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

Hi,

I live in rural Northamptonshire, I've just given up on my landline & broadband as it was 2mbps . . .

Initialy I was looking to install satellite broadband but the reviews have put me off, plus it's a lot of money to fork out for something that isn't that great . . .

So now I'm looking at 3G/4G mobile broadband but I'm unsure as to what router or antenna to buy, I've been looking at the Deltenna Wibe & the Cradlepoint IBR600 . . . . it's been suggested that I get an antenna fitted onto my house, but I'm unsure as to what will work or how it actually all connects . . .

Could someone advise me on the best router/antenna package or even an honest dealer who could help ?

Thank-you . . . . .

Have you checked the coverage in your area for EE and 3 as they're pretty much the only data cost viable providers?

The best router solution seems to be a http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-B593...d=1416595504&sr=8-1&keywords=huawei+4g+router as it has two aerial connectors, SIP functionality and so on. However, as a test, a 4G dongle could be used and some routers support dongles as proper WAN

Antenna wise, Solwise seem to sell the best, although the aerials on eBay I've tried have been generally OK. Ideally you need to work out the frequencies of the mast you'll be connecting to to get the best aerial. Ideally a slightly more precise location will help me/the others members on here to help you.

I suspect this is one area where DTMark might be best equipped to help as he has played around with a lot of kit. In fact if I were you I'd give a read of the related topic in this forum, it's quite long but you'll learn a lot by just reading through the posts:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/showthread.php/33559-3G-experiment

In short (unusual for me - grins)

1. Start with network coverage maps from the operators. See if you can find one with strong "outdoor and indoor" coverage.
2. Then get a PAYG dongle - you could probably source one cheaply e.g. from eBay - or a SIM for your mobile if it's 4G enabled perhaps.
3. Test out the speeds and signal strength. With reference to the coverage map and where the centre of the "coverage" blob is, you may be able to guess where the transmitter is. Try both "sides" of your house (remember that if you get a proper router you won't be restricted to how long the USB lead to the PC is).
4. Find the provider you're happy with, get yourself a Huawei B593 to use as the modem - it has very efficient internal antennae "out of the box" and position that in the optimal place in the house - high up as possible, on the correct side of the house. These came down a lot in price at one point, mine was about £120. No dongle needed - SIM goes into the modem, you can "swap ISPs" in seconds just by changing that.
5. Monitor the connection over a short time to ascertain whether the speed you get is limited by signal strength or contention. I can help with this.
6. If it's distance, consider an antenna on the roof, but only then. NB 4G requires two antennae or a cross-polarised array/single unit. Allow about £100 for that and another £75 to get someone to climb up on the roof.

The order of this approach minimises the amount of spend to see if it works rather than forking out money on something that won't.

We had Three 3G for years, that managed 12 to 21 down and 2 to 5 up.
We how have EE 4G which is solid * at around 23.5 down and 48 up.

We're lucky that contention - the Achilles Heel of mobile broadband services - is very low here. Must be, for us to see consistently good speeds for both technologies.

If it's low where you are and you're no more than perhaps 3.5km from the nearest transmitter without hills or obstructions in the way your decision to try this might be far more performant than satellite.

For example..



* giggles - it's actually a bit slow this morning.

Hi,

Thanks for all your replies, much appreciated . . .

I'm in Isham, NN14 . . . .

I'm on vodafone just now, which is awful rurally, as I've only really just found that out whilst researching, I'm just waiting to receive my EE sim cards to see if my service gets any better.

I've found a few dealers on e-bay that do the antenna/router combo as I naturally just want the easiest & quickest thing to set up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Huawei-B5...band-3G-Router-External-Antenna-/331263189598

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281334095105?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I've also been told that the : http://www.4gon.co.uk/cradlepoint-4g-wifi-m2m-router-cor-ibr600-p-5739.html is the best router, but I'm not sure which aerial would suit.

What do you guys think ?

Thanks again . . . .

I wouldn't go for the first one. I've tried a similar flat panel Omni antenna and the results were worse than with the B593 alone. The internal antennae are quite good.

Given the pricing of those kits, and if you want to spend a bit more now - if I were you I'd just get the B593 standalone for now..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-B593...1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416655086&sr=8-1&keywords=b593

Until you see what results you get and from that ascertain whether the antenna would be worthwhile.. I wouldn't get the antenna yet. If all the networks perform poorly, for example, you're not the only one in your area who has had the same idea, and contention is an issue, then putting up the antenna could be a waste of money especially because the strongest and best option is a directional one..

Which will need to point at the transmitter of the operator of your choice. And if you have someone put it on the roof, you'll have to get them back around each time you want to change operator - so you'll want to be certain before you put it up there in the first place. Unless you have a long ladder and are happy to climb up there yourself and experiment.

I would really avoid the second kit too as the seller doesn't seem to understand the frequencies of the dish, far aside from anything else. Also, aiming a parabolic dish can be pretty complex!

Ok, thank-you for that . . . .

