Omni-Directional External Outdoor Antenna

lukin

I bought this and I am using it with the Huawei E5377. I have a couple of questions for those in the know about antennas:

1. The cable length from the modem to the antennae is 5 m (I am using the cable that came with the antennae). If I was to buy a shorter cable that only goes say a few feet from the modem to the antennae would it improve my signal?
2. If I was to place the antennae at a really high elevation would it improve the signal?This would mean I would need to use the 5m cable as the antennae is weather resistant but the modem is not. So I was thinking I could attach the antennae to an outside wall (as high as possible) and run the cables (there are two of them) through the wall to the modem indoors. I know where the mast that I am using is(thanks to this site: http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/siteviewer.273.LE.asp) but there are a few trees in the line of sight. I have it facing out the window of an upstairs room at the moment but higher is always better with antennas is it not? I was thinking if it could clear the trees it would improve my signal? Thanks for any replies.

ED E

1. Shorter is better, but its secondary to 2,
2. Line of sight is key, so obtaining a better position is the purpose of such a unit. If you can put the antenna on a 5m pole on the gable of the house, do it.

If you walk the site with a smarthphone you can find where has the best reception and try to get as close to there as possible.

lukin

ED E wrote: »

1. Shorter is better, but its secondary to 2,
2. Line of sight is key, so obtaining a better position is the purpose of such a unit. If you can put the antenna on a 5m pole on the gable of the house, do it.

If you walk the site with a smarthphone you can find where has the best reception and try to get as close to there as possible.

The cable I got with the antennae is "low-loss" which I think means if it was shorter it would make a difference but not a massive difference. I can't do much about that in any case as I don't know how to disconnect the cable from the antennae (I don't want to damage it trying). I could cut the existing one but I am not sure I would be able to terminate it properly. Anyway when I mount the antennae outside I am going to need some considerable cable length from the modem to the antennae as the modem must be indoors obviously.
It's a meteor modem and my smartphone is with three so I can't do your suggestion.I know where the mast location is though; it is almost exactly south from my house. A 5m pole sounds good except I must put it in a sheltered place as if stormy weather came it could take it down.

ED E

If you borrow/rent an SDS drill and use two U bolts to mount it you'll find it very very hard to blow down.

lukin

Finally got it up there anyway today after much drilling and other hassle. It's 24 feet from the ground and I have a download speed of 8.94 Mbps, a ping of 38 ms and an upload of 3.47 Mbps (modem and antennae).
When I used the modem in a window (that is about at 13 feet from the ground) without the antennae I was getting 2.30 Mbps download, a ping of 49 ms and an upload of 1.18 Mbps.
However when I used the modem with the antennae in the same window it was pretty much the same upload, download and ping as when I have it on the mast (24 feet off the ground). You would think eleven feet higher would make a bit of a difference but apparently not. I gained very little by putting it on the mast but it's not feasible for me to leave an antennae indoors inside a window so it is staying outside.
I am thinking of getting one of these:

1. http://promo.huaptec.eu/ie-huaptec-gsm-cell-phone-signal-repeater/?gclid=CPGc39So98wCFWue2wodQQYNUg
2. http://www.mobileboosterie.com/Ireland_eMobile_Mobile_Phone_Signal_Booster/cat2086944_1917127.aspx
3. http://dublincity.global-free-classified-ads.com/listings/mobile-phone-signal-boosters-it1389699.html

but I have already had quite a bit of expense getting the antenna working:
€127:antennae
€80:modem
€30:wall bracket
plus rawl bolts, rent drill etc.
I don't fancy shelling out again without a guaranteed improvement.

ED E

Don't. Its illegal. Only your operator can sell you a booster/femtocell and they usually won't sell boosters.

The higher is better thing is a bit of a fallacy. Its only better if you're improving line of sight. If the tree blocking you is 12ft high and you get to 13ft then you're golden, 14, 15, 16 17ft....will all show the same throughput.

If you want to improve further what I'd do is:
A. try to network unlock the modem, if possible.
B. Buy a €10 vodafone sim and then test your Three sim and the Vodafone sim in the modem, you may find you can jump on a quiet mast in the vicinity now and get a chunk more.

lukin

ED E wrote: »

Don't. Its illegal. Only your operator can sell you a booster/femtocell and they usually won't sell boosters.

That's quite surprising as I was given those links by a meteor rep:
http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057601860

ED E wrote: »

The higher is better thing is a bit of a fallacy. Its only better if you're improving line of sight. If the tree blocking you is 12ft high and you get to 13ft then you're golden, 14, 15, 16 17ft....will all show the same throughput.

