Increasing 3g Signal

witnessmenow

Hey Guys,

Ripplecom are upgrading their mast in my area and for the time being I can not get their service.

So in the mean time I would like to use 3g.

I have an unlocked E173 modem and I also have a Mikrotik router that the accepts the E173.

I got a trial sim from meteor and set it up the other night (I didnt spend and awful lot of time looking for the best spot in the house or anything) and I got pretty decent speeds: about 2mbs down and 350k up and a ping of 80ms

I have a couple of questions:

Whats the best way of finding the best signal in the house? My phone, despite being on the same network was not getting anywhere near as good of signal as the dongle (was getting "E" signal in the same location when the dongle was getting above speeds). The meteor broadband to go app seems pretty terrible at telling the signal strength was nearly always 60 despite ranging between the above speeds and the internet just not working. I'm pretty sure the mikrotik measures the signal in DBs, but its awkward to bring around!

Do the dongles make much difference to the speed? The E173 was pretty cheap (I think €10 with €10 cash back ) a few years ago so im not sure if it is any good.

Do external antennas make much of a difference? Apparently my dongle accepts external antennas (although i need to double check that as I don remeber seeing a slot for one). What sort of one should I be looking to get?

How do I find what mast I am using? Aren't some of the antennas ones where you need to direct towards the mast you are using? How would I know what mast im using?

So im probably going to go with meteors rolling contract for 20gb for €20. The people who were in the house before us were using an Emobile stick as they found it the best out of what they tried (I know the tried 3 and said it wasnt good) But would anything 3 provide through the NBS improve things at all? I would prefer not to have a 12 month contract, but the 40gb download cap would be nice.

Thanks in advance!

Bu33les

Ever find out answers to your questions?

Does ripplecom stay up or drop out alot?

-=al=-

Whats the best way of finding the best signal in the house?

Trial and error I guess. Wander around and find a nice area near a window or something open... Try and find out where the nearest mast or whatever is and get a line of sight if there is one


Do the dongles make much difference to the speed?

For me, not really.. Maybe a slight improvement but nothing to drastic.. It's all location based and usually the speeds don't exceed the lower speed dongles but some can alright


Do external antennas make much of a difference?

Yeah a bit... the bigger better ones are good and the shorter the cable to the antenna the better. For a dongle I wouldn't bother with one especially if it's only temporary

How do I find what mast I am using?

I forget the website but there's a list up there online when you type in your location mymast.ie or something like that maybe... Sure give it a google there and have a look. I know it exists just forget the name


For a temporary solution a dongle would be grand really... For me I tried all the networks and meteor's signal worked best for me and the monthly 20gb contract you mentioned sounds grand.

If the signal sucks you can always get a usb extension thing and hook it up outside or anywhere that gets good signal