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3G/4G mobile broadband with an antenna . . . ?

The third one isn't any cheaper once you include delivery and possible import duty

They're all the same. EDIT:eek:r maybe not! Very sketchy info around
 
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Personally I would go for your second Amazon link, the one at £140.12.
It's a decent price, it's sold direct by Amazon (so likely to be less of a hassle with replacement/refund if faulty) and for the sake of a few quid I'd rather get it from them than an overseas e-bay seller, even without the delivery coat considerations that Pedrostech mentioned.
Also, it does specify that it's the B593s-22. There's also a B593s-82 around, and if you might be relying on 3G rather than 4G you probably don't want that one, as I *think* it's 4G *only*. I'm no expert on the bands, so Mark or Pedrostech might correct me here, but it has 800/1800/2300/2600. As I understand it, that gives you the extra 2300 band which might get used in the future but wouldn't do for 3G.
 
I have to agree with setup.custard as the B593s-22 has for sure 3G and 4G.

2300MHz would possibly be used in the future, as you say as I can't find any reference to it on current bandplans
 
Thanks again for the replies & advice . . . .

Ordered the one from amazon at £140.12 . . .

Get it tomorrow . . . .
 
Hi Guys . . . .

This isn't going too well . . . .

Got the router, it doesn't actually come with the small aerials that you screw on, not sure why as I can't see them costing much, tho' the fittings are there on the machine.

I've been moving it around in each room upstairs, but I'm not really getting above two bars on the service gauge . . . .

So I need an external antenna really . . . Will this make a difference ?

Does anyone have any ideas on what would be a good antennal & also the cable & the fittings, I'm not sure what they're called ?

Also, Does the length of the cable effect the signal in anyway ?

Thanks again . . .
 
Some models do come with the screw on antennae and some don't. There is some question among users as to whether they achieve anything anyway versus the ones inside it. You can buy them separately, but they probably won't make much if any difference.

A 2 bar signal is workable. Is it working? Mine doesn't have the screw on antennae and manages over 20 Meg in both directions all by itself with EE 4G. It will normally be best by the window facing the cell.

The longer the antenna cables the greater the loss, and it does matter - when you're considering whether to have an antenna and where, and where the modem will go in relation to it.
 
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Hi DTMark . ..

I can't get 4G, I'm on an EE data sim . . . .

It is working, but the signal seems low, I'm still looking for the best place to put it, I've been walking around all the upstairs rooms with the B593 on an extension cable so that I can plug it in anywhere, right next to a window like you said . . . .

I think I need to really find out where the EE masts are & point it in their direction . . .

I live in an old farmhouse, so it's not that easy, I might head up the loft to see if that makes a difference . . . . .
 
Something like this: http://www.solwise.co.uk/3g-antenna-lpda-0092.html is best if you don't know the frequencies. It also comes with 7m of cable and an SMA plug. For optimal 4G reception, you could probably do with getting two of them.

If that looks very expensive, it is possible to buy the 3G/4G yagi aerials on eBay for as little as £6 inc delivery, but the quality can vary.

Don't fret if you are unable to get 4G though, as 3G can be ruddy fast!
 
Hi Pedrostech . . .

Tanks for those links, real helpful.

You know how the router has 2 aerial/antenna points, Does the antenna come with 2 points as well or Do you just use one side, like a left & a right type thing . . . ?

I haven't really seen pics of antenna's with 2 cables, so I'm just wondering what the vibe is . . .

Thanks again . . .
 
Most of the antennas only come with one output. For 3G reception, you only need one antenna and one output, but 4G can use MIMO technology where it uses more than one aerial to boost performance.

If you only have one, you can connect the aerial to one of the connectors and leave the other one without a connector. I seem to remem ber connecting the single aerial into one of the sockets does better than using the other socket though.
 
Although it doesn't appear to be documented anywhere: if you have only one antenna, it only seems to work if you plug it into the socket on the left (as seen with the back facing towards you), for 3G it should then Auto Detect it if the signal is stronger, for 4G it probably won't because it's looking for the signal from the second one.
 
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Would there be a 3G/4G equivalent antenna that anyone can recommend ?
It's just so that the antenna is up to date & I don't have to worry about changing it in the future for a while . .

Thanks again . . . .
 
You have two options at this point.

1. Buy an Omni-directional antenna which will work for 3G and 4G and all operators

or

2. Buy a directional antenna and point it at the transmitter of your chosen operator

It is at this point that you really need to establish two things.

- Which is the best operator where you are?
- Where is the transmitter to which you are connecting?

If, for instance, your signal is borderline with all operators or is weak with your chosen one, then your best bet is the directional antenna.

