3g router with external antenna connection

deaglan169

im looking for a router with built in 3g modem so i only insert sim into router, and has a socket at rear to attach coax cable to an external anteann to boost 3g signal, can these be got i did a quick search on the forum but nothing popped up

Dan Jaman

Three supplied me with exactly that, last year.
The Huawei B260a, which I have connected to an external 9dB antenna on a 40ft pole at the gable end of my building.
It's currently connecting me over a hill to a 3 mast some 3.5miles away.
Previously, from 2006 to 2009, the same antenna was doing the same job to Vodafone 3G, 4 miles away.

deaglan169

Bit late but ive gone an ordered an Edimax 6200n and a E353 dongle and external magmount antenna, will see how these behave together

JohnCleary

Dan Jaman wrote: »

Three supplied me with exactly that, last year.
The Huawei B260a, which I have connected to an external 9dB antenna on a 40ft pole at the gable end of my building.
It's currently connecting me over a hill to a 3 mast some 3.5miles away.
Previously, from 2006 to 2009, the same antenna was doing the same job to Vodafone 3G, 4 miles away.

Sorry to dig up old thread, but how much did this cost?

I need to get a similar system but wouldn't be trusting Three's signal. In the area I need to use, Meteor is providing me with decent enough coverage. Must check Vodafone's coverage in the same area

Where did you purchase the antenna from?

Dan Jaman

Some German company had them but they're much more common now. Poynting also make Yagi 3G antennae and will sell direct.
It cost about €25, iirc. Extra for pigtails. You'll need to make sure what connections you need.
The mast is just two lengths of 50mm galvanised pole.

JohnCleary

Thanks for the info, what I need is....

Omnidirectional outdoor 3g antenna
Hopefully only need about 5m of cable (will double check ASAP)
3G Router with Wi-Fi that can accept multiple (maybe up to 15) simultaneous wi-fi connections


Don't suppose you can make any particular recommendations?

eirator

JohnCleary wrote: »

Thanks for the info, what I need is....

Omnidirectional outdoor 3g antenna
Hopefully only need about 5m of cable (will double check ASAP)
3G Router with Wi-Fi that can accept multiple (maybe up to 15) simultaneous wi-fi connections


Don't suppose you can make any particular recommendations?

Check the reviews on any 3G Router you get as some are particularly poor in the WiFi department. My current Edimax setup has great WiFi range with an external antenna for the WiFi (400m easy outside) but is rubbish (slow) even at short ranges with PC to PC data transfers across the WiFi.

So you might get the best 3G Router you can find and then add a good quality WiFi access point. The extra advantage there is that you can put your 3G router close to the External Antenna or best dongle location, then hard wire it (ethernet) to your WiFi access point which can be in the best position to get the most range out of your WiFi.

JohnCleary

eirator wrote: »

Check the reviews on any 3G Router you get as some are particularly poor in the WiFi department. My current Edimax setup has great WiFi range with an external antenna for the WiFi (400m easy outside) but is rubbish (slow) even at short ranges with PC to PC data transfers across the WiFi.

So you might get the best 3G Router you can find and then add a good quality WiFi access point. The extra advantage there is that you can put your 3G router close to the External Antenna or best dongle location, then hard wire it (ethernet) to your WiFi access point which can be in the best position to get the most range out of your WiFi.

Thanks for the info. I don't need to go so sophisticated as the max distance any wi-fi connection will be from the router is 10 metres!

My main issue is with such variety of routers / omni-directional antennas, I just don't know which ones to choose / combine for a simple plug n' play setup

Dan Jaman

JohnCleary wrote: »

Thanks for the info, what I need is....

Omnidirectional outdoor 3g antenna
Hopefully only need about 5m of cable (will double check ASAP)
3G Router with Wi-Fi that can accept multiple (maybe up to 15) simultaneous wi-fi connections


Don't suppose you can make any particular recommendations?

I went for directional antenna because of the distance - an omni really loses out. Yes, keep cable lengths short as possible, as you're dealing with very low signal strengths and any cable or jointing losses are significant.
The B260a has turned out to be a reasonably good router most of the time and if you get an unlocked one it should serve you well. I think it handles up to 32 wi-fi connections, but can't be sure on that - its wi-fi strength isn't all that, and I've used an old Motorola as an AP to complement it at the other end of the building.

