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4G Antenna Advice + Experiences

Hi guys,

I'm sort of cheating here as my questions are related to a property in France but I have really got myself interested in the subject of Mobile Broadband and its possible applications.

I have been on-off living in France for maybe 10 years now and our home ADSL connection has always been rather poor, we're talking 1-3mbs depending on the day (I know some people have it a lot worse). Recently I have been looking at the possibility of installing a permanent 4G routeur (only using 3G), which alone could probably bump me up to 4-7mbs but then I started reading about 4G and 3G antennas and this is where my knowledge is limited.

First of all, I live in Mezin (47) in France, which is down in the south countryside, however I have a small town next to me with a 3G antenna, and two slightly bigger towns down the road with 4G antennas.

At the moment, at floor level and first floor of the house I can achieve the rough 4-7mbs but I was wondering if with a 3G/4G antenna could I improve on that? Here is the relevant info.

3G Tower: 2,63km distance from the house with clear line of sight and at a height of 51m (on a water tower). Is there any way to tell if it's a 3G, 3G+ or a H+ tower from frequencies etc ?

4G Tower: 14,5km distance from the house, the altitude of the house is roughly 120m or maybe 130m when on top of the highest roof, the tower is about 115m altitude and there is a hill of about 150m between, would this still be viable ?

4G Tower 2 (LTE 2600 (4G)): 8,2km from the house, however at approximately 86m altitude, house is roughly 130m but there is a hill of about 136m half way between the house and the tower, again would this be viable ?

I imagine Line Of Sight is hugely desired but what are the limits with the lack of los ? can the frequencies 'bend' over hills ?

I will continue to scout the forums here but any other information you could possible have that might help, whether it be knowledge or experiences, I would love to hear it.

Thanks
 
A hill is going to kill 99% of the usable signal; so your only real target is the 3G tower.

A directional antenna should boost your signal, and in theory your speed, but it depends on what the network operator allows.

For example, I have a clear LOS on my local O2 transmitter, and get a full H+ signal, yet O2 limited me to a smidge over 1Mb for most of this year, and even this is a huge improvement over the 40Kb they allowed last year.
(Currently getting 2.7Mb, which is still waaaaaay below what H+ is supposed to offer)
 
Thanks Captain_Cretin, I have discovered a few more 3G transmitters around with theoretical line of sight (still have to get on the roof with binoculars), what would the maximum range before even an antenna wouldn't help?

How far are you from the O2 transmitter for example ? (I used O2 in UK, they are abysmal even in 4G i would average about 2mbs)
 
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Best thing is to get the kit and have a try, these things are very variable and trees cause problems too. I'd recommend a 4G router that allows you to 'force' 4G only mode if you want to try out those further off 4G transmitters else the router may well just fall in love with the nearby 3G one. The Huawei B593 has this, not sure about the others. Its internal antenna is very good btw so try with just that on its own high up in your loft before spending on something else. I never went for anything else and i get 20Mbit/s down from a Voda 4G tower which is ~10km away (with line of sight but my signal is coming through concrete roof tiles).

hope this helps.
 
Thanks Captain_Cretin, I have discovered a few more 3G transmitters around with theoretical line of sight (still have to get on the roof with binoculars), what would the maximum range before even an antenna wouldn't help?

How far are you from the O2 transmitter for example ? (I used O2 in UK, they are abysmal even in 4G i would average about 2mbs)

I havent measured it exactly, but about a mile, or slightly less. I can see the transmitter with a pair of Mk1 eyeballs (when it isnt raining).
 
You can't tell what type of 3G by frequency usually. 3G with good backhaul can deliver 20mbps in quiet areas without too much difficulty. 4G 2600MHz is very range limited without LoS issues.

Use the 'Cartoradio Mobile' App from France's Telecoms regulator to find out your local masts and their frequencies.

In terms of range, with clear LoS 20km. I am 10KM from my serving mast with LoS but very dense foliage (trees) and some buildings, yet still get more than usable 3G and 4G signals from my roof
 
I am using a Huawei B893 with the supplied antennas and i get 5/5 bars of 4G on EE, my friend who lives on the other side of the green about 400 meters away cant get normal mobile phone signal, when i am over there my iphone says no service.

I tried my router without the supplied antennas and got 1 bar of 3G at there house. I have set up the same router and a poynting xpol2 9bi antenna on the roof pointing at a set direction and she can get 3/5 bars of 4G on EE. I have no line sight of the mast, however i kinda rulled out its the right direction by trying all directions and waiting to the router to be stable with the signal.
 
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