The article presents the design of a compact dual‐band monopole antenna with microstrip‐fed for use in wireless devices in the worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) system. The radiator of the antenna has a compact size of only 14.5 × 8.7 mm² and consists of a short stem and two branches generating two frequency bands at around 2.4 and 3.5 GHz for the WiMAX system. The two frequency bands can be easily and independently set using the parameters of the two radiating branches. The antenna performance in terms of reflection coefficient, radiation pattern, peak gain, and efficiency is studied using computer simulation. For verification of simulation results, the antenna is fabricated and measured using the antenna measurement system Satimo Starlab. The feeding cable used to connect the antenna to the measurement system causes substantial discrepancies between the simulated and measured results. To study the cable effects, the feeding cable is modeled and used in computer simulation for studies. With the use of the cable model, the simulated and measured results agree very well. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:1765–1770, 2013