Connectors
To prevent improper usage of antennas that can create interference or violate the
U.S. regulations, the FCC added a regulation requiring connectors used on WLAN
equipment manufactured after June 1994 to be of a "unique and non-standard"
format. Canada followed suit with a similar regulation. Most WLAN vendors such
as Cisco worked with connector companies to produce connectors that, while
maintaining a quality 50-ohm low-loss connection, met this regulation. Several
companies started using a version of the popular TNC (threaded Neill-Concelman) connector that has a center
conductor component reversed between the plug and jack of a regular TNC
connector. This is known as a reverse-polarity TNC (RP-TNC).
Although they are similar to the standard TNC connectors, they cannot be mated
with a standard connector. Therefore, you need to verify that all components you
are purchasing (antennas, cables, and so on) are supplied with the same
connector format.
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