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

Tony221268

0

• Mar 8, 2016

• #81

Thank you and more

Hi All

Thanks all for the great advice.

Thinking of going for omni since I can't see the mast even from the chimney as according to Googlemaps I am about 70-80 feet too low. I am also further than I thought at about 2.3 miles.

The elevation line is from my house to the mast (looks to be about 80-100 feet when you see it). My added straight line is one showing roughly the altitude you'd have to be at to see the mast; I hope this makes sense.

Its a shame since I own the woods above me and if I could run a 100m cable up the hill and then attach the antenna to the top of a tree it would probably work like a dream! I am assuming that antenna cable lengths are limited right?

Anyway, here is my router info:


1 PLMN: 20820
2 Service status: Valid service
3 RSCP (dBm): -97
4 ECIO (dB): -5
5 RSSI (dBm): -99
6 Roaming: No

Finally, thinking of this antenna if directional is not going to work (before purchase I would appreciate confirmation that people think it won't) and also that it is worthwhile to purchase an omni. Seems to say that I need 2 of them for 4g but I only get 3g for now.

http://www.solwise.co.uk/3g-antenna-omni-0069.htm

First step will be to put the router into the loft (there is a window opening) and cat cable down to the floor levels.

 

Tony221268

0

• Mar 10, 2016

• #82

Incidentally, I think you can get signal boosters but they are expensive and sometimes dubious legality.

http://www.cel-fi.co.uk/boosters.html

I saw that these are very common in the US and Australia.

 

Tony221268

0

• Mar 10, 2016

• #83

Another piece of advice for people looking for the best signal. If you have an Android phone go to settings> about device and it gives you the RSSI (signal strength). I think you then wander about your house/ roof/ garden and look for the nearest to zero number (i.e. it is negative so -100 is a lot worse than say -60). I think -100 to -110 or so is about the bottom limit for any connection while -60 is really good.

 

Tony221268

0

• Mar 10, 2016

• #84

Sorry to bombard this forum. I have a simple question based on my post #81. Given the terrain, do you think a directional antenna be useless?

 

Captain_Cretin

0

• Mar 10, 2016

• #85

Probably; where would you point it??

 

Tony221268

0

• Mar 11, 2016

• #86

I always thought you got a bit of bend in radio waves; obviously not!

 

Captain_Cretin

0

• Mar 11, 2016

• #87

I understand that radio waves of certain sexual orientations may be a bit bent.

 

DTMark

0

• Mar 14, 2016

• #88

We have a directional antenna however we do have line of sight to the transmitter (EE, 2700m away) from the chimney where it is attached.

Even though it doesn't actually point at the Vodafone transmitter it does improve the performance. It's pointing vaguely in the right direction for that too. But it only achieves 3 bars not 5 as with EE.

If you do not have line of sight you rely on something called "scatter". Basically it might make it better, but there's a chance that it will make it worse.

 

Tony221268

0

• May 3, 2016

• #89

Result

Just for those who may go after me.

Just mounted a 5db gain omni antenna from Solwise on the roof.

Gain was actually very impressive: c.+12db overall so now I get stats of about -85/-4/-86 instead of these.

3 RSCP (dBm): -97
4 ECIO (dB): -5
5 RSSI (dBm): -99

As DTMark says, height seems the most important thing so although I am not entirely sure what was due to antenna and what is simply due to it just being higher up by 10 metres my guess is that it is 80% height.

The antenna does still have its long cable (8m and I can and may shorten that by 5 metres so that I get less loss) but now am getting more like 2 bars 3g and a solid 3Mbs/ 2Mbs dl/ul and a ping of 90 which is very good for this area and beats ADSL for bandwitdh by some margin and satellite for ping.

As a bonus, Bouygues Telecom have upped the offer to 40Gb for c.£35 a month so all is good.

Roll on 4g.

 

tom-bex

0

• Jul 17, 2016

• #90

Hi, new here but hoping for some advice.

