Reverse Polarity (RP) SMA vs. Standard SMA. What is the difference?

I get many inquiries each month from customers looking for 50 ohm Coaxial cable assemblies for WiFi, cellular LTE, and 900 MHz modems, gateways, routers and radios with SMA connectors. The problem is that there is often confusion concerning the terminology used to describe SMA vs. RP-SMA (reverse polarity SMA) RF coaxial connectors. The most common question that I get on this topic is:

How do I tell the difference between SMA and RP-SMA connectors???

So, I thought that our blog would be a good place to clear up any confusion once and for all.

Here are the facts...

• Standard SMA Male has a center pin and Standard SMA Female has a hole Vs Reverse Polarity (RP) SMA Male has a hole and Reverse Polarity (RP) SMA Female has a center pin
• Standard SMA connectors are commonly used on Cellular 3G 4G LTE devices.
• RP SMA is normally reserved for 802.11 WiFi or WLAN devices.
• 99% of the time, your device will have the "female" connector, and you'll need a "male" connector on your cable.

When purchasing bulk RF connectors, coaxial adapters, and coax cable assemblies and jumpers it is VERY IMPORTANT that you choose the correct connectors so you don't damage your wireless communication gear. I'm using the infographic below to try to give you a simple way to identify the SMA connectors on your gear.

Here goes...

• If your gear has a Standard SMA-Female (SSF) connector on it, then your cable needs to have Standard-SMA-Male.
• If your gear has a Reverse Polarity SMA-Female (RSF) connector on it, then your cable needs to have RP-SMA-Male.
• If you are looking to purchase customized RF coax cables (PT195, PT240, PT400) they can be purchased through our website or can be custom configured on our vendor's "Build Your Own Coax Cable" tool.

Have any other questions? Email us at any time!

Tech Help at Arcadian Inc. / arcantenna.com can be reached by email at techsupport@arcadianinc.com

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