Antenna Type for WLANs - IM CONFUSED

Hi,

Pardon me if some of my questions are a bit silly as I am new to the wireless field.

Basically, I am designing a WLAN for a microcell (about 630m) with a high data rate at 2.45GHz in a Rayleigh fading channel.

What type of antennas are mostr suitable at this frequency? There are lots of antenna types and I am VERY CONFUSED. Also, does any one know of any radiation pattern simlulation software/freeware in which if I enter antenna parameters, a radiation pattern can be generated.

I intend to use directional base station antenna with a gain of about 21dBi.

THANKS!

hi,

there are a lot of WLAN antennas with gains from 2-20+dBi.
usually all "indoor" antennas, which are low profile will have gain up to 16dBi,
for more gain, or 21dBi as you wrote you will have to use what is called an outdoor or cell antenna, those antennas usually looks like a cellular cell antenna.
you can see the antenna radiation patterns and gain at the sites of the antennas.
for WLAN you should try looking at D-Link, KENBUTONG, and HyperLink.

u can try PCAAD s/w