This can shave -15dB off the signal strength (the lower the number the better as represented by the signal strength figure shown in your router) versus maybe just a couple of dB with an Omni-directional one. The effect of this is to "move you nearer to the transmitter" and it really does work, our directional 3G antenna does indeed improve the signal by about 15dB over a distance of about 2600m and that's significant.

Do this:

1. Put the SIM card in the router
2. Log in
3. Click System, then Diagnosis
4. On the right click "Wireless Systems Check" and wait a moment

You should see something like this:

1 PLMN: 23430
2 Service status: Valid service
3 RSSI (dBm): -59
4 RSRP (dBm): -84
5 RSRQ (dB): -6
6 Roaming: No

Fitting an antenna is a matter of locating where the transmitter is (if directional, but even still, an Omni one may work better facing the right way on the right side of the house) and swinging it around with binoculars if needed to get it to line up with the transmitter then repeatedly checking the stats page above and the speed results.

So far as directional antennae are concerned - you need line of sight or near-as. If your house is surrounded by hills and the transmitter is on the other side of those, an Omni one is probably the best bet. Do you know where the transmitter(s) is/are? Can you see them from your house? If you look at the coverage map at where the blob of coverage is, can you work out where the centre is and where it is likely to be? Then jump in the car and drive over and confirm.

If you just want a small antenna you can plug in and put on a window sill then there are options, but as mentioned, the B593 is pretty good by itself and so here I don't think the "quick" option is the one to go for or will result in much if anything improving.

How have you got on with trying operators and speeds, what does your "stats" page look like with your chosen operator?
 
Hi DTMark . . .

Thanks again for the e-mail . . .

My initial thoughts were to buy the right aerial, get a guy to fit it for me onto the chimney stack, put a cable through the roof into the loft, then through to the room with the router & then find the best position for the aerial while the aerial guy is still up there . . . .
Not decided whether to fit 2 aerials yet . . . ?

It's looking like the nearest EE mast isn't too far away due south, which is where my box is pointing to at the mo', this is where I get the best reception, luckily the chimney stacj is pretty close to this room with the router so the cable shouldn't be too long . .
I spoke to a guy at EE this afternoon & he confirmed that, they're a bit funny about security & telling you exactly where it is !

The "Wireless System Check" is :


Wireless Status
1 PLMN: 23430
2 Service status: Valid service
3 RSCP (dBm): -77
4 ECIO (dB): -7
5 RSSI (dBm): -77
6 Roaming: No

How do those stats look ?

My upload speed right now from the Ookla website with a cable plugged from my Mac into the B593 is 3.5, download 3.18, ping 44ms The download speed has been up at 14, but it doesn't seem to be consistent & changes, sometimes it just drops out completely . . .
 
I've just done another speed test 5 minutes later, same scenario as the above forum post, download speed is 13.82, upload 4.21, ping 60ms
 
The signal strengths look pretty good to m e. Also, speeds do tend to change due to differing numbers of users on the cell sites
 
Hi Guys,

I just ordered the http://www.solwise.co.uk/3g-antenna-lpda-0092.html

I'm not really impressed with the omni directional antenna's, they don't really look like they're gonna work that well to me, not like an old fashioned tv aerial type thing . . . .

We'll see I guess . . .

Thanks again for all the advice, will let you know how it all goes . . . . .
 
That's the one I have, it works very well for Three's 3G which we used for years - reduces latency and improves speed in both directions. Basically, I've played around with this kit for years, you've gone from nothing to what I have, in about ten days.

Demonstrably I have had and continue to have surprisingly good speeds, to answer your question - fluctuating speeds are a bit of a feature of mobile broadband in most places, we're just lucky here. The speed will depend on the number of users using it, how far away it is/what your signal strength is.

If the speeds wander spectacularly, this might indicate the activities of other users, alternatively, if you have two cells near you at roughly equal distances, your router may be flipping from one to another (the drop outs?) and one is more perrformant than the other. That's what the directional antenna does - effectively forces it to latch to a specific cell; the one it points at.

When you get your antenna - it's surprisingly heavy - try poking it out of the window upstairs and see what result you get to start with. Plug it into the left hand socket on the back as viewed from the back. Log into the router and check the bottom of the front page "Antenna Status". Does it go to "Auto" by itself? If not, you can force it to use it in the settings. You may need to do that while you experiment, with your router stats (even mobile broadband users can have stats, it's not just for ADSL!) on the screen.

You do now need to find out where your local transmitter(s) is/are so a few minutes with EE's coverage map, perhaps Google Maps and your own local knowledge should get you there.
 
Thanks again DTMark, that's really helpful . . .

The aerial does kinda look lightweight in the pics, I will stick it out the window as soon as it arrives to see what happens, I can't wait.

I will check for the local transmitters location too . . .

What's the best thing to do in regards of cost for the mobile data sim, Is it better to be on a contract or top up do you think . . . ?
 
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