It could be several trees, I'm 6.5 kms away from the mast.

ED E wrote: »

If you want to improve further what I'd do is:
A. try to network unlock the modem, if possible.
B. Buy a €10 vodafone sim and then test your Three sim and the Vodafone sim in the modem, you may find you can jump on a quiet mast in the vicinity now and get a chunk more.

I tried Vodafone recently;could only get 2G.I was with Three for a couple of years but when they merged with o2 their coverage suddenly disappeared in my area.

I just did a speedtest now (using modem attached to antennae)and it's dropped way down:4.39 Mbps download and 2.23 Mbps upload, 37 ms ping. Seems like the whole thing was a waste of time and money.
Edit: I refreshed the speedtest page and tried it again:9.41 Mbps download and 3.03 Mbps upload, 34 ms ping.
If it stays at that I will be happy.

ED E

Rep could be talking about WLAN repeaters or Homeplugs, but if he's advocating GSM repeaters he's in a very very grey area.

What were your receive values before and after? Do you know?

Reception is the upper limit only, the metaphor is a motorway: The antenna is an upgrade from a Fiesta to a 911 but you only go faster when there's little traffic. In areas where DSL is slow/unavailable the chances of your mast being quiet (especially on a bank holiday) is quite low so it'll dip.

If you can, test it after 2AM tonight, you may see a large spike.

lukin

ED E wrote: »

Rep could be talking about WLAN repeaters or Homeplugs, but if he's advocating GSM repeaters he's in a very very grey area.

What were your receive values before and after? Do you know?

Before and after what?

ED E wrote: »

Reception is the upper limit only, the metaphor is a motorway: The antenna is an upgrade from a Fiesta to a 911 but you only go faster when there's little traffic. In areas where DSL is slow/unavailable the chances of your mast being quiet (especially on a bank holiday) is quite low so it'll dip.

Yeah I expect a dip in peak usage periods.

ED E wrote: »

If you can, test it after 2AM tonight, you may see a large spike.

I'll try that

KOR101

I am looking at solutions like the ones above. My situation is that I had Three for my mobile but lost even intermittent one bar a few months ago. So, switched to Vodaphone which I knew from visitors to the house had the best signal. Now, I can get 1mbit occasionally but it is extremely unstable. Difficult to keep reception lomg enough even to run a speed test.

My real problem is that the mast is around the hill from me. Line of sight is off by maybe 30 degress around the back of the hill. So, I'm surprised I get anything at all -all the providers show me as being in a 'black' spot for reception.

Would the Omni-Directional 4G 3G LTE MIMO External Outdoor Antenna Huawei still help in my situation?

my3cents

KOR101 wrote: »

I am looking at solutions like the ones above. My situation is that I had Three for my mobile but lost even intermittent one bar a few months ago. So, switched to Vodaphone which I knew from visitors to the house had the best signal. Now, I can get 1mbit occasionally but it is extremely unstable. Difficult to keep reception lomg enough even to run a speed test.

My real problem is that the mast is around the hill from me. Line of sight is off by maybe 30 degress around the back of the hill. So, I'm surprised I get anything at all -all the providers show me as being in a 'black' spot for reception.

Would the Omni-Directional 4G 3G LTE MIMO External Outdoor Antenna Huawei still help in my situation?

Is there a LOS neighbor that has better speeds, even a cow shed or pumping house with an electric supply?

I have my router on a neighbors property as its the only place that has a signal and then use a wireless link to connect to my home network.

KOR101

my3cents wrote: »

Is there a LOS neighbor that has better speeds, even a cow shed or pumping house with an electric supply?

I have my router on a neighbors property as its the only place that has a signal and then use a wireless link to connect to my home network.

No, had a look for that. I still don't understand how I get any signal at all without LOS.

mass_debater

Better signal does not guarantee better speeds

my3cents

KOR101 wrote: »

No, had a look for that. I still don't understand how I get any signal at all without LOS.

I don't have any LOS but still manage to get "a" signal. Avg is 16% but it at least gets me a connection that allows me to browse online and buy stuff. No chance of streaming anything.

mass_debater wrote: »

Better signal does not guarantee better speeds

No but there is a strong relationship between faster speeds and better 3G signal when you are down at the bottom end of the scale plus not everyone is looking for faster speeds some just want a connection that is reliable and doesn't disconnect all the time.

