetooth module? can we communicate it with our hub? or it will be directly communicating with app on mobile? thanks

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Hung Bui — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 12:50:35 GMT

When the environment is complex, it's hard to tell what is the minimum range the chip can support.

I strongly suggest you to tune the antenna properly.

Also please have a test with the nRF52840 with long range mode. We achieved 700m+ LOS with 250kbps coded mode.

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Bukhtawar — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 12:31:36 GMT

PCB Antenna module is used.

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Bukhtawar — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 12:27:22 GMT

its including walls and other hurdles like glass doors & windows in a home.

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Hung Bui — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 11:22:05 GMT

If you do that, it's better to have the antenna as close as possible to the surface of the switch.

When you talk about 20m range, it's line of sight (LOS) or it's including Wall ? The 250kbps mode should be able to do 20m range indoor with LOS with the requirement that the antenna is tuned.

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Bukhtawar — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 10:36:58 GMT

we have our hub for communicating. nrf will communicate between hub and device. Enclosure are of plastic but will be fit in walls like mechanical switches.

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Hung Bui — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 09:51:35 GMT

The nRF24L01+ can't talk to a phone. It doesn't support BLE.

What kind of enclosure you are talking about ? It's plastic or other material ?

The nRF52 has more output power (+9dBm) and better sensititivy (-96dBm). It doesn't support 250kbps mode (except for the 802.15.4 mode) but support Long Range Bluetooth with 250kbps mode.

Anyway, for the nRF24L01+, to achieve longest range, the antenna and the matching network need to be tuned properly.

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Bukhtawar — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 08:21:09 GMT

We will be using android app

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Bukhtawar — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 08:20:18 GMT

Baud rate is set to 250kbps but still we don't achieve good range

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Bukhtawar — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 08:19:30 GMT

nRF52840 gives range > 15m? Does it work when inside an enclosure?

RE: nrf24L01+ Range enhancement

Hung Bui — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 10:54:29 GMT

Hi,

How do you communicate the nRF24L01+ with the app, I assume it's a phone here ? nRF24L01+ doesn't support BLE.

Make sure you use +4dBm output power, and using 250kbps baudrate to have good range. The antenna and matching network should also be tuned to achieve best performance.

For longer range, please use our latest chip the nRF52840.