JohnCleary

Dan Jaman wrote: »

I went for directional antenna because of the distance - an omni really loses out. Yes, keep cable lengths short as possible, as you're dealing with very low signal strengths and any cable or jointing losses are significant.
The B260a has turned out to be a reasonably good router most of the time and if you get an unlocked one it should serve you well. I think it handles up to 32 wi-fi connections, but can't be sure on that - its wi-fi strength isn't all that, and I've used an old Motorola as an AP to complement it at the other end of the building.

Omnidirectional is a must as it's going on a boat.

I didn't realise that some of the 3g routers came locked - I presume you mean SIM locked? Good thing you said that, was tempted to just buy the B260a from Three... that would have been a mess-up! I'm choosing Vodafone for provider as they have 2 3g masts close-by and proven acceptable 3g speeds where needed.

Dan Jaman

The B260a is end-of-life now anyway, and there are others available, but what I'll replace this one with, I don't know yet. My 3 contract is up shortly and I'm looking to see what other options I have in this locality. I looked at unlocking the B260a, but it seems like a pita and I don't want to risk bricking this one while it's the only one I have. An unlocked one sold on adverts.ie for €60 recently.

eirator

The B260a supplied by 3 isn't locked and can be used on any network.

JohnCleary

Sounds like the B260a will do what I require so. I'll just get an omnidirectional 3g antenna with an SMA connector and short cable (most are 5m) and I should be suckin' diesel

Dan Jaman

eirator wrote: »

The B260a supplied by 3 isn't locked and can be used on any network.

The one they supplied me with, is.

JohnCleary

Folks,
Would I be correct in saying that these 2 devices should work in harmony (I'll be using a Vodafone 3G SIM)

Router, B260a: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unlocked-Huawei-B260A-1-Port-Wireless-G-Router-51064428-Dual-band-900-2100MHz-/221240273238?pt=UK_Computing_Mobile_Broadband_Devices&hash=item3382f2a956

Antenna: http://www.3grouterstore.co.uk/3G/GXS606_GSM_3G_Antenna_with_5m_cable.html


The antenna comes with an SMA (male) connector - Am I right in assuming the B260a's female antenna connector is SMA?

eirator

Dan Jaman wrote: »

The one they supplied me with, is.

Three's Huawei B260A routers are not locked

Another Huawei B260a thread where the router wasn't locked.

And I can remember a few more and one by Amalgam iirc that explained in detail how to set up a new profile for someone that also said it was locked but couldn't work out how to set it up to work with another provider.

Dan Jaman

Those should work fine together, and yes, the B260a has an SMA female on the router body.

Dan Jaman

eirator wrote: »

Three's Huawei B260A routers are not locked

Another Huawei B260a thread where the router wasn't locked.

And I can remember a few more and one by Amalgam iirc that explained in detail how to set up a new profile for someone that also said it was locked but couldn't work out how to set it up to work with another provider.

I tried all that - the firmware won't let any new entries in the config boxes.
Mine dates from early 2012, so was probably sussed out by 3.

Peter Rhea

JohnCleary wrote: »

I'll just get an omnidirectional 3g antenna with an SMA connector and short cable (most are 5m)

Will this antenna be positioned high up? I would think the losses in 5 metres of RG58 at 2100 mHz would cancel out any gain it's capable of, so it would want to be in a better signal field than the router's own internal antenna to be worth bothering with.

Maybe just being outside any structure would be enough? Just thinking out loud.

JohnCleary

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Will this antenna be positioned high up? I would think the losses in 5 metres of RG58 at 2100 mHz would cancel out any gain it's capable of, so it would want to be in a better signal field than the router's own internal antenna to be worth bothering with.

Maybe just being outside any structure would be enough? Just thinking out loud.

It'll be about 15ft above the ground (about 10ft above router). The boat is steel so i'm hoping the gain will be noticeable compared to the internal antenna. The one on eBay has a short cable with an indoor external antenna which i'm going to locate on top of the boat, but inside a glass helm (bit of steel but lots of glass)

andrewdeerpark

The new router from Three should do the trick: Huawei B683 Black

I have installed 2 of these and they are very good better than the B260a they have the external antenna plug.

http://www.three.ie/online/shop/productDetail.aspx?src=p&p=data&pid=1768&tariffType=prepay

Peter Rhea

JohnCleary wrote: »

It'll be about 15ft above the ground (about 10ft above router). The boat is steel so i'm hoping the gain will be noticeable compared to the internal antenna. The one on eBay has a short cable with an indoor external antenna which i'm going to locate on top of the boat, but inside a glass helm (bit of steel but lots of glass)

Can't really speak with any authority on the subject but, I was going to buy a high-gain panel aerial for 3g at my house & was put off after looking up a bit about cable losses (would have needed about 10m) & also the cost of actual 'low-loss' (@ 2100 mHz) cable & connectors.