KOR101

my3cents wrote: »

I don't have any LOS but still manage to get "a" signal. Avg is 16% but it at least gets me a connection that allows me to browse online and buy stuff. No chance of streaming anything.

Then the question is still whether an antenna would help, or I guess a GSM repeater (gray area legally I know).

ED E

mass_debater wrote: »

Better signal does not guarantee better speeds

While totally true, if he's got a regular loss of link and very low speeds the odds of a better connection leading to better throughput are very high, especially on Vodafones really well built out network.

KOR101 wrote: »

Then the question is still whether an antenna would help, or I guess a GSM repeater (gray area legally I know).

Repeater is good where you have excellent coverage at A but no coverage at B next door, such as place it on boundary wall to create coverage in a house. Where you're already in a dead spot there isnt much benefit.


As I said before, you really should survey the site. If you're at -125dB on the ground but -105dB above your gable and then you know theres a point in purchasing kit, but if the same for both you're probably not going to see much improvement with any kit. Borrow a spare HSPA+ capable handset for a few hours if sim locking prevents you using your own. A positive result could be well worth your time.

lukin

KOR101 wrote: »

I am looking at solutions like the ones above. My situation is that I had Three for my mobile but lost even intermittent one bar a few months ago. So, switched to Vodaphone which I knew from visitors to the house had the best signal. Now, I can get 1mbit occasionally but it is extremely unstable. Difficult to keep reception lomg enough even to run a speed test.

My real problem is that the mast is around the hill from me. Line of sight is off by maybe 30 degress around the back of the hill. So, I'm surprised I get anything at all -all the providers show me as being in a 'black' spot for reception.

Would the Omni-Directional 4G 3G LTE MIMO External Outdoor Antenna Huawei still help in my situation?

Sorry for the late reply, I thought nobody else was going to reply. It's up to yourself whether you buy the antennae of course but I have found it improved my 3G reception. I did a speedtest yesterday with and without the antennae and with it I was getting a download speed of 8 Mbps. When I disconnected the antennae it went down to 3.5 Mbps. It does drop off at peak usage times. E.g. between 6 and 7pm it will go down to 3.5 Mbps but still that's bearable for me. I don't have LOS to the meteor mast either. You have to place the antennae as a high as you possibly can though (mine is 24 feet off the ground). The wall bracket I had wasn't long enough so I had to bolt a longer pole on to it. I won't bother with the booster as I have spent enough on it I think.

shaunr68

Correct me if I'm wrong, reading KOR101's post it seems it's referring to how to improve mobile phone data speeds rather than mobile BB data through a router or Mifi box - is this the case?

Cheers
Shaun

lukin

shaunr68 wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, reading KOR101's post it seems it's referring to how to improve mobile phone data speeds rather than mobile BB data through a router or Mifi box - is this the case?

Cheers
Shaun

Apologies and ignore my reply if that is the case, I mustn't have read his post properly.

KOR101

lukin wrote: »

Apologies and ignore my reply if that is the case, I mustn't have read his post properly.

No your responses were helpful. Boosting 3G signal with stability in mind more than anything else is what I'm looking for. I will take Ed's advice and roam the garden, but I'm not that hopeful. The pole might help, but how do you test that. Rural areas are really crying out for guys offering specialist help like this.

shaunr68

We're out in the middle of nowhere too and after some experimenting I'm happy with our reception using one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUAWEI-External-Periodic-antenna-highest/dp/B00D1VXZ3E

We're on Three "Broadband 3" 60Gb per month package, 18 month contract with a Huawei B315 router.

According to www.siteviewer.ie our nearest mast is 1 mile to the west, but obscured by hills and trees. I'd originally had the antenna pointing out in that general direction. 3G reception was acceptable but 4G hit and miss with speeds around 2 Mbps and it kept dropping down to 3G.

Anyway I screwed the antenna to the end of an 18 ft piece of 2x2 and fixed that to the ESB/telecom pole, as high as I could possibly get it. Not sure whether you're supposed to interfere with utility poles but a stable signal takes priority over mere technicalities.



Spent half an hour with the missus monitoring the router and status page on the laptop while I stood up a ladder rotating the mast a bit at a time. Entirely in the opposite direction to our nearest mast is another, 5 miles away but clear line of sight. We're now on a stable 3 bars 4G and getting 50 Mbps. As you can imagine I'm happy with that!



Anyway, good luck. My experience is that LOS is critical and it's worth spending some time finding the right orientation.

Cheers
Shaun

KOR101

shaunr68 wrote: »

We're out in the middle of nowhere too and after some experimenting I'm happy with our reception using one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUAWEI-External-Periodic-antenna-highest/dp/B00D1VXZ3E

We're on Three "Broadband 3" 60Gb per month package, 18 month contract with a Huawei B315 router.

According to www.siteviewer.ie our nearest mast is 1 mile to the west, but obscured by hills and trees. I'd originally had the antenna pointing out in that general direction. 3G reception was acceptable but 4G hit and miss with speeds around 2 Mbps and it kept dropping down to 3G.

Anyway I screwed the antenna to the end of an 18 ft piece of 2x2 and fixed that to the ESB/telecom pole, as high as I could possibly get it. Not sure whether you're supposed to interfere with utility poles but a stable signal takes priority over mere technicalities.



Spent half an hour with the missus monitoring the router and status page on the laptop while I stood up a ladder rotating the mast a bit at a time. Entirely in the opposite direction to our nearest mast is another, 5 miles away but clear line of sight. We're now on a stable 3 bars 4G and getting 50 Mbps. As you can imagine I'm happy with that!



Anyway, good luck. My experience is that LOS is critical and it's worth spending some time finding the right orientation.

Cheers
Shaun

I actually have an ESB pole in my garden. Afraid to go anywhere near it! No possibility of LOS whatsoever.

lukin

shaunr68 wrote: »

Spent half an hour with the missus monitoring the router and status page on the laptop while I stood up a ladder rotating the mast a bit at a time. Entirely in the opposite direction to our nearest mast is another, 5 miles away but clear line of sight. We're now on a stable 3 bars 4G and getting 50 Mbps. As you can imagine I'm happy with that!



Anyway, good luck. My experience is that LOS is critical and it's worth spending some time finding the right orientation.

Cheers
Shaun

So you have the the antennae pointing to the mast that is 5 miles away (that you have clear LOS to)?

shaunr68

lukin wrote: »

So you have the the antennae pointing to the mast that is 5 miles away (that you have clear LOS to)?

Hi, it's showing a much stronger signal pointing in the direction of the 5 mile distant LOS mast than it did pointing in the general direction of the 1 mile distant mast, with obstructions. However I have no idea whether the router status will show what mast it is connected to in order to confirm this.

Cheers
Shaun

ED E

LOS > Distance pretty much always. Good job spending the time to get it right.


ESB may throw a complete fit if they see it though, probably dependent on who happened to spot it.

ItHurtsWhenIP

Great job.

But as ED_E pointed out, if ESB Networks ever spot this, they will go batsh1t and may cut your supply until you remove the offending equipment from their property (for that is what the pole is). :eek:

lukin

shaunr68 wrote: »

Hi, it's showing a much stronger signal pointing in the direction of the 5 mile distant LOS mast than it did pointing in the general direction of the 1 mile distant mast, with obstructions. However I have no idea whether the router status will show what mast it is connected to in order to confirm this.

Cheers
Shaun

Fairly amazing that you would have LOS to a mast 5 miles away. You'd think there would be something in the way in a distance that large. I am about 2.25 miles from my mast but I don't have line of sight. Well I have no way of knowing that but I am pretty sure I don't. I wonder is there any point in me moving my antennae in various directions and then doing a speedtest each time to see if it improves (in the same way you did)? Does an antennae work in the same way as a satellite dish?

ED E

lukin wrote: »

Fairly amazing that you would have LOS to a mast 5 miles away. You'd think there would be something in the way in a distance that large. I am about 2.25 miles from my mast but I don't have line of sight. Well I have no way of knowing that but I am pretty sure I don't. I wonder is there any point in me moving my antennae in various directions and then doing a speedtest each time to see if it improves (in the same way you did)? Does an antennae work in the same way as a satellite dish?

Do that, but dont do speed tests as they vary based on everyones usage instead watch the receive values (RSSI). Numbers will always be negative, but the less negative the bettter.

lukin

ED E wrote: »

Do that, but dont do speed tests as they vary based on everyones usage instead watch the receive values (RSSI). Numbers will always be negative, but the less negative the bettter.

Actually from what I've read it won't improve the signal if I move the antennae because it is an omni-directional antennae, which means that it is receiving signals from all directions. So whatever direction it is pointing in it will pick up the signal if it is in that direction.
That's why the omni-directional antennas are a bit more expensive than the non-omni-directional ones.
So whatever download speed I have now is as good as it gets. It's OK but when I saw the download speed shaunr68 was getting (57 Mbps) I was dead jealous. Although he has direct LOS which counts for a lot I believe.