Chapter 4

Is a dual band antenna better than a single band antenna?

No. Ideally, a most efficient antenna should be tuned to one specific frequency, however, cellular communications use a wide frequency spectrum, 824 Mhz to 896 Mhz for the Cellular band and 1850 to 1960 Mhz for the PCS band, therefore sacrifices must be made to make the antenna perform adequately in both bands. This makes dual band antennas less efficient than single band antennas, however, dual band cellular antennas are still reasonably efficient and given the reality that cellular phones will work in either band without the users control, it is usually required that the antenna be as good a radiator as possible in both bands, hence dual band antennas are a necessity, but definitely not better.