JohnCleary

andrewdeerpark wrote: »

The new router from Three should do the trick: Huawei B683 Black

I have installed 2 of these and they are very good better than the B260a they have the external antenna plug.

http://www.three.ie/online/shop/productDetail.aspx?src=p&p=data&pid=1768&tariffType=prepay

Thanks for the info. Is there any way of knowing for certain if its locked or not?

andrewdeerpark

Did not test that, they usually are not locked however you are taking a chance.

JohnCleary

andrewdeerpark wrote: »

Did not test that, they usually are not locked however you are taking a chance.

I've e-mailed them to ask. I'm not expecting a response, but if I get one i'm expecting them to tell me its locked, even if its not

Dan Jaman

andrewdeerpark wrote: »

The new router from Three should do the trick: Huawei B683 Black

I have installed 2 of these and they are very good better than the B260a they have the external antenna plug.

http://www.three.ie/online/shop/productDetail.aspx?src=p&p=data&pid=1768&tariffType=prepay

Seems a fairly good price for that - even aliexpress has them at $171 / €132, but I haven't dug around all that much.

JohnCleary

Dan Jaman wrote: »

Seems a fairly good price for that - even aliexpress has them at $171 / €132, but I haven't dug around all that much.

I suspect it's locked though? I'll await their response! They don't seem to have forums. I think i'd be wasting my time calling into a shop asking

eirator

OP if you want another option one I've set up a few times is to use a antenna>dongle>3G WiFi setup. It actually works out cheaper than a buying a "locked" (?) isp router.

In most cases I never use an antenna and mount the dongle on a 3-4m USB cable in a waterproof box outside and the router inside or in another waterproof box. But with the right modem (not all take an antenna) you can add an antenna. Check the 3G/HSPA Routers thread for more info.

Costs are less than €50 for the dongle less than €50 for the router and around €25 for an antenna.

JohnCleary

eirator wrote: »

OP if you want another option one I've set up a few times is to use a antenna>dongle>3G WiFi setup. It actually works out cheaper than a buying a "locked" (?) isp router.

In most cases I never use an antenna and mount the dongle on a 3-4m USB cable in a waterproof box outside and the router inside or in another waterproof box. But with the right modem (not all take an antenna) you can add an antenna. Check the 3G/HSPA Routers thread for more info.

Costs are less than €50 for the dongle less than €50 for the router and around €25 for an antenna.

Cheers for the info, but i'm looking for a permanent/semi-professional finish I'm goign to just buy the B260a from eBay as it's unlocked and try it with it's own indoor antenna first. If it looks like there could be room for improvement i'll then purchase the outdoor omnidirectional antenna.

I'll let ye know the conclusion! :cool:

eirator

JohnCleary wrote: »

Cheers for the info, but i'm looking for a permanent/semi-professional finish I'm goign to just buy the B260a from eBay as it's unlocked and try it with it's own indoor antenna first. If it looks like there could be room for improvement i'll then purchase the outdoor omnidirectional antenna.

I'll let ye know the conclusion! :cool:

That sort of implies I do unprofessional installations

Some I've done have been in place for more than 3 years and have never needed to be touched. One I have at home is externally mounted and with many changes for testing has been outside in the same enclosure for 4 years right next to the sea.

Another advantage of the generic 3G router is many have external WiFi antennas which means you can increase coverage with a better antenna. In your case if you have a metal bulk head or deck that you can't get a single through you could have the router on one side and have a WiFi antenna on the other side on a short cable.

JohnCleary

Folks,
My B260a arrived today.

I was hoping to cut the power cable and hook directly into a 12v feed (boat is 12v), BUT, notice that the output from transformer (and input on the router) states 5v

Does anyone know if I put 12v on the router, will it fry? Looks like i'm going to need to use an inverter... not a problem just a waste of energy