Do you need an antenna or reference station, and where does it go?

If you are shopping for a wire-free robot mower, there is a good chance the box contains more than a mower and a charging dock. Many systems that rely on satellite positioning also include a separate antenna or reference station, and it has to go somewhere.

This is the requirement buyers most often discover after ordering.

What the hardware does

Satellite positioning on its own is not precise enough to hold a mowing boundary. Part of the error comes from the signal’s journey through the atmosphere, and that error is very similar for two receivers standing close together.

RTK, or real-time kinematic positioning, exploits that. A second receiver sits at a known fixed position, compares where satellites say it is against where it actually is, and broadcasts the difference as a correction. The mower applies that correction to its own reading, cancelling out most of the shared error and arriving at a position precise enough to follow a boundary.

That second receiver is the extra hardware. Some manufacturers call it a reference station, some an antenna, some a base station. What matters for your purposes is that it is a physical object needing a location with a clear view of the sky, and that manufacturers differ in how it is powered and connected — check the installation instructions for the specific model rather than assuming.

The correction does not have to come from your own yard. Some manufacturers run a network of their own reference stations and deliver the correction to the mower over the mobile network, so there is nothing to mount on the property at all. That trades a hardware problem for a coverage one: the service has to reach your address, which is a question of the manufacturer’s own coverage map rather than of ordinary phone reception. It is also not the same thing as a mower that needs no correction at all.

Not every wire-free system works this way. Some lean more heavily on cameras or other onboard sensing, and some use no satellite positioning at all. The requirement is per-model, not per-category.

Which models say they need one

ANTHBOT Genie 1000, ANTHBOT Genie 3000, ANTHBOT Genie 600, Husqvarna Automower 450X EPOS, Segway Navimow i105, Segway Navimow i110, Segway Navimow X330, Segway Navimow X350, Segway Navimow X390 and Yarbo Lawn Mower Module state that they require one.

Where a model is blank, the manufacturer has not published a clear statement either way. That is worth asking about before you order, because it changes what installation day looks like.

Which models do not need one

This is the shortlist most people are looking for when they search for a mower without an antenna, and it needs splitting up, because “no antenna” covers three genuinely different situations.

The correction arrives over the manufacturer’s own service.

There is nothing to mount, but the mower still depends on a correction — it comes from the manufacturer’s own reference stations over the mobile network instead of from a box in your yard. What that makes worth checking is coverage at your address, which is a question for the manufacturer’s coverage map rather than something you can settle by standing outside with a phone.

Either one, at your choice.

The manufacturer documents both routes, so finding an antenna in the box does not mean an antenna is required.

No positioning correction of any kind.

Nothing is mounted and no service is involved, because what the manufacturer publishes about how the model navigates does not depend on satellite positioning in the first place.

Everything else we track either states that it needs a station on the property, or publishes nothing about it at all. A blank is not a “no”: it is a question to put to the seller before you order, because it decides what installation day looks like.

Questions to answer before you buy

Is there somewhere with a clear view of the sky? Manufacturers generally advise siting the unit away from overhanging structures and dense canopy. A yard ringed by mature trees, or a narrow lot between two tall houses, is worth checking carefully.

Are you allowed to mount it? Renters and homeowners under an HOA should confirm this before ordering. A pole in the lawn and a bracket on a wall are different propositions from a planning standpoint.

How is it powered and connected? This varies between manufacturers. Some units sit near the charging dock, others are designed to be sited independently. Read the installation guide for the model you are considering.

We cannot answer the first question for you, and we deliberately do not try. What manufacturers publish here is uneven: a few now describe how their system behaves where the satellite signal is weak, or use no satellite positioning at all, but there is still no common, comparable figure for sky performance across the models we track. Where a manufacturer states something specific about it, you will find it on that model’s page.

Using this in the selector

The selector asks directly whether you can install an antenna or reference station. Answer no and it rules out every model that states it needs one, naming the constraint rather than silently dropping them — and it tells you which models it could not check because nothing is published.

It asks separately whether the manufacturer’s correction service reaches your lawn, and checks that on its own. A model whose correction arrives over a network is not cleared just because you could have mounted an antenna: they are different pieces of infrastructure. Leave that answer at “not sure” and such a model comes back Conditional, naming the service as the thing to check.

For a side-by-side view of the boundary and hardware requirements of specific models, use the comparison tool. There is more on the underlying choice in wire-free or buried wire.