We purchased the 2dB 3G/4G Cross-Polarised Omni Antenna code: 4G-XPOL-A0001 from Solwise a year or so back which has definitely helped with 4G broadband on our boat but think we might need something a bit more.*


We currently use a Huawei B315 router and get between 0-1 bar service with download speeds of 3-5Mbps and uploads of only 0.2-0.5Mbps on EE 4G but connection quite often drops out completely. That is with the above aerial mounted as high as possible above the roof of our boat. We can get phone signal by waking about 200 yards either direction!*


I think the main problem is trees as it's a reasonably flat area, not built up at all but with a lot of dense trees surrounding the boat!*


I was thinking of either a higher gain omni aerial or a high gain directional aerial but not sure what would work best in our position. Not entirely sure where the nearest EE mast is but sure we could find it by trial and error if required, and prepared to put the work in if it gives a more reliable signal.*Boat is on a permanent mooring about 200 yards south of the road bridge on Rising Lane B94 6JD.


What aerial would you recommend or do you think our current aerial is about the best we could hope for? Not looking for optimum 4G speed as that would be unobtainable but just a more reliable connection! Not sure if a MIMO aerial helps us much in our circumstance but open to suggestions for improvement.*


Sorry for the long post and thanks for any advice you can offer.*


Tom

 

DTMark

0

• Jul 18, 2016

• #91

Three and Vodafone's coverage maps shows a blackspot just where you are despite decent coverage all around you, so you may be right about the trees, or perhaps it's in a slight dip. EE seems to think you should get good outdoor coverage.

Based on you not being close to a transmitter and especially if you're lower down than it is, with obstacles in the way, a directional antenna is not likely to be reliable.

I'd suggest a higher gain Omni antenna. You could always ask Solwise about the possibility of returning it should it not work out especially if you're going to buy one of the most expensive ones with the best gain?

 

mitchino

0

• Aug 16, 2016

• #92

I'm a new member here, and wonder if someone could advise on which kit to get to improve my home internet connection.

Living in rural area, currently on BT Broadband, max speed 2Mbps. I have only recently realised that 4g is available in my area, an EE mast is quite close, so this morning did a test with a EE 4g sim in my phone, using the phone as a tethered wifi connection.

I stood outside my house in the strongest spot for 4g, and was astonished when a file that had taken 1 hour to download using BT broadband, downloaded in 30 secs using 4g tethering. An Ookla speed test showed a 70Mbps connection!!

I want to get that signal into my house, and then distribute it across my network which connects the house to my studio (all currently done using Cat 5 cables and 1000Base-T switches connected to the BT Router).

What kit do I need to order? Very excited and want to order NOW!

 

mitchino

0

• Aug 16, 2016

• #93

Done further reading and it seems to get started I need a Huawei B593, or B315 or E5186. Which is the one to go for?

 

Arleyguy

0

• Aug 16, 2016

• #94

Hi mitchino, the same topic has been discussed on the thread linked below only yesterday, please take a look there

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/sho...twist-)-4g-in-a-vehicle-covering-the-sw/page2

 

mitchino

0

• Aug 16, 2016

• #95

Ordered the 5186 and an EE sim for testing. When I tested earlier using tethering I got 70mbps so I assumed I need the newest model to get those speeds.

 

Arleyguy

0

• Aug 17, 2016

• #96

probably best, nice result, not heard of a real-world 4G score going that high before

 

Captain_Cretin

0

• Aug 18, 2016

• #97

My son has recorded higher even than that on EE 4G in and around Malvern, which is why I get antsy with O2 for the crappy few Mbps they let us access.

 

mitchino

0

• Aug 18, 2016

• #98

5186 arrived, stuck it in a window downstairs, getting 35Mbps. Can't believe how quick it was to set up!

A few questions:

Are the included mini external antenna any good? Haven't tried them.

Would an external antenna help boost my signal?

Is experimentation in position the best way of finding out where the strongest signal is, or is there a signal finder bit of kit/software available?

What's the best/cheapest/easiest way to distribute the signal around the house?

I also want to take the signal to my studio 60m away. At the moment I have a gigabit switch in the studio, connected via an underground Cat 6 cable to my BT router in the house.

Thanks in advance for any further help, meanwhile I am astounded at the improvement over our ADSL!

 

mitchino

0

• Aug 18, 2016

• #99

OK have answered some of my own questions - got a BT Powerlink triple kit and have wifi all over the house, and now have ethernet over to studio, getting 50Mbps! Watched iplayer tonight for the first time without any buffering.

Should I use the two supplied mini antennas? Should I get an outdoor antenna?

 

shoey

0

• Sep 20, 2016

• #100

The mini antennas get me an extra bar of signal, and gives me enough if you your only getting a couple of bars then its worth considering an external antenna.