I'll wait until I get the ee sim cards & hopefully I'll get a better signal initially, then I'll go for the Huwai like you say : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-B593s...&keywords=b593

My feelings on the antenna was really just that my signal from voda' is so bad that I thought that I would really need to get an antenna.

This broadband/3G/4G stuff is so complicated for a layman, I really appreciate everyones help on this, having rubbish broadband really is a pain . . . .

Thanks again, I'll keep you posted . . .

The locations of the operators' transmitters will differ, here, the Vodafone one isn't so near to any of the others, and there is only one. Contrast that with Three, who have, er, three transmitters covering a similar area, in different locations..

Three arguably have more transmitters because the frequency range used for their 3G doesn't penetrate buildings so well, so you need more transmitters in the same area. A little over simplistic but the thing to remember is that the performance of one doesn't have a great deal to do with the potential performance of the others.

Ok, I'm slowly understanding how this all works . . .

Funny thing happened today which I hadn't really noticed before, I was outside for a walk with the dog about 400m away from the back of our house, just about to make a call & suddenly I notice 3G on my phone, it just appeared out of nowhere . . .

It was like walking through a door, suddenly it's there, take a step back & it's gone again . . .

Can I just clarify that the only reason I got 3G was because of my server, vodafone, whereas if it was EE mast for example in the same place, I wouldn't have got a 3G signal at all ? I assume servers don't share masts Do they ?

3G signals are generally weaker than 2G due to frequencies and transmitter output power.

an EE mast in the same place might have better 3G or worse.

3 and EE share entire mast structure as part of MBNL whereas Vodafone and O2's cornerstone involves the sharing of towers, but not connection to the internet etc.

wizard said:

Ok, I'm slowly understanding how this all works . . .

Funny thing happened today which I hadn't really noticed before, I was outside for a walk with the dog about 400m away from the back of our house, just about to make a call & suddenly I notice 3G on my phone, it just appeared out of nowhere . . .

It was like walking through a door, suddenly it's there, take a step back & it's gone again . . .

Can I just clarify that the only reason I got 3G was because of my server, vodafone, whereas if it was EE mast for example in the same place, I wouldn't have got a 3G signal at all ? I assume servers don't share masts Do they ?

Click to expand...

This would seem to indicate you're on the very edge of the reception range for Vodafone 3G. Though reception quality can vary among phones. Is the phone 4G capable to determine whether you can see that?

Edge of range and performance don't work well together So this would indicate your best bet is with another operator if there is one.

Here, Three and EE share the same transmitter mast (I think) but EE offers 4G and Three doesn't. They share some key bits, but the end delivery is different tech.

Your local EE or Three transmitter will hopefully be somewhere nearer you than the Vodafone one is.

Hills can make a big difference if they are in the way.

Terrain can be a massive biggy. The local Vodafone and O2 masts are almost exactly the same distance from me, but the O2 only has only trees whereas the vodafone has a big building and then some houses. O2 signal=-90dBm (very strong), whereas Vodafone is -110dbm (fringe)

I've got an iphone 4s, so I'm not sure if it's capable of 4G ? I did get an upgrade last year, but I gave it to the wife & she's on gifgaf, her signal is worse than mine.

It's pretty flat terrain around here, hopefully that won't effect things . . . . .

I did the postcode search on the ee site, so it seems I'm going to get a 3g signal ok as I fall into their category on the map.

My phone has just been unlocked today, so I'm to try out these ee sims . . . .

I'm still waiting on them arriving . . . .

The iPhone 4S only has HSPA+, which is called 3G in this country, but is allowed to be called 4G in the USA, so no the 4S does not support the 4G being referred to on here.

HSPA+ is capable of some pretty high speeds though, in the 15-20mbps range if it's dual carrier.

So its down to the actual phone one has as opposed to the sim ?

To receive 4G requires a 4G capable handset (don't think the iPhone 4 is, as above, it's 3G only) and a SIM card that supports the service.

If you get your B593, you can deselect "Auto Network" mode, then lock it in "4G only" mode, and perform a network scan and it will show you which operators have a signal that reaches it. You won't be able to connect to them without a SIM but you will at least see what's there.

Although it isn't necessarily true that one operator's 4G will outperform another operator's 3G at a given location, 4G has far greater potential for higher speeds so is worth trying to get, though if/when you have a variety of SIM cards to try (PAYG, just put £5 or whatever on each) you can evaluate them side by side.

Were it the case that only Vodafone were available and you're in a weak signal area, then that directional antenna might be the way to go, but you need to see what all the options are first.

Sorry to be a pain . . . more q's . . . .

Ok . . . . that's really helpful about the "Auto Network" mode . . .

Will the B593 be able to accommodate a directional antenna, I have a feeling I'll need one . . .

Yep, It has two antenna connectors

There's a difference in prices, or if it's just mark up, slightly different models,not sure of the real difference in actual routers . . . .

It looks to me that router one & three are the same with a different price tag . . . .

Is there one that may suit me better . . . ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-B593...16854109&sr=8-21&keywords=B593#productDetails

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-B593...1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416855114&sr=8-1&keywords=B593

This one from Germany seems cheaper :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151459129870?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Thanks again . . .