Does anyone have any 'experience' of the accuracy of Vodafone's 5G coverage maps - are they overly optimistic, pessimistic or a work of fiction?
Supposedly I'm right on the edge of their "limited" 5G coverage, with it due to improve to "good indoor/outdoor" coverage (still on the edge though) in the next 3 months.
So I bought a Three branded NR5103eV2 on eBay, hoping that I might get some intermittent 5G signal. I didn't, the router just sits at "Excellent" 4G+ from my local non-5G enabled mast (direct line of sight).
I hoped with a directional 5G antenna, I might be able to get a 5G signal, even if only fleeting. So rather than spend £££ on some dodgy bit of copper etched PCB housed in a fancy weatherproof box, I decided to have a go at building an Andrew McNeil 5G +9bB antenna out of 0.5mm sheet brass (see photo).
I don't have Andrews aptitude for precision & accuracy, or all the right tools (like a band saw!), so my efforts were somewhat suboptimal. Still, I thought they would be good enough to see some difference.
I bought two SMA 'extension' cables & chopped one end off each and soldered it to the antenna & connected the other ends to two TS9 pigtails which I plugged into the back of the router and flicked the INT/EXT switch.
Needless to say, I didn't get any instant 5G fix and with only that rudimentary 'Zyxel Air' app to give me any kind of chart tracking RSRP & RSRQ, it was kind of difficult to tell if there was any improvement in my existing 4G+ signal. Possibly there was a 1-2dB improvement, but it was difficult to tell and as I already get an excellent 4G+ signal, it all seemed a bit pointless having lumps of brass & wires hanging all over the windowsill (at least if 5G was going to remain elusive).
Then I got annoyed, as my hour of fiddling, adjusting, plugging & unplugging, ended up bending & then snapping off the tiny little central pin in one of my TS9 pigtails! What idiot thought these stupid little connectors were an improvement on SMA!?
Anyway, I've given up on 5G for now & will resign myself to waiting months more for Vodafone to upgrade my local mast.
However, one question I do have for those with a Vodafone 5G service:
Should the APN for Vodafone pay-monthly contract be:
wap.vodafone.co.uk
wap/wap
PAP
IPv4
or
internet
web/web
PAP/CHAP
IPv4
Does it matter?