M6E Nano - how to increase onboard antenna range for continous reading?

Sensors NFC & RFID
1

Hello,

I am a happy owner of the above reader, using it with an Arduino and Arduino IDEs serial monitor on Windows 10. It works very well for the big [standard tags in close range 3 - 5 cm. Since I want to use it for a museum installation where I need to simultaneously read (count) the number of up to 20 individual objects close to the reader (up to 0.3 m) I need to increase the range of the reader. When I set the nano.setReadPower(500); it works well but with any higher number (using a wall power plug) like ```
nano.setReadPower(1500);


Ideally, I also would like to read the [[Ultra-Small UHF RFID Tag Rain ](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16464) in that distance. I guess this won't be feasible with the onboard antenna. Is there any flat antenna which can be installed into a table like furniture to read these tags (the standard or ideally the Rain tags)? Any help appreciated! Many thanks, C.](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16464)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14147)
2

1 - If you want better range, you need an external antenna. Range is also influenced by the environment you’re using the reader in and you need to experiment with how you mount tags and the reader to get the best range.

2 - If you turn the power way up you can get better range but you also run the shield hotter. If it gets too warm, it will shut itself off to protect itself. You need a way to keep the shield cool so that it doesn’t shut off as it won’t read tags while it’s off.

3 - The ultra small tags have almost no range ( measured in millimeters) and you can’t change that, it’s a side effect of them being so small. They also require a [special antenna connected to your reader to read them.](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15113)

3

Many thanks YellowDog. I will check out the antennas for the bigger tags and consider